CASE STUDY
vinhammer
auto auction
My Roles
- Creative Direction
- UX Design
- Proposals & Estimates
- Budgeting
- Account Management
- Partner Agency Relationships
- Team Leadership
- Project Menagement
- Client Presentations
My Team
Gillian Pemberton, Content Manager
Alex White, Junior Designer
Elias Sabba, Senior Designer
Jessette Long, Copywriter
Managed Resources
Design Source Media, Partner Agency
Auction Simplified, Platform Developer
The challenge
The scope was to create a startup auto auction website with a better UX and more contemporary UI than other current vehicle auction sites. The site needed to handle heavy traffic and instantaneous transactions, while offering 24/7 support. Features such as instant messaging, direct messaging, SMS and email notifications, anti-bid-sniping functionality, user dashboards, and more would need to be custom built. Full branding, SEO, and marketing were also part of the scope.
The solution
After much research, it was determined that the best solution was to create a custom website in WordPress and import Auction Simplified’s functionality via API. This allowed us to create all of the required custom features while having more control over the UI/UX. We worked closely with Auction Simplified to add new functionality to their API, such as anti-bid-sniping which was not previously available. Marketing efforts began six months prior to launch in order to generate a following and collect a log of auctions to have ready on the site at launch.
the process
Many moving pieces needed to be managed to launch a large ecommerce website.
I provided creative direction and project management for our in-house team and outsourced contractors. I designed the UX framework of the site and acted as the point of contact for partner agencies and stakeholders. Weekly meetings were held with the client, developers, and designers, keeping everyone on task and on budget, and ensuring timely deliverables and milestones.
Competitive Analysis
A thorough competitive analysis was conducted to identify advantages and pain points of competitor sites to improve user experience.
Branding
Full branding and identity package was designed, including logo, stationary, business cards, note cards, and a digital brand guide.
Auction Website
A custom WordPress website with auction functionality was pulled in from Auction Simplified via API. Additional custom functionality was also developed and implemented.
Landing Page
A teaser landing page was created with information about VINHammer, and discounts were offered for the first 50 auctions to appear on the site the day of launch.
Organic Social
A retainer contract was secured for organic social media which increased VINHammer’s online presence.
PPC and SEO
Display ads targeted users of other auction websites and retargeted those who visited the landing page. SEO is ongoing to generate new traffic daily.
