CarExpert
Head of Product Design
2023 – 2024 · Sydney, NSW · Marketplace
Fast, Furious, and User-Focused: Designing CarExpert's Road to Revolution.
The Company
CarExpert is more than a destination; it's a journey through the heart of Australia's automotive landscape. We're the pit crew and the cheer squad for car lovers, delivering the turbocharged thrills of no-BS car reviews and news, all while leading the pack as Australia's #1 automotive YouTube channel. In the world of car advice, we're not just in the race; we're setting the pace.
The Context
I joined CarExpert shortly after the formation of their first product team, and stepped into an exhilarating transition period. The company was evolving from a traditional editorial website into a dynamic, content-led marketplace. My challenge was to enrich this transformation, ensuring that CarExpert's editorial integrity and marketplace dynamism coexisted harmoniously. This task required a delicate balance: respecting the established legacy of the site while introducing innovative features and functionalities to enhance its market presence and user experience. As the second product team hire, my role was pivotal in steering CarExpert through this critical phase, blending the best of both worlds to create a platform that stood out for its depth of content and user-focused design.
The Role
In my multifaceted role as Head of Product Design at CarExpert, I led with a hybrid approach that seamlessly integrated product management, business strategy, and design expertise. Reporting directly to the Chief Product Officer, I spearheaded strategic design research, crafting user journey maps and storyboards to guide the product's long-term direction while also focusing on immediate conversion optimization through a blend of heuristic analysis and data-driven methodologies. With two talented individuals under my wing—a junior UI designer and a senior product designer—I nurtured a team environment that valued creativity, precision, and growth. Together, we embarked on a mission to evangelize the principles of design thinking, championing the importance of user-centricity and data-driven decision-making throughout the organization. My role was not just about leading design initiatives but also about embedding a culture of innovation, collaboration, and strategic thinking, ensuring every project we undertook was a step towards realizing CarExpert's vision of setting new standards in the automotive digital space.
CASE STUDIES
Strategic Design
Elevating CarExpert with strategic design, I transformed user insights into a visionary product roadmap that redefined our market approach.
Conversion Rate Optimisation
Discover the UX overhaul that boosted CarExpert's conversions by 18.88%—a strategic leap in automotive digital innovation.
Thoughtful Visual Design
Dramatically evolved CarExpert's homepage look and feel, smartly leveraging existing visuals for palpable enhancements while curbing development costs.
ENDORSEMENTS
“Edgar is one of the very few UX & design leaders that can think commercially while also balancing user-centricity. He always has something valuable to bring to a discussion and often "that something" can change the way the supporting team were thinking about solution design or even the problem itself. He's also a master at juggling. High growth businesses aren't easy, yet he managed to stay ahead of moving goal posts constantly bringing alignment and sanity in chaotic times. Its needless to say he's mastered the art and craft of UX and all the sub-disciplines like UI/product design. Edgar is a bank of knowledge and experience, and any business would be incredibly lucky to have him onboard. His contributions at CarExpert were world class, what he achieved with a small team and the products that were shipped as a result of that — are a standard apart. And lastly, as a bonus, he also has a great sense of humour and brings massively positive vibes to any workplace.”
“I've had the privilege of collaborating with Edgar as Head of Product Design, where his leadership and innovative approach have profoundly impacted our projects. What I noticed about my time working with Edgar, besides his exceptional talent in product design, was his commitment to making the design process as inclusive and collaborative as possible. In my experience working with Edgar on a major feature project last year, he was instrumental in bridging the gap between the product design and development teams. I like how his method of encouraging feedback from all stakeholders ensured that every voice was heard and valued. His inclusive approach made me, as a Software Engineer, feel genuinely part of the creative process. That project involved engineers and stakeholders all over Australia, and Edgar led the ‘fat marker’ sessions and meetings in a way that complimented our remote collaboration. Not all of my ideas from those sessions made it to production, but I always understood why decisions were made because Edgar took the time to step through his design process. By involving me in those design sessions, I could understand the context of work needed in dev, which supported my ability to make technical decisions. Moreover, Edgar's ability to maintain a professional design process, adhering to the highest standards while fostering an environment where creative exploration is encouraged, is remarkable. His leadership ensured that our team could experiment and innovate, pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible, all within a structured framework that aligned us with our project goals. Edgar's influence extends beyond design; he has been a popular and influential piece of our company culture at CarExpert. We could rely on his positive and funny contributions in meetings and the company's #general slack channel.”