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Case Studies:
Dutton Garage
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Harrie Cobcroft

Hi, I'm Harrie

I’m a product designer who thrives on
shaping complexity into coherence.

Case Study

I'm Harrie,

a product designer
based in Sydney.

Since I can remember, I've always noticed and critiqued the design of things in my everyday interactions, constantly fascinated by how and why they were made that way.

My design philosophy is about breaking down a problem into its most basic components in order to lay strong foundations to handle obstacles and improve solutions down the line.

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.

- Pablo Picasso

I feel this applies to many aspects of life; I love jazz fusion for its innovation and complexity, but I couldn't fully appreciate how technically impressive the music was until I tried learning to play an instrument myself.

Find me off duty...

Playing Smash Bros

Smash brings out my inner nerd and has taught me about competition. Through competing and commentating, I've made countless global connections.

Exploring Music

I've been playing drums since I was 8, and love rap, jazz, fusion, funk, and everything in-between.

Travelling

I've visited 12 countries, and my best experiences are always off the beaten path. I cherish the human connections made by venturing a little further.

Watching Docos

My heart belongs to educational YouTube videos about seldom useful, but constantly fascinating topics.

Hover over an image to learn more.

Super-secret text. (don't tell anyone)

Case Study

I'm

Harrie.

I'm a
a
& an
problem solver,
people understander,
information simplifier,‍
I make

&
beautiful,
functional,
memorable things
I'm a
with
product designer
3 years experience‍
for

&
Toll Group,
Dutton Group,
MojoCrowe
I love

&
jazz fusion,
super smash bros,
educational YouTube‍
Look at
my
or a
my playlist,
recent smash results
random video I like
My Design
My Experience
My Life

Case Study

Optimising usability while showcasing prestige, for Dutton Garage’s website

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Client:
Dutton Automotive is a market leader in the Australian used car dealership market. While they have many branches for more affordable cars, their most prestigious dealership is Dutton Garage in Melbourne, where they sell their most luxurious and collectible cars.
Role:
Project Lead
Scope:
2 week sprint
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The Brief.

The Dutton Group approached us to revamp their duttongarage.com website, focusing on both the UX and layout.

They were recently acquired by the Japanese conglomerate Sojitz, who requested updates for the Dutton Garage website, recognising it was outdated in many aspects. Dutton's own graphic design team could handle the visual specifics, they wanted us to focus on the layout and UX of the websites.
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The Research.

We needed to break down everything, the website, the competitors, and the different user's goals.

First, we deconstructed every relevant section of both websites to identify the necessary screens.
Next, we created three personas to better understand users' start and end goals in order to design the flow.
Finally, we researched competitors and analogous brands, to see how they would accomplish our persona’s end goals.
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The Findings.

We learnt countless specific tips for each section, but there were some main takeaways.

1.
Reveal elements as you scroll to create a sense of unveiling.
2.
Prices aren't the main focus; keep them visible but not prominent.
3.
Use big, striking photos to make the car the hero and spark curiosity.
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The Ideation.

Dutton loved the direction, emphasising their need for clear animations in the prototype, to showcase our design.

With the go-ahead, we first refined the website's information architecture until we were happy, prioritising call-to-action buttons based on our personas' user flows.
Next, we went section-by-section of the website, creating mockups, while incorporating Dutton’s desired features and again, refining until we were satisfied.
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The Creation.

They loved the mock-ups, so we started on creating and animating our Hi-Fi designs

While the final look is for Client's graphic design team, we used Dutton Garage’s brand colour scheme, while still leaving room for the designers to customise.
The Prototype.

The Clients loved the prototype, saying our mock animations were on par with professionals they’d hired in the past.

They’ve since sent the designs to their graphic design team.
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The Learnings.

Leadership

My first time managing a design team taught me the importance of communication, delegation, and management.

Time

Prioritising research and development over synthesis was risky but effective. This approach worked well under a tight deadline, but may not work in all scenarios.

Animation

I was responsible for the animating because I was the only one with after effects experience, however through this process I learned a lot more about animation and interaction, making me a lot more confident.

If we had more time, we would have benefited from user testing each concept and feature, as well as researching what actually draws people to the store, and how they become customers. As team lead, I would have made a greater effort to understand the team better, and delegate tasks more effectively from the start.

Case Study

Tackling MojoCrowe’s app navigation issues while adapting our design strategy to align with business goals.

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Client:
The Mojo Crowe app is a life coaching tool that provides interactive courses, tips, and video tutorials to help improve your life and career. Founded by celebrity mindset coach Ben Crowe, to make his teachings accessible to everyone.
Role:
Research Lead
Scope:
3 week sprint
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The Brief.

Mojo Crowe came to us about their users struggling to navigate their app.

They initially suggested an AI-powered virtual assistant to guide users to the right courses. However, during our initial meeting, they were vague about the AI specifics.
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The Research.

We found users were confused by the features of the app, finding the surrounding descriptions unclear.

We tested the app with four new users, and interviewed them along with four current users, while extensively using the app ourselves.

0/4

0/4 new users

No new user could accurately describe what the app's goal was after using it for twenty minutes.

1/8

1/8 users

Only one of the users interviewed had confidence the AI would be more beneficial than not.

Clarity Issues

Both inside and outside the app, the communication about what Mojo Crowe offers and its features was unclear.

Bugs

The app was extremely unresponsive and frequently crashed, a major pain point for current users.

Trust in AI

Users were sceptical about the AI working correctly due to the app's overall bugginess, fearing frustration if the AI didn't perform well.

We also found through our general research...

Building a sophisticated chatbot could be very expensive, and might add more complexity than necessary, given that Chat GPT could be used to point users to the right courses more efficiently, and for free.
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The Twist.

But the clients were already aware of all this, and they revealed the real reason why they wanted AI involved

Realising the miscommunication, we pivoted to focus on understanding their reasoning. We discovered that their main goal was to enhance their B2B sales by being able to market the app as "AI-powered." This revelation meant we had to rethink our approach.
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The Ideation.

How might we enhance the clarity and performance of the Mojo Crowe app to build user trust and guide users to the right courses, using cost-effective AI solutions that appeal to B2B clients?

With this new information, we mapped out which issues could incorporate AI solutions, and which needed to be addressed differently, along with the associated costs for each approach.
We identified which solutions could benefit from AI and which couldn't. Based on these findings, we brainstormed and had extensive discussions with the client, followed by user interviews. This process led us to develop a workable solution.
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The Solution.

The Mojo Crowe virtual assistant feature improves clarity while incorporating AI at a low cost to the business.

7/8

7/8 Users

Almost all the users we asked, prefer the assistant method to find a course.

The Clients

The clients were extremely pleased with the revision, praising us for "solving our business problem at the same time." They plan to incorporate it after addressing the UI and performance issues.
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The Learnings.

Client Needs

Clients, like users, may struggle to communicate their needs. I need to be mindful of this and ensure I understand all factors at play.

Definition

Honestly defining the problem as Ai language being more important than the technology, led to discovering simpler AI solutions that fulfilled this need and exceeded their expectations.

Research

Comprehensive Research: Diving deep into user testing and interviews really paid off. Asking a broad range of questions is what gave us the insights needed to pivot when the project direction changed.

If I could do this again, I would ensure I thoroughly understand the client's intentions from the start, even if they seem clear. If we had more time, I would have liked to interview potential B2B customers to gauge how important AI is to them and which aspects appeal the most.

Case Study

Simplifying the Australian rental application process, by bypassing current systems.

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The Assumption:
In Australia, renters and landlords find the rental application process overly tedious and complicated. They desire a simpler, more streamlined experience. However, the current third-party entities hold significant power and are resistant to making any changes.
Role:
Product Design & Research
Scope:
2 Month Solo Project
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The Validation.

There's was no public research available, so I had to validate this myself.

Most statistics focused on Australians' market security feelings rather than the application process itself. So I surveyed 137 people to directly gauge experiences.

100%

Strongly Disagree

"I believe the current rental application system is as simple as it should be."

97%

Above 8/10

"On a scale from 1 to 10, how stressful do you find the typical rental application process in Australia?"
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The Research.

With overwhelming confirmation, I set out to gain a deeper understanding of the issue.

I interviewed six people aged 20 to 43, learning about specific frustrations, as well as unique ways people already overcome certain problems. I also heavily researched the market to try find anyone else attempting to solve this.

Communication

Users find organising within joint rental applications is difficult and confusing

Effort

Users feel they have to put in more effort than should be needed

Management

Users struggle to keep on top of all the applications, inspections, etc...

Current Market

The solution will have to work within, or around realestate.com.au, Domain and OneForm.

Rejection

The biggest pain point is rejection AFTER putting in so much effort
I broke down the application process into its steps and brainstormed solutions for each. It soon became clear that the features needed to be triaged based on their viability for an initial prototype.
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The Ideation.

refining the solutions, it was clear a single solution wouldn't suffice.

Therefore, a 'Swiss army knife' app emerged as the most practical approach due to its accessibility and ease of use.

After selecting the features, I worked on the app's information architecture, grouping and prioritising until satisfied. Ideally, I would have tested with users, but the simplicity of the layout made this less necessary.
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The Solution.

Finally, I created and animated the final design.

I was pretty happy with the final look. I focused on simplicity to minimise confusion. I took care to make the Figma prototype as interactive as possible, in order to user test it thoroughly.
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The Testing.

I tested the interactive design on 4 users, who gave me some helpful tips and data.

They helped refine the layout and suggested valuable features. These included a hashtag system in the chat for referring to specific houses and email templates that appear as text boxes for easier editing, eliminating an unnecessary screen.
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The Next Steps.

Refine current features through more user testing, expand features, implement tools for current renters, test the name and branding, improve graphic design, research more advanced technological features for a larger budget, and more thoroughly test the information architecture.

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The Learnings.

Scope

With many potential rabbit holes to explore, I'm glad I selected and prioritised accordingly to make the project more feasible.

Testing

Given more time, many aspects could have been improved through additional user testing.

Synthesis

The comprehensive synthesis was invaluable, helping align my thoughts and guiding the process.