Carputty Customer Experience

Leading the redesign of an auto financing application for a fintech startup to decrease customer confusion and process delays.

About Carputty

Carputty is an auto-financing startup offering a single line of credit to replace multiple auto loans. Members complete one credit check and can add vehicles over time without reapplying—perfect for car collectors, multi-car families, and fleet owners.

The Problem

Carputty faced challenges with customer confusion about the financing process.

Key issues included:

Difficulty finding help resources.
Lack of clarity around vehicle eligibility.
Miscommunication between customers and dealers.

15%

of all customer calls were to resolve communication with dealers.

25%

of vehicle cancellations resulted from vehicle requirement confusion.

My Role

As the sole product designer, I used analytics, customer feedback, and agent insights to identify communication gaps causing cancellations and delays.

Then, I partnered with product leaders and engineers to redesign the financing process, prioritizing key features and creating a flexible plan for future updates.

The Solution

Improved messaging for members across the interface to improve clarity and simplify the process for customers.

Clear Vehicle Status

Banners clarify the status of ongoing vehicle purchases.

Then

Customers frequently contacted service agents to confirm whether they needed to take action to proceed with their vehicle purchase.

Now

Status banners help customers instantly know if any action is needed to move their vehicle purchase forward, or if there’s an error to address.

Process Guidance

Relevant instructions and visual progress indicators show customers what to expect at each step.

Then

Customer questions often centered on communication with dealers, including when to contact them and what each party was responsible for.

Now

At every step in the purchasing process, customers are reminded of what to expect next. A progress tracker provides context of their current position within the transaction process.

Reducing Cancellations

Overviews of vehicle requirements are available at every point.

Then

Many transactions were canceled later in the process because vehicles or dealers did not meet requirements, wasting time for customers, dealers, and Carputty.

Now

Informational cards on the customer's dashboard, and throughout their application, offer guidance on FAQ's about vehicle or dealer standards.

Reducing Errors

Prefilled vehicle details reduce customer error.

Then

Many vehicle cancellations due to vehicles being inelligeble were due to customer error entering vehicle mileage, VIN, or price. 

Now

The customer enters their vehicle's VIN, which is used to automatically fill vehicle details for customer review. This reduces customer errors and minimizes time spent on manual entry for the customer.

Improved Communication

A document upload portal simplifies collaboration with dealer partners.

Then

Service agents relied on email to collect documentation from customers and dealers, leading to delays, security risks, and increased manual entry errors.

Now

A document upload portal for dealers streamlines the car buying process and reduces confusing back-and-forth communication between customers, dealers, and Carputty representatives.

Research

With limited time and resources for new research, I leveraged existing data, collaborated with internal teams, and analyzed customer behavior to to identify communication breakdowns in our auto financing process.

Metrics

I kick-off my projects by learning about existing customer behavior.

Using Fullstory and Metabase, I looked at site traffic to understand how customers accessed help resources and which questions were most frequently visited.

1

The majority of FAQ visitors (20%) came from bookmarked links.

2

Customers would repeatedly access the same FAQs while applying, over and over again.

Vehicle and Transportation Requirements at 25.32%
Applying for a Flexline at 19.13%
Using Your Flexline at 14.96%

Customer Calls

I always find a way to get feedback directly from customers.

I reviewed call data and email feedback to identify recurring complaints and questions about our process.

1

Process delays most often occurred due to member confusion about when to contact their dealer.

2

Most canceled or declined applications resulted from customers attempting to add ineligible vehicles or dealers.

"When do I add a vehicle to my credit line? At the dealership after agreeing to the sale, or at a later date?"

"If I find a car I like, can I buy it the same day? Should I add that car to my flexline first so I can go to the dealership knowing I'm financed?"

"Is there a how-to video from 'finding a car' to 'taking it home'?"

Design

I started the design process by synthesizing user feedback to create a list of data-backed design suggestions.

Setting Design Requirements

I always connect my designs to research.

To communicate my suggestions to the product team, I mapped out our members' journey and pain points, then connected those directly to design suggestions.

Strategizing Priorities

I bring my team into my process to create business sensitive solutions.

I collaborated with developers and product leadership to evaluate the priority of each suggested feature based on:

Code Efficiency: Can the new component be reused in the product?
Strategic Alignment: Does the feature support upcoming launches?
Customer Impact: Will this feature improve the likelihood of a successful vehicle purchase?

Some features, like notification banners, were technically complex to implement. However, after discussing with the development team, we realized the value of this feature—it could also be used across other ongoing projects for our internal product.

From Concept to Prototype

I began by mapping out the customer journey, from starting a transaction to picking up their car, intentifying key screens that needed clarity based on research insights.

Then, I brainstormed on UI templates to create visual consistency, distinguishing informational screens from action-oriented ones.

Finally, I collaborated with internal agents—who deeply understood vehicle requirements and processes—to refine content and develop prototypes.

Design System

I worked closely with developers, product leaders, and operations teams to plan a smooth transition from the current interface to the new design.

To maintain branding consistency and save time, we prioritized reusable components—like banners, buttons, and modals—for early development, ensuring they could be applied across multiple projects.

Reflection

This project required significant collaboration, not only with developers but also with service agents and other stakeholders across the company. The key challenge was balancing the need to provide customers with timely information without overwhelming them, while also addressing usability issues that couldn’t be solved with more instructions alone. It was essential to understand the current process and the needs of all parties involved.

Frequent check-ins with service agents provided valuable insights into customer experiences and helped build their buy-in. Similarly, close coordination with developers helped identify edge cases and establish realistic timelines.