Victor Swarovski

LGM, a leader in Canada’s automotive industry, provides top-tier automotive finance and insurance products. LGM has been named one of Canada’s PROFIT 500 fastest-growing companies for several consecutive years. LGM HUB has been designed and developed in-house to assist with many aspects of this complex business model.

The HUB complexity

LGM HUB is... well, a hub that connects product creation, sales processes, claim management, payments, training and much more into a comprehensive, full-suite solution that can be customized for a variety of automotive OEM brands.

The challenge

The HUB project presented us with several UX challenges, primarily related to the diversity of user groups and the complexity and intensity of data presented on limited screen real estate. Balancing the needs of multiple user groups with varying requirements was a significant challenge.

The UI had to be customizable to accommodate the branding of each OEM brand while still respecting the unique user flows and business objectives of each user group. This added an additional layer of complexity to the design process. Unifying the UI elements into a coherent system that served the needs of all user groups while still being flexible enough to allow for customization was a major challenge. The limited screen real estate added further complexity, requiring us to carefully consider how to present the required information in a way that was easy to understand and use.

Oh, did I mention that the whole UI had to be localized for both English and French, eh?

UX methodology

The approach to the challenging UX/UI complexity included an empathic understanding of end users to create meaningful experiences that enable them to do what they do faster and better. It starts with understanding the business, followed by user research and product-feature audit. Based on that insight, we implemented key screens in wireframes that allow us to deliver initial products to test our core hypothesis.

Focus on user research

In the HUB project, we had to cater to multiple user groups with diverse needs and objectives. Sales personnel at the dealership level had different requirements compared to those in the Claims or Financial teams. It was crucial to understand the specific challenges and goals of each user group and design a user experience that meets their individual needs.

Our approach involved mapping out the different user groups and configuring the user flow to best serve their objectives. By creating a tailored user experience for each user group, we ensured the success of the HUB platform, making it an effective and user-friendly solution for all stakeholders.

Research methods we conducted

User Surveys: Feedback was collected through online questionnaires and surveys to understand user preferences and opinions.

User Interviews: Face-to-face interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights into user behavior, attitudes, and motivations. I spent many hours with LGM Claims and Financial teams to observe challenges they face using the system.

Immersion trips: Typically sales-supported, on the ground research helped us talk to and learn directly from our local dealership users.

Remote Usability Testing: A scripted study of the HUB usage was done in order to focus the insights on specific application areas, such as a newly redesigned flow. We contracted a company (usertesting.com) to provide the service of testing the HUB UI with real users in a remote setting. We paid for dedicated user time, and recorded session of the user's interactions and comments.

Heat Map Analysis: The data gathered from heat map analysis was used to inform design decisions and optimize the UI.

Conclusion

The design of financial applications like HUB presents a unique challenge, as it requires a delicate balance between ease of use and the handling of complex financial information. This balancing act becomes increasingly complex as the need for strict security and regulatory compliance must also be met. To truly create an effective user experience, it is essential to account for a diverse range of user skills and backgrounds, ensuring that the interface is both accessible and intuitive. Achieving this delicate balance between functionality, simplicity, security, and accessibility requires careful consideration and expert execution.

HUB UI design direction

Keep the content and visual design of UI focused on the essentials.

Don't let unnecessary elements distract users from important information.

Prioritize content and features to support business goals.

Improving consistency

The HUB experienced a gradual decline in consistency due to various factors including shifts in personnel and multiple contributors working on different components. To rectify this, I implemented consistency as a core principle and ensured that all new features were developed with a holistic approach, taking into account all existing modules. I also established visual consistency across our offerings by crafting a comprehensive brand style guide and making it readily accessible through our centralized specification repository.

UI/UX consistency also helps the users establish behavioural patterns and decreases the learning curve.

Layered information helps users to focus on their tasks without losing the context of the UI.

Colour coding helps meaningfully group the information to minimize UI clutter.

By using the innovative HUB system, OEMs are able to offer branded F&I products to their dealers with ease and convenience. The application supports the lifecycle of a customizable product suite, including product definition and pricing, product sales, contract generation, dealership invoicing and payments, claims processing, cancellations and amendments, contract expiry and comprehensive reporting.

Key UI elements can be pinned to the browser to customize user experience.

The multi-tenant, white-label application hosts both SecureDrive (LGM’s independent proprietary offering) and OEM-branded products. It supports full localization of all inputs, outputs and contractual documentation in English and French, as well as regional differences necessitated by varying tax structures and laws.

Innovative revenue-generating features such as eMenu and promotions support an increase in the number of products sold per vehicle and an increase in product sales. The immediate roadmap includes robust integration with Dealer Management Systems (DMS), fully automated claims processing and enhanced features for dealership users such as Performance Monitoring.

Benefits

Since the HUB launch, LGM has benefited from the following business efficiencies:

Over four times faster “time-to-market" releases for products. The HUB Product Configurator, Rule Engine and Pricing Module has enabled LGM to launch more than 80 products (new or updated) since launch. We project 110 product launches in the next year. This is four times faster than the capabilities of LGM’s predecessor system.

With complete adoption, 100% online processing of contract amendments and cancellations using the HUB’s self-serve feature. All amendment and cancellation requests were previously submitted through phone calls, fax and emails.

An 11% increase in online claims submission for eligible products by service managers at dealerships. The increase rate is projected to reach 25% in the next year, leading to savings in claims processing costs.

A projected 2% increase in contract to VIN ratio over the coming year because of the new eMenu feature.