Finding the perfect car:

Optimizing search & filtering

UI/UX, User Research, Illustration

SnappCar is a car-sharing platform that brings together people that own a car and people that want to rent one.

During the pandemic SnappCar experienced a significant increase on the amount of vans being added and shared through the platform. This caused the search results for specific cities to be dominated by vans, making it difficult for users to find regular cars when searching. There was a 'car type’ filter available, but users thought it wasn't easy to find it or use it.

Decrease the amount of time needed to find the desired vehicle and therefore increase conversion.

To redesign the ‘Car type’ filter on search, making it easier to find and to use. This involved:

• Moving the filter to a more prominent place on the page
• Reducing the number of filter options available and aligning the names of these options with the expectations of users
• Combining the filter options with illustrations to help users understand the meaning of each option

UI/UX Design, User research, Illustration, Prototyping & testing

Research

After taking a closer look at the current filter, I was curious to see what users understood from it. During quick rounds of user tests, I discovered that the main problems with the current filter were:

Exploration

To solve the issues uncovered during research, I defined the following actions:

1. Move the filter to a more prominent place to make it easier to find
2. Simplify the options of car types and match the names with the expectations of users
3. Pair each car type with an illustration to make it easier to understand

I proposed to move the car type filter higher up on the screen to make it easier to find (for both the app and the website).

The current list of car types contained 11 items. In order to simplify it, we decided to stop using automotive jargon such as 'hatchback', 'SUV’ and group these types in a manner that users understood. By using the card sorting method, I ended up with 6 car types:

1. Regular car

2. Big car

3. Van

4. Convertible

5. Camper

6. Special car (unique vehicles such as wedding cars, limousines, etc)

To make the meaning of each car type more explicit, I decided to add some custom visuals. I illustrated the car types in a playful manner to match the SnappCar brand.

Prototype & testing

After putting together the new car types with the illustrations, I placed the filter just above the search results. I made a prototype of the desktop solution to use for testing and to show how the filter should behave.

During the testing sessions, participants didn't have any problems finding the filter. They said that they liked the car drawings and that it made them want to interact with the filter. I noticed that they enjoyed playing with the filter in order to see how the results changed.

They mentioned that it could be disappointing if certain cities don't have certain car types and you end up with no results after interacting with the filter.

Final designs