Car shopping is a time consuming process that includes an average of 140 search queries* yet results in 39% of car buyers expressing remorse*. However, 52% of customers are interested in help from AI*. So, we created an inspired decision engine to demonstrate that the concept of a luxury hotel concierge could come to the rescue of luxury automotive shoppers and extend the Genesis “honored guest” brand value.
A lean team completed this effort from alignment workshops, through UI/X, content and prompt engineering, to launch in an astonishing 10 weeks by combining senior talent, a crystal clear scope and our existing experience designing and developing the traditional Genesis website.
This project allowed me to be an early adopter of Publicis’ internal GenAI platform GenCanvas — including initial training of the AI brand voice. This helped us strengthen our tool for future use and underscored the way GenAI can be used in a shared, infinite canvas setting to supercharge designers while reinforcing that they are still at the center of the process.
Sources: | GfK Barometer of Automotive Awareness and Imagery – GfK Automotive Intentions and Purchases Survey – Ipsos
I
Client
Genesis Automotive
Project
AI Concierge
Agency
Razorfish
Creative Team
- ECD / Toby Past
- GCD Experience Design / Todd Zerger
- GCD Visual Design / Chelsea Andrews
- CD Visual Design / Caitlin Bauler
- CD Copywriting / Dan Bennis
- Engineering Lead / Eric Campdoras
Q & A
Shop by Inquiry
At any point customers can engage with the AI Concierge in a freeform exchange of questions and answers. Not all consumers are well versed in auto lingo so each answer is accompanied by several educational paths that lean toward feature categories.
Guided Exploration
Shop by Feature
Following these or asking about features leads to an experience enriched with visuals which shoppers can favorite. The cumulative conversation and selections allow the AIC to refine a model and trim recommendation.
Intuitive Guidance
Shop by Style
Not all customers have a sophisticated understanding of vehicle features, but everyone can identify things they like. AI gives us the exciting ability to allow customers to “shop by style”. Simply identifying situations, images, colors and textures the AIC builds a moodboard, summarizes overarching consumer benefits like “great for ski trips” and presents a suggested model and trim.
Moving Fast
UX Artififacts
I quickly created personas to facilitate conversations about the range of acumen our users would poses. And journey segments to illuminate the areas of potential decision fatigue and delight. In this case we needed to explore potential personas for our AI Concierge as well as our users. Looking at a range from non-assertive to an assertive mom we landed on a mix of Apple Genius Support and Style Consultant/Personal Shopper.
A New Paradigm
Experience Models
It was exciting to explore the new territory of just how the AI itself should present on genesis.com. I explored targeted context aware, persistent invokable, and overt “take-over” approaches that sparked great debate. In the end we felt the honored guest mindset meant the transition to AI should be offered but optional, and clearly distinct from the traditional web experience.