A lot to love about personalised plates
Overview
Personalised Plates Queensland sells a variety of number plates for drivers to add character to their car. Some of the most valuable are Q Plates, which evoke the state's motoring heritage.
In 2022, the popularity of Q Plates accelerated out of control. PPQ tried an online queuing system to manage demand. The online queue wasn't enough.
PPQ pivoted to rolling out an auctions platform.
The project
- At a glance
- Project goals
- Discourage massively-inflated resale price for Q Plates
- Capitalise on high-value number plate combinations
- Project team
- Director
2 x full-stack developers, internal
Senior UX designer - My role
- UX design, UX research, UI design, business analysis
- Project duration
- Five months in total
The challenge was clear from the start–
How to align customers' needs and wants with PPQ's strategic direction?
To answer this high-value question, we approached the project using best- practice UX processes, specifically the Double Diamond framework. It helped align the team on identifying the right problems first, so we knew we would be delivering the right solution.
It meant we kept our focus on our customers and delivered a successful solution.
The context
Behind the runaway popularity
Hand-crafted Q Plates are the most desirable number plate product.
- Q Plates retail for $4,500 each, with only 360 sets produced a year
- They are often re-sold for more than $50,000... with some fetching $168,000 (an increase of 3000%)
- Retail prices were later raised to $8,500 to slow the demand for Q Plates.
But the frenzy continued to spiral.
- The site’s security was stretched to the breaking point
- Public sentiment tanked, and customers grew frustrated. Formal complaints were lodged with the Transport Minister
- PPQ needed to discourage customers from reselling Q Plates at astronomical prices yet also maximise their revenue opportunities
PPQ decided to move to an auction system. How could our team position the new system to meet both goals at launch?
1. Research
What was driving the Q Plates craze?
The project team needed to understand why customers were behaving in problematic ways.
- Looked into what customers had been saying. We needed to clarify their needs, wants, pain points, motivations, and behavioural patterns
- Gathered evidence from PPQ's customer service team, sales data, site analytics, as well as special interest groups on Reddit, Marketplace
- A research plan was prepared but declined by leadership. It proposed customer interviews, to learn how they might respond in a variety of auction scenarios.
2. Synthesis
Who were the customers?
After evaluating the data, we learned which customer groups were beneficial to PPQ... and which groups needed to be managed
- Two competing groups: Long-term Collectors and arm’s-length Investors – one buying Q Plates for the love, the other buying for profit
- Two smaller groups: Enthusiasts and the General Public – who weren't interested in Q Plates, but might be curious about auctions
- Importantly, we now understood each group’s values and buying patterns. This meant we could revise personas and forecast responses to the auction platform
What would those customers need in the new system?
After the initial research, we concluded that to succeed, the new system must:
- Emphasise transparency and neutrality – To rebuild trust with PPQ customers. We especially needed to support long-term plate collectors, with clear, transparent communication
- Make a fresh start – by not alluding to the Q Plates sales periods or its previous controversies
- Encourage loyalty – by supporting more people to become collectors and enjoy their experience.
What integrations did PPQ need?
PPQ is a complex organisation. It required the auctions platform to seamlessly integrate with existing business systems
- From start to finish, customers would flow through:
- A registration system
- An auction system showing listings and bids
- A system for final payment/order processing
- We drew Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) diagrams to map the system. This included the collection, transformation, delivery and sequence of information throughout each step
- Using these diagrams, we could identify areas of complexity. In turn, this shaped the priorities in our design approach.
Customers take centre stage
Before the next phase started, we wanted to verify our auctions would meet the customers' needs. We did this by creating an innovative Customer Journey Map
- We put our updated personas to the test, stepping each one through the BPMN diagrams, as if each persona was competing in an auction
- This hybrid BPMN x Customer Journey Map forecasted areas of heightened emotional states
- We used the insights to refine and iterate the design approach.
Spotlight moment #1
Challenging our thinking on credit cards
One system requirement posed a major challenge. Auction participants needed to provide their credit card details before they could bid
- From the research, we knew customers had low levels of trust with PPQ. Re-establishing a positive relationship would be crucial for success
- We used content design strategies to embed empathy and transparency as part of the registration and payment flows
- As a team, we role-played the updated personas to affirm that the designs were likely to improve trust.
3. Ideation
Time to assemble our strategic solution
With these insights assembled, we got to work building out the auction system.
- We re-skinned the auction software, and selected relevant features based on our research
- Design decisions communicated as wireframes and interactive prototypes in Figma
- There were several rapid iterations of the design, in response to new information and insights.
Spotlight moment #2
Practical integration between platforms
PPQ had a members' portal, which managed plate ownership, orders, and delivery.
- Auctions were integrated into the existing 'Incomplete orders' table.
- This meant customers would already be familiar with how manufacturing and shipping worked.
- In turn, this would increase their trust in the way auctions would be fulfilled.
4. Delivery
Packed up and ready to go
We created high-fidelity designs in HTML + CSS files, ready for the dev team.
- Enabled efficient approval from stakeholders. They could visualise and understand the entire auction process
- Incorporated techniques to improve accessibility and WCAG compliance
- Front-end development was completed under budget. Developers were able to quickly and accurately turn designs into code.
The result
A new system that customers actually love
The first 11 Q Plates went under the electronic hammer in July 2023
- Since then, 6 more auctions completed
- Average +25% increase over retail price
- One plate sold for $100,000
- Customers love it a lot
Customer support team reported a significant positive shift in sentiment.
