Selling more used cars with a video-first detail page.
Buyers couldn't judge a car's condition online, so they didn't book test drives. I reworked the detail page around a guided video, with tappable info points and a jump-to-section rail. The rework lifted detail-to-booking ~18%; the video version was piloted on the 50 hardest-to-sell cars.
Buyers couldn't judge a car's condition online, so they didn't book. A guided-video rework lifted detail-to-booking ~18%.
Shoppers couldn't assess a used car's condition online (scratches, dents, repaints) so they hesitated to book a test drive.
A detail page reworked around a guided video: condition report, price rationale and story-led info woven into a short walkthrough, with tappable info points and jump-to-section navigation. Piloted on the hardest-to-sell inventory.
A detail page reworked around a guided video: condition, price and history in one walkthrough, with tappable info points. Piloted on the hardest-to-sell cars.
Detail-to-booking up 2.79% → 3.30% (~18%), held through Aug 2023. Video pilot: 60% of 50 long-stuck cars booked within a week.
01 · The problem
A trust gap you can't close from a photo.
Buying a second‑hand car is a high‑stakes, low‑trust decision. Online, people couldn't tell whether a car had been repainted, dinged, or well kept, the kind of thing you'd normally check in person. Without that confidence, they stalled before booking a test drive.
Buying a used car is a high‑stakes, low‑trust decision. Online, buyers couldn't tell if a car was repainted or dinged, so they stalled before booking a test drive.
The old detail page didn't help: no real condition detail, no pricing rationale, and none of the engaging, story‑led information buyers were finding on competitor apps and YouTube.
The old detail page didn't help: no real condition detail, no pricing rationale, none of the story‑led info buyers found on competitor apps and YouTube.
"Users have trust issues with the platform because we don't show all the necessary information about the car's condition."
02 · Process
A double diamond: twice diverging, twice converging.
I ran the work as a double‑diamond: first on the problem, then on the solution, validating qualitative insight against real funnel data at every turn.
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01
Discover the real problems
Reviewed existing User Research & Customer Insight work, then 4 of us (2 PMs, 2 designers) each interviewed 5 users. We affinity‑mapped the notes to build empathy and pressure‑test early hunches.
Reviewed existing research, then 4 of us (2 PMs, 2 designers) interviewed 5 users each and affinity‑mapped the notes.
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02
Define & validate
Checked the qualitative story against quantitative data. Dec 2022 ground‑team data confirmed booking cancellations correlated with condition‑visibility gaps. That sharpened two clear "How might we" statements.
Checked the story against the data: Dec 2022 numbers tied booking cancellations to condition‑visibility gaps.
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03
Diverge on solutions
Ran Crazy 8s (3 people, 8 minutes, 8 ideas each) plus rough sketching. Deliberately ignoring business and tech feasibility for now, to stay honest to the user's problem.
Ran Crazy 8s plus rough sketching, deliberately ignoring business and tech feasibility for now to stay honest to the user's problem.
"We will not think about business or technology feasibility at this stage. We will only focus on solving the problem of the user."
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04
Converge on the design
The strongest ideas came together into a richer detail page:
- Inspection report surfaced in the first fold
- "Understand price" vs new‑car, competitor & resale value
- Guided video tour (3–4 min), buyers were already hunting car videos on YouTube
- Interactive gallery highlighting imperfections & repainted areas
- Plain‑language explainers for terms like cruise control & ground clearance
- Vehicle history told in a Story format
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05
Iterate
Cut scrolling, added interactivity: navigation circles to jump straight to a section of interest, more visuals over text, and imperfection highlighting kept front‑and‑centre.
Cut scrolling, added navigation circles to jump to any section, more visuals over text, imperfections front and centre.
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→
The final concept
The detail page became a guided video covering every section. Blue "info" buttons inside the video open detail modals; highlight badges appear during playback to reinforce key points, with voice‑over that still works for anyone who missed the audio.
The page became a guided video of every section. Blue info buttons open detail sheets; badges reinforce key points as it plays.
03 · The video experiment
Make the car's story watchable.
Buyers were already hunting car walkarounds on YouTube, so I designed a video-first version of the page: a short guided tour with the condition, price rationale and history woven in, and a jump-to-section rail. We piloted it where it would prove the most: the 50 cars that had not been booked for two months.
Buyers were hunting car walkarounds on YouTube, so I built a video-first page: a guided tour with condition, price and history woven in.
Every section of the walkthrough carries its own tappable info point. Tap it and a detail sheet slides up: the exact inspection data buyers used to phone in about, right where they are already looking.
Every section carries a tappable info point. Tap it and a sheet slides up with the exact inspection data buyers used to phone in about, right where they're looking.
Defects & painted areas
The clip flags "minor scratches & dents" and "4 defects" as you watch. Tap Check defects and the sheet lists every imperfection and repainted panel, with photos and a link to the full inspection report.
The clip flags scratches and dents as you watch. Tap Check defects for every imperfection and repainted panel, with photos.
Features & specs
Feature callouts like "cruise control" float over the walkthrough. Tapping in opens a searchable sheet of every feature and specification, so a buyer can check the one thing they care about.
Feature callouts like "cruise control" float over the walkthrough. Tap in for a searchable sheet of every feature and spec.
Tyres & wheels
Tyre life shows as chips on the clip, then as a full tyre‑life map: remaining tread on each wheel and the spare, plus close‑up photos and a gallery.
Tyre life shows as chips on the clip, then a full tyre‑life map: tread on each wheel and the spare, with close‑up photos.
04 · Playback
Controls that feel like a video app.
Buyers already know how to watch a video, so the player borrows the gestures they expect. Double‑tap to skip, long‑press to pause, and a section rail (Overview, Exterior, Defects, Tyres) to jump straight to what they came for.
The player borrows gestures buyers already know: double‑tap to skip, long‑press to pause, and a section rail to jump straight to what they came for.
05 · The pilot, honestly
What 50 cars taught us, and why it stopped.
The pilot cars were the hardest inventory we had: 50 cars with no bookings for two months. Within a week of their video pages going live, 60% of them were booked. Sales teams also asked buyers, softly, whether the video played a part; most said yes. That signal is qualitative, not a controlled experiment, and I treat it that way.
Our 50 hardest cars had no bookings for two months. Within a week of going live, 60% were booked, a qualitative signal, not a controlled test.
The concept never scaled. Producing a guided video per car was logistically heavy, and as Diwali season approached, the business shifted priorities to sales execution. The idea was shelved. What survives is the evidence that condition-led storytelling moves stuck inventory, and the shipped detail-page rework that kept compounding without it.
It never scaled: a video per car was too heavy, and around Diwali priorities shifted to sales. What survives: storytelling moves stuck inventory.
06 · Impact
The numbers moved, and stayed moved.
Beyond the headline, we instrumented the page to keep learning: CTR and CTR‑to‑booking per section (exterior, interior…) and per info button, plus video watch‑duration and section ranking by watch time.
Beyond the headline, we instrumented the page: CTR and CTR‑to‑booking per section and info button, plus video watch‑duration.
07 · Usability testing
What 20 buyers said, watching the video.
We tested the video concept (indoor venue, Hindi content) with real buyers. The language and tone landed across the board; the length is what pushed us to build the jump-to-section rail.
We tested the video (indoor venue, Hindi) with real buyers. Tone landed across the board; its length is what pushed us to build the jump-to-section rail.
Tonality of the video
Positive response across.
"Tonality is very Indian like, I feel like my mechanic is explaining me everything."
"He has a very desi approach of explaining. I like him."
Engagement
18/20 found the video too long. Most lost interest after around 1 minute of watching.
Hence a section break is a must, so buyers watch relevant content only. This finding shaped the jump-to-section rail.
Sufficiency of the information
The video information was sufficient to understand the pros and cons of the car.
However, physical evaluation is still important to make any advance payment.
Language
Language of the video is liked across (10/10). Hindi is the preferred language and is well received.
Background / area of display
7/10 cited no issues with the indoor area of display.
However 3/10 found the brightness low: "open area mein zyada clear dikhta".
The video tour wasn't a hunch: research showed buyers were already searching YouTube for walkarounds of the exact cars they were considering. We just brought that behaviour home, inside the product.
The video tour wasn't a hunch: buyers were already searching YouTube for walkarounds of these exact cars. We brought that home.