MaxOffer

Overview: CarMax MaxOffer is a free, no-obligation web app designed for used car dealers to get instant, firm offers on vehicles, including trade-ins, from CarMax.

Role: UX Researcher, UX/UI designer

Toolkit: Figma, Adobe CC, FigJam, Pencil and paper

Overview

• Background

CarMax MaxOffer is an innovative, free, no-obligation digital appraisal tool created by CarMax to assist dealers in evaluating trade-in vehicles efficiently. Here's what you need to know:

- Instant Firm Offers
- Offer Validity
- Free & Zero Obligations

*our hypothesis...
We believe that by strategically planning around the MaxOffer program—specifically focusing on delivering real-time firm offers to dealerships through a digital tool- we can drive the desired business outcome of increased customer satisfaction, in line with CarMax’s expectations.

• Research Goals

if hypothesis is true
The primary goal of this research is to understand how dealers interact with the MaxOffer tool, evaluate its usability, and assess the perceived value and accuracy of the real-time offers. We aim to identify key pain points, measure business impact, and uncover opportunities to enhance the tool's functionality, improve dealer satisfaction, and increase adoption. This research will also benchmark MaxOffer against competitor solutions to guide future product and strategic decisions.

• Methodologies

  1. Quantitative: Competitive Analysis

  2. Quantitative: Surveys

  3. Quantitative: A/B testing

  4. Qualitative: User Interviews

  5. Qualitative: Card sorting

  6. Qualitative: Diary studies

  7. Qualitative: Usability testing

Competitive Analysis

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User Interviews

• Overview

To gather qualitative insights from dealership users to understand how they interact with the MaxOffer tool, assess the tool’s usability, effectiveness, and trustworthiness, and identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

• Affinity Mapping:

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Research Findings

High Interest in Real-Time Offers

Dealers value the speed and convenience of receiving firm offers within minutes

Trust in Offer Accuracy Varies

Users wanted more visibility into how values are calculated

Ease of Use is a Major Strength

The platform is generally perceived as simple, clean, and fast

Strong Potential for Broader Adoption

Offers remain competitive

Persona #1

Nelson Washington

42y/o Purchasing Manager - Purposeful Observer

FREQUENTLY-USED APPS

Bio

As a Purchasing Manager for CarMax’s MaxOffer program, I specialize in sourcing high-quality pre-owned vehicles from dealer partners through our real-time appraisal platform. With a deep understanding of the used car market, I evaluate incoming trade-in opportunities, assess vehicle condition and market value, and ensure competitive, data-driven offers that align with CarMax’s acquisition strategy.

Goals

• Increase the number of units sourced through MaxOffer from dealer partners
• Maintain pricing accuracy by aligning offers with real-time market trends and condition assessments
• Foster trust and repeat engagement through transparent communication and consistent offer quality

Frustrations

• Dealers often provide limited or inconsistent condition data
• No insight into how the offer was calculated makes it hard to justify pricing
• Repetitive tasks like uploading photos, reviewing VINs, or entering vehicle data slow down the process

Persona #2

Gill Underwood

24y/o - Wholesale Rep - Detailed Oriented

FREQUENTLY-USED APPS

Bio

As a Wholesale Representative for CarMax’s MaxOffer program, I serve as a key liaison between CarMax and its dealer partners, facilitating seamless vehicle transactions through our digital appraisal platform. My role involves managing the wholesale purchase process, negotiating offers, and ensuring timely vehicle acquisition to meet inventory needs.

Passionate about innovation in vehicle sourcing, I focus on driving efficiency, transparency, and trust throughout the wholesale purchase cycle.

Goals

• Develop trust and rapport with dealer partners to encourage ongoing engagement with the MaxOffer platform
• Ensure timely and efficient communication between dealers and CarMax to close wholesale vehicle purchases seamlessly
• Work closely with dealers to explain offers, address concerns, and increase the rate of accepted purchase offers

Frustrations

• Slow responses from dealers or internal teams delay deal closures
• Lack of clear reasons for offer rejections makes it hard to adjust strategies
• RPlatform glitches, slow load times, or downtime disrupt workflow

Prioritization

• Project Goals

Prioritize enhancements that improve the precision and competitiveness of vehicle offers to build dealer trust and increase acceptance rates
Focus on simplifying the dealer appraisal process, reducing friction, and speeding up offer delivery through intuitive design and automation
Develop features that allow better capture and integration of vehicle condition and damage data to support accurate pricing and reduce disputes

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• Features Roadmap

Real-time offer generation with improved accuracy - Streamlined photo upload and damage capture interface - Basic offer feedback and status tracking. Predictive pricing adjustments based on market trends - Analytics dashboard for dealers and internal teams - Mobile app support and enhanced performance.

Predictive pricing adjustments based on market trends - Analytics dashboard for dealers and internal teams - Mobile app support and enhanced performance

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Information Architecture

The MaxOffer platform is structured to streamline vehicle appraisal and purchase processes for dealers. It features a central Dashboard that provides quick access to current offers and notifications. The Vehicle Appraisal section allows users to input vehicle details, upload photos, and submit requests for real-time offers. The Offers area tracks active, past and counter offers with detailed pricing and status updates.

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User Flows

I’ve immediately identified my two user flows:
• Vehicle Appraisal Submission Workflow
• Offer Review & Acceptance Workflow
• Deal Confirmation & Vehicle Handoff Workflow
• Performance Tracking & Reporting Workflow
• Dealer Account Management Workflow
• Support & Feedback Workflow

*Ideally, there is a third potential user flow I would have liked to explore: Post-Purchase Workflow. However this was MVP, so I’ve decided to go for the main ones.

Task Flows

After designing user flows, it was quite straightforward to build up task flows. What I did was to expand in depth and explore users actions even further:

• Use vehicle information to determine if the inspection allows the merchandise to qualify for an instant offer
• After customer accepts offer, lets explore the associate's intake and buy-in process

#1 The inspect, appraise and assess to learn if the vehicle qualifies for an instant offer

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#2 The associate's intake and buy-in process

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Wireframes

For the initial workflow, the appraisal funnel from the Instant Offer customer-associate engagement has been integrated.

For the second workflow, I've streamline the progressions once the offer has been accepted to finalized.

Brand Identity

First of all, I’ve explored potential naming solutions and marks for my logo. Eventually, I’ve decided to go for the sphinx, symbol of great intelligence and wisdom in the ancient Egypt. The name Knowlex contains the words knowledge and exchange.

UI Library Components

I’ve created a colour palette with 1 primary, 2 secondary and 3 neutral colours. The choice for typography has fallen on Mulish, a sans-serif font with a decent x-height for legibility.

With those elements added to my low fidelity wireframes, I made my way into high-fidelity wireframes.

High-fidelity key-screens

Prototype

CarMax MaxOffer Usability Testing involves evaluating the user experience of the MaxOffer program,

which is used by CarMax and potentially other dealerships.
This testing focuses on how users, such as customers and associates, interact with the system and its features.

Outcome

Overall, I've identified common patterns, recurring issues, and user behaviors observed during the testing sessions based on their severity and impact on the user experience

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Iterations

• To improve Create an account experience, I’ve added an activation message: a dedicated overlay with validation code to input 

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• To improve Application form flow, I’ve created a loading animation and a supplementary message that states the successful upload. 

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• To improve Checkout experience, I’ve differentiated info about Your credit and Value of lesson in terms of colours. I’ve also added Remaining Balance details

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• Challenge

- The MaxOffer appraisal process may be perceived as overly detailed, requiring users to input a lot of information or take numerous photos
- Designing a smooth flow between the online appraisal process and the in-person dealership visit can be challenging
- Potential issues could arise from a lack of clarity in communication between the customer and the associate, or between different departments within CarMax
- Technical glitches or slow system response times could negatively impact the user experience, leading to delays and frustration during the appraisal or offer retrieval process

• Lesson learned

- Analyzing the user's path through the appraisal process – from initial data entry to offer retrieval – helps identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement
- While a comprehensive appraisal process requires detailed information, it's crucial to find a balance between gathering the necessary data and maintaining user engagement and ease of us
- Not all usability issues are equal.