The launch of our new Spinner technology achieves the goal of providing car buyers with a truly immersive and interactive experience that allows them to virtually tour vehicles online like never before. Below we share the story of how this cutting edge Carvana innovation came to life by providing a behind-the-scenes look courtesy of the creative and collaborative minds who made it all possible. Our story continues with Dave W. (a senior Ul designer) and Marc T. (a lead UX designer), two Carvana designers who worked intimately with incorporating the brand new Spinner onto Carvana.com.
“LET’S BREAK THIS WHOLE THING OPEN”
It’s one thing to dream up an idea, but it’s another thing entirely to put it practically into practice. In many ways, that was the charge of Dave and Marc, two design pros working out of Carvana’s Venice, Calif. office who were integral in executing the breathtaking visuals and seamless transitions you see taking place between the new Carvana Spinner and the rest of the revamped Carvana.com website. The interplay between these two elements is essential to providing visitors to Carvana’s website with an unfettered user experience, ensuring that everything fits and flows as it should.
Dave and Marc’s work on the new Spinner actually predates Carvana’s acquisition of Car360, making them some of the longest-tenured participants on not only the Spinner project, but the advancement of the Carvana online experience as we know it.
“I think the Spinner came up as a project before I even started at Carvana, and I think even before Marc started,” said Dave. “At the time, we were really just looking to create an improved Spinner experience from what originally existed on Carvana.com.”
“The Spinner used to be Flash,” said Marc. “We were basically charged with finding a solution to improving the Spinner that didn’t involve using Flash.
“With that in mind, our approach was just redesign everything – not just the Spinner, but the Vehicle Details Page (VDP) and the whole site. That’s what kind of started everything that’s been going on with this project. The work specifically on the Spinner though started about two years ago. Over that time, it’s probably gone through six or seven different iterations.”
As Dave and Marc workshopped their own concepts for what they envisioned the new Spinner would look like, a seismic shift in outlook and what was possible came following Carvana’s acquisition of Car360.
“It was a huge impact,” said Marc of Carvana’s acquisition of Car360.
“For comparison sake, it was like if we were on Iron Chef and we were cooking with the ingredients that we have and then we get thrown a completely new main ingredient. We almost had to go back to the drawing board and rethink everything … It was no longer, ‘What is the fastest thing you can get done that optimizes what we have currently.’ It quickly became, ‘Let’s break this whole thing open and make the Spinner the ultimate pay-off for customers.’”
With the project now complete, Dave and Marc are hopeful that their efforts on the Spinner properly reflect that very goal; to create an experience that will linger with Carvana customers long after they complete their vehicle purchase online.
“I think the service and the experience we provide as a company is reflected well with this all-new Spinner redesign,” said Marc. “We want people to think of Carvana as a company that, from start to finish, provided one of the best customer experiences they’ve ever had.
“I think the second you land on the VDP and you see a huge shot of the vehicle and it’s in high resolution, high definition and it’s kind of finessed and refined, I think that makes you feel good about a used car you’re looking at.”
