Enterprise Rent-A-Car App
Overview
GOAL
Create Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s first mobile app. Prioritize quick and intuitive rental creation while championing Enterprise’s customer centric values.
ROLE
Lead UX Designer, Researcher, Analytics (Team of 3 UXers)
KEY PROBLEMS TO SOLVE
Searching globally for over 8,000 locations. For example the US and France often have the same zip codes. This makes it challenging to have a single search box that serves results globally. Figuring out the user’s search intentions with minimal information was key.
How to utilize the user’s past actions to make future rentals quicker
Integrate with bookings made via the website and other co-owned brands.
Overcome past experiences that led some user groups to be distrustful of rental car companies (Larger problem in European markets)
Research, conceptual design, and user testing set the foundation for the final designs
Research reinforced the that fact that user prioritized convenience highly. However establishing trust was also very important. The UI could be super convenient but if the user sensed they might have problems with a rental car company it didn’t matter. This was often based on past experiences.
The Design
KEY SOLUTIONS
Searching accepts a wide range of location types, from neighborhoods to countries. This created a large result set so focus was placed on providing relevant and tailored results. (ex. when it’s appropriate to show Paris, France vs. Paris, Texas)
Including numerous trust builders such as easy access customer support and price transparency
The app knows if you have an upcoming or active rental and changes to home screen to match.
Seamless experience from the website to the app and back.
HOME SCREEN
Because the the user’s goals shift when they pick up a rental, the home screen changes based on the users rental status to match what they prioritize most at that moment.
A phone icon is shown in the top right whenever possible. Having a human point of contact is an important part of the Enterprise brand. It also helps with the trust problems we identified during research by providing users a sense of security.
SEARCH
Searching takes into account data such as user’s location, city density, branch density, and date/time to provide the user with a useful set of options while not overwhleming them with choices.
PRICE & TRANSPARENCY
Price display was very important in establishing trust. User’s often had previous bad experiences with the price changing after selection (fees or taxes). Total cost is shown upfront and it doesn’t change.
One side effect of this in American markets is users almost expect to get tricked. Prices often don’t include taxes and travel purchases (ex. airlines) often have later fees. So this created a risk when users price shopped and expected the price shown not to be truthful or final.
Clear labeling was used to help reduce this risk.
Research drives good design,
so here is a random fact
The name “Enterprise” comes from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise which the founder served on during WWII.