Helping Lexus design the future of car rental
Over a 5-month, part-time contract, I co-designed a new app and marketing campaign launching Lexus’ car rental service — Lexus One.
Understanding the problem
Responding to shifting customer attitudes in the car market, Lexus planned to launch a brand new service: Lexus One. This service was to offer customers car subscriptions, a relatively new concept in car rental. Customers would need to sign up to the service through an app, complete security and verification checks, choose their car, and arrange the delivery. Once they had the car, they could manage their subscription on a one-month rolling basis.
With this briefing, the problems we needed to solve were clear:
We needed to attract a segment of customers who value the craftsmanship of Lexus cars, relative to the higher price point
We needed to help those customers understand how this new form of car rental works
We needed to support them through onboarding, bearing in mind the excellent quality of service Lexus customers have come to expect
Process
I was brought into this project just after the research phase, so my process began with interrogating that research and drawing conclusions to inform my product and content design. At the same time, I studied the Lexus design frameworks, with a goal achieving the familiar Lexus tone and design style. I took the personas drafted by the Design Lead and researchers, and began sketching out how the service might cater to each.
Once that was done, I moved on to the design process, along with the Design Lead who brought me into the project. Together, we defined what would need to happen at each step in the onboarding. I designed many drafts of content and visual wireframes over this period, working through them with the director for product management and other stakeholders. I took care to design clear, supportive, and reassuring experiences and content, particularly in the security and verification flows.
After delivering the final drafts, I moved on to the supporting material. This ranged from designing marketing content, such as a landing page introducing the new service and social media posts, to customer support email templates.
Outcome
Lexus has since launched the service and has had a positive reception in many markets. As a result of my high-performing designs and content, many customers have signed up to their new car subscriptions with a minimum of hassle.