SHEER DRIVING PLEASURE - B2C

Overview

Today many people rely on online digital experiences to explore, compare and configure their next vehicle before even stepping into a dealership. The BMW configurator plays a big role into the entire customer purchase journey and by improving the configurator, we aimed to simplify the process to help users make informed choices based on their preferences, display vehicles that match 90% to their needs, budget and availability of the vehicle. By personalizing the user experience and making it a smooth transition between online to offline touchpoint's, we wanted to create a unified and premium journey that reflects BMW's brand promise: Sheer Driving Pleasure

Role

Senior UX/UI Designer

E-Commerce

Timeline

January 21, 2025

Live

www.bmw.de

The Problem

The existing BMW Configurator experience showed several challenges that affected the user experience, decision choices and confidence and the conversion into dealership action (e.g. test drive or purchase inquiries).

Many customers abandoned the journey after realizing their configured vehicle would take months to arrive. They weren’t aware that similar, ready-to-deliver models already existed in stock, leading to missed sales opportunities and longer decision times.

The BMW ID login appeared too early in the process, right after “Additional Packages.” At this stage, users were still exploring and not yet ready to share personal details. This interruption often caused frustration and drop-offs.

Previously, customers could only compare vehicles after logging into their profile. This created unnecessary friction for casual browsers and made it harder to explore differences between models.

The Problem

Broken Journey

The users often got lost between the "Build Your Own" tool to retailers and financing steps. Each tool felt disconnected which required multiple logins and logins too soon or repeated inputs.

Lack of user guidance

Users had limited car knowledge and struggled with selecting a suitable configuration (e.g. engine, trim or packages). Many left the site due to decision fatigue and often wanted to purchase a vehicle that was already available.

Drop-Off Before Checkout

Analytics showed a high abandonment rate after users view the summary screen too and often due to missing options to save, share or connect directly with the retailer, they would also drop off.

The Problem

The Solution

This concept design of BMW Germany's configurator solution addresses the current problems of users, retailers and stakeholders.

We wanted to introduce “Similar Vehicles” feature that highlights cars already available at local dealerships. This gave customers faster options reducing delivery time from around six months to just one or two weeks and helped BMW convert interest into real purchases sooner.
We moved the login step to the end of the journey, allowing users to complete their configuration first. This created a smoother, more natural flow users could focus on building their ideal car before deciding to save or share it.

We added a public “Compare Vehicles” feature that allows users to compare up to three vehicles side by side no login required. This gave users more freedom to explore and helped them make confident decisions earlier in the process.