Ante Kristo
Product
Strategy
& Design
BMW
The digital product department of BMW is responsible for various digital products such as the main-homepage, the configurator, used car market, spare parts, Connected Drive store, My BMW, etc. BMW aimed to modernize their digital landscape and seize the opportunity to visually unify them while optimizing product design processes for efficiency with the goal of enhancing customer satisfaction and ultimately increasing the conversion rate.
My role encompassed crafting a future-proof design language that accurately reflects BMW's brand values across every digital touchpoint. To facilitate this, I was responsible for implementing DesignOps and Design Systems. This ensured that the new design vision was consistently and efficiently executed in every detail, spanning multiple units and products.
ROLE
Project Lead
Consulting
Strategist
Design Direction
Services
Project Strategy
Design Direction
Design Operations
Design System
UX/UI
Management
Coaching & Mentoring
The Team
20+
Multidisciplinary
Challenges
The project involved a wide array of products, each managed by different teams, resulting in a complex, segmented workflow.
Digital interfaces, which had become outdated, needed a visual and functional overhaul.
The lack of a centralized component system resulted in disjointed product development. Outdated style guides in PDF format weren't suitable for dynamic digital assets.
Old design tools and varied approaches by different teams led to inconsistency and inefficiency, further complicated by the shift to remote work due to the pandemic.
Strategy
The plan was to craft a joint vision and mission, analyze the existing team structures, and identify the specific challenges and needs within departments through direct stakeholder engagement. Understanding existing user research and data-analytics. This detailed analysis led to strategic actions, driven by an internal committee from various departments.
A key part was to create a product design strategy to align the teams, build mutual understanding, and secure support. This was supported by a new team structure and a flexible, evolving roadmap.
Solution
The primary focus was breaking down the existing silos and fostering a culture of collaboration within the teams.
This involved implementing DesignOps, covering everything from managing resources and optimizing processes to choosing the right tools and establishing design governance. Regular, focused meetings were set up to maintain this new workflow.
A visionary design concept was developed to unify all BMW products visually.
For a premium brand like BMW, design plays a pivotal role. With great respect and attention to detail, we crafted a clean, minimalist, yet luxurious design language. The design concept mirrors the way museums operate: the background is unobtrusively subdued, allowing the focal point, much like a prominently displayed painting – or in BMW's case, their impressively showcased cars – to take center stage. The combination of striking images, elegant large headlines, and generous use of white space evokes a sense of exclusivity and elegance. The tension and dynamism are created through stark contrasts in proportions between headlines and body text, as well as the black-and-white contrasts. Overall, the design reflects BMW's brand values and language.
A robust set of design principles and a centralized Design System in Figma were established, ensuring quality, consistency, and efficiency. All team members were thoroughly coached and mentored to effectively utilize the Design System. Frontify was used for guidelines to ensure everyone had the same understanding of the components, fundamentals, and principles.
Methods like user research and A/B testing were introduced to refine the user experience and boost the conversion rates. Effective stakeholder management, with regular meetings and updates, played a key role in maintaining this unified direction and progress.
