A Fiat
Founded in 1899, the brand arrived in Brazil in 1976, marking the beginning of its operations in the country. The Italian company Fiat S.p.A. decided to expand its business to South America and chose Brazil as a strategic location to establish its first factory outside Europe.
The Problem
A high volume of calls to Fiat’s Customer Service was detected regarding questions about the Fiat Scudo utility vehicle. It was inferred that the Fiat Scudo page did not meet user needs and should be redesigned based on UX and content research.
Team: Product Designer and UX Writer
Tools: Miro, XD
Understanding the Problem
To test the hypothesis presented by after-sales, a comprehensive research (Big Deep) was conducted, analyzing all relevant studies in the company’s repository, BI data, and competitor analysis.
Data-Driven Prototype
Based on the data, a low-fidelity V1 prototype was developed by the Product Designer and UX Writer (texts), followed by a medium-fidelity V2, which would be used for user testing.
Interviewees
In total, 10 moderated tests were conducted, 8 on Desktop and 2 on Mobile devices. The device preference was based on its relevance to the audience, according to data shared by the client prior to the study.
The audience was recruited by a specialized agency, and two mutually exclusive profiles were requested. Both: men, aged 30 to 50, residents of any region of Brazil but with different business contexts.
PROFILE 1: Micro-entrepreneur, owns or plans to buy a utility vehicle, with low to moderate usage of electronic devices (cell phone and computer);
PROFILE 2: Small entrepreneur, owns up to 5 utility vehicles, with moderate use of electronic devices (cell phone and computer), responsible for fleet purchasing but not for driving the vehicles.
Moderated Tests
Together with the responsible Product Designer, we designed tasks for our interviewees and asked them to comment on their steps and thoughts while performing the tasks. After the test, a quantitative questionnaire was also applied to better understand what type of information the user was seeking.
Heatmap Insights
During the test, the testing platform also collected a heatmap tracking the participants’ gaze on the page. This map helped us understand which information was most relevant to users and also highlighted design flaws in the prototype.
System Usability Scale (SUS)
The System Usability Scale – SUS, a usability scale obtained through ten simple and direct questions, provided an overall view of subjective usability assessments.
Valuable Insights
During the tests, we gathered valuable insights into the site users’ profile and what they considered important from a content perspective. The users were pragmatic, technical, and had little patience for searching for information.
Information Without Frills
The page received both praise and criticism for the amount of information presented. It became clear that interest in detailed information is not standardized.
While some users praised how comprehensive the page was, others missed technical information about safety items, while some even considered the “All About” texts as “word filler” or “fluff.”
Additionally, there was organic interest from users in technical content and the vehicle’s spec sheet. However, care must be taken with overly technical terms or English terms, as these were found to be of little or no understanding to users.
Compare Button
Another significant finding from the tests was the difficulty in locating the "COMPARE VERSIONS" button, which was placed outside the reading flow and information hierarchy, with low contrast. Consequently, 6/10 participants couldn’t find it.
Key Changes
Based on the insights, significant changes were made to the page components according to the feedback collected during user testing. The main changes were:
Comparative Table
In the vehicle version comparison, the dropdown was removed, as some users commented that it was challenging to click on mobile devices. Additionally, each version now includes a field explaining the version’s unique features, such as the Cargo and e-Scudo focusing on load hooks, and Scudo Multi emphasizing the number of passengers.
Another improvement was the creation of a "General" category in the comparative table to condense the most important information differentiating the vehicle versions: price, usage type, fuel type, presence of side windows, and required driver's license type (an information highly sought after by participants).
All About
The "All About" component, which lists all the vehicle's specificities, should have fewer slides, with short and direct texts, avoiding "fluff" (as users described). Additionally, a thematic axis was added to discuss vehicle modifications to suit different business types.
Versions
In the versions tab, it was noted that the vehicle's dimensions, an essential piece of information for users, should be easily accessible alongside the car images, without the "SHOW DIMENSIONS" step previously proposed in V2. This way, users could check the dimensions without needing to call customer service or visit a dealership.
Image Gallery
In the image gallery, the images and photo captions were revised to emphasize information that was truly relevant to users. Previously, the captions and images focused more on the vehicle’s design, but this approach shifted to highlight practical information, such as the number of internal tie-down hooks in the cargo area.
Before - Inspirational texts that don't provide real information
After - Texts that convey relevant information to the user
English Term Translation
In addition to the proposed changes, the tests revealed that many terminologies used on the page were not understood by users. Thus, the terms were translated and adapted to facilitate user understanding of the vehicle’s features.
Final Delivery
Conclusion
This case demonstrated the power of the Design process when fully implemented, solving user problems and showcasing how the collaborative work between UX Design and UX Writing can deliver superior results that exceed client expectations and achieve the proposed goals with flying colors.
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