ford mybrochure subscription program
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streamlining the brochure purchasing process for Ford dealers across the country
project brief
as lead UX designer, I conducted user research and proposed a re-design of Ford’s internal brochure website as they switched their brochure purchase model to a subscription-based program.
we added in a new modal user flow for first time registration of the new program and re-designed the website to integrate new features at checkout. publicly launched July of 2021.
individual role and timeline
• conducted user interviews with Ford dealers across the nation
• created UX/UI wireframes and a prototype for client approval
• presented all stages of research synthesis and design mockups to clients and internal teams throughout the entire UX process
team
experience strategy, UX, copywriting, Q&A/proof, developers,
art director, account/project managers
UX deliverables
user interviews conducted with Ford dealers
client presentation of research and synthesis of dealer interviews
hi-fidelity desktop wireframes for both Ford and Lincoln brands with annotations
Invision prototype of Ford UX wireframes
PNG assets delivered to developers
tools used
Sketch, Invision, JIRA, Powerpoint
business objective
providing a seamless experience of the Ford MyBrochure website for existing dealers as Ford transitioned to a subscription based program as well as offering a direct user-led path to either enroll or unsubscribe to the new subscription model
previous brochure purchasing model
• to the dealers, the initial brochures were free of charge with only a set overage costing the dealer additional out of pocket costs
• many touchpoints and a less direct method of purchasing brochures, slower shipping
new brochure purchasing model
• all dealers automatically enrolled into the highest set tier upon launch based on their annual sales unless they wished to unsubscribe completely
• straight from dealer to printer: quicker shipping turnaround
basically, "free" vs paid subscription
user interviews
we conducted virtual interviews with Ford dealers to collect feedback about their general MyBrochure website experience such as:
• the dealers’ experiences with the checkout process
• understanding of how the allocation distribution currently worked
• opinions on the footer and categorization of topics.
background of ford dealers
• co-owner or marketing director
• wide range of Ford experience from 3 years to 20+ years
• all comfortable with navigating the current Ford MyBrochure website
overall feedback post-interviews
• positive experience
• while easy to use and simple, currently too many steps to access MyBrochure
• wanted digital brochures to be integrated into the website
our problem statement was a blend of both the business goals, and would become our north star to guide our designs and keep us focused as we went through many rounds of reviews, tweaks and client presentations.
problem statement
how can we help Ford dealers understand how many brochures they are able to purchase with the new subscription model and increase Ford’s enrollment numbers with this new program launch?
our hypothesis statement below was our initial attempt at crafting a design solution that we felt balanced both business and user needs, and which would have the potential to change should research insights or client feedback prove that we were on the wrong path.
hypothesis
by reorganizing some of the categories to be more easily viewable as the user navigates the website, as well as creating a helpful enrollment modal flow upon launch, we will decrease confusion with the dealer enrollment process.
enrollment modal user flow
UI design
as we gathered our UX research insights, these were all design aspects of the currently functioning website that we thought had the
most opportunity to make a big impact with our users.
design proposals
footer categorization
allocation bar
modal enrollment process
digital brochures
dual dealer toggle view
before: footer
users did not notice or reference the allocation bar in the Header under the banner image.
users did not utilize the footer except to keep track of upcoming brochures
after: footer
we explored moving the allocation information to the footer or next to checkout total so that the information is more clearly visible.
edited current footer categories and recommended testing with dealers to investigate what information would be the most helpful for quick reference.
before: allocations
previously, a dealer’s designated number of brochures allocated to them was only viewable on the checkout page. in user research, most dealers had not previously noticed the purpose of the navy accent bar was to show allocation information.
after: allocations
we decided to change the accent color and re-align the allocation information to make it more clearly visible and centered upon first viewing this page. we also added the information again next to the checkout total to add more visibility and awareness of the new program.
new: modal enrollment process
working within the subscription business tiers that had previously been approved by the company and client, we tried to make the enrollment process as easy to understand as possible. working closely with our copywriters and developers on what we could execute, we decided to emphasize bold CTA buttons for selection in the branded accent color and make sure users were taken through a flow that allowed them to confirm their enrollment as simply as possible.
integrating digital brochures
in interviews, Ford dealers had expressed a desire to be able to access all brochures both digital and paper through the MyBrochure website. we modified the existing brochures page to incorporate an easy pathway for dealers to access digital brochures. dealers would now be able to access both paper and digital brochures through a toggle functionality, as well as view digital brochures offered in both English and Spanish.
before: general brochures page
after: new brochures page with both paper and digital brochures integrated
new: dual dealers - toggle view
one business challenge was that for dealers who sold both Ford and Lincoln vehicles, only the Ford brochures were switching to the subscription model at initial launch. the previous experience had been that dealers who sold both branded vehicles had a website experience that combined both brand’s brochures into one website. we felt this would become complicated given that now dealers would need to mentally manage two different financial models before purchasing brochures.
our design proposal was to split up the two different experiences with clearly different design and interactions. the ford side would adopt all of the subscription model changes, while the lincoln side would remain the same except for a disclaimer memo posted on the home page to clearly communicate the different experience. we also added a toggle feature at the navigation bar as we believed users would understand that by selecting the brand’s logo, they would be led to the corresponding MyBrochure page.
handoff to engineers
once we received the approval from our client to proceed with build, we then prepared annotations as well as assets for the engineers, working closely together on copy, design layouts and general UX questions on flow.
my UX learnings in hindsight
• collaborate with engineers as early as possible or incorporate feedback on asset sizes, the amount of scope they could take on based on our designs, their previous experience with building the existing design and their own challenges
• mapping out all possible user flows or scenarios from the beginning to avoid adding additional wireframes later in the process
• TESTING: would have loved to incorporate usability testing with the same Ford dealers we initially interviewed once we had a working prototype, however due to timing and budget constraints we were unable to before launch.