Overview
I led UX/UI design and user testing for Shift’s first pre-qualification product to help users gain confidence when shopping for cars and applying for a loan. Pre-qualification was Shift’s most successful product launch to date, driving 17% more test drives, 30% more car purchases, and 11% more loans.

Team
I worked closely with a product manager, data scientist, engineering manager, engineering team, and content strategist.

Goal
Increase revenue from loan products (a.k.a. number of cars financed through our lenders), especially loan attachment rate.

Challenge
Feedback from sales and data from the financing funnel revealed that many shoppers were interested in financing with us, but dropped off because they didn’t know which cars they could get approval for or reasonably afford.

Process
My product manager and I led a team workshop to generate ideas on how to help these customers find cars in their budget and get approved for a loan. A pre-qualification product, which could provide a personalized estimate for the cars that a shopper would be likely to be approved for and their predicted monthly payments, seemed to have the greatest potential.

First, we surveyed used car shoppers to measure interest in getting pre-qualified, discovering the majority (68%) preferred pre-qualification over other options.

Then, we ran an in-product experiment to validate shopper interest, switching button copy from “Apply for financing” to “Get pre-approved.” The copy change drove a 60% increase in clicks within just a few days.

Over the next few weeks, our team worked closely together over various mocks, prototypes, critiques, and bug bashes to ship v1.

Pre-qualification required thinking about the experience as an ecosystem rather than one element or page. Rather than starting with finding a car, they wanted to estimate their budget first and then shop for cars with that budget.

We did 2-3 rounds of user testing to get feedback across different devices, entry points, input questions, and personalization levels.

I worked with an engineer to test a working loan calculator to simulate ranges closer to users’ actual terms. While it was cut from scope for v1, it was eventually used on the car page and the general financing page.

Overall, users liked the pre-qualification flow and the ability to filter inventory using a personalized budget.

Outcome
Pre-qualification smashed goals across the funnel, including +17% test drives, +30% vehicle purchases, and +11% loan attach rate.

Back to work

Car shopping with a budget