Simplifying choice without sacrificing luxury: how deeper customer insight transformed vehicle configuration strategy
A luxury brand rethinking the configuration experience
A leading luxury automotive manufacturer needed to reimagine how customers configure and personalise their vehicles. With an expansive range of brands and models, the business recognised that while customisation is central to luxury automotive appeal, the complexity of their current online configurator tool was creating friction in the customer journey. The objective was clear: maintain the depth of personalisation customers expect by removing friction points that take away from the excitement of personalising design. The real challenge? Understanding what “simplification” actually meant to their discerning customer base.
Balancing personalisation and simplicity in vehicle choice
The automotive industry operates in a paradox. Luxury customers crave personalisation – it’s fundamental to why they invest in premium vehicles. Yet the traditional configurator experience often overwhelms rather than empowers.
The client faced a multi-layered challenge. First, there was genuine uncertainty about customer attitudes toward simplification. Would streamlining the offer be perceived as limiting choice? Or would customers welcome a clearer path through customisation? Second, they needed to understand what “good” simplification looks like across their diverse customer base and range of brands, from the highly engaged enthusiast to the first-time buyer.
The business was exploring three strategic pillars:
- A simplified offer structure.
- Curated design starting points.
- Bundled “packs” alongside individual options.
Each concept held promise, but their viability hinged on customer sentiment. Would streamlined packs feel restrictive or liberating? Would curated designs, expert-guided starting points, feel helpful or creatively limiting?
Beyond perception, there were critical unknowns: did customers understand the concept? Would different customer segments (by age, model preference or purchase sophistication) respond differently? And crucially, what role would cost play in their acceptance of these changes?
The stakes were high. A misstep could alienate customers or miss an opportunity to fundamentally improve a critical touchpoint in the purchase journey.
Using customer insight to design simpler configuration paths
Phase 1 audited existing research on customisation, establishing a knowledge baseline and identifying gaps. Understanding how customers outside automotive (tech brands, luxury travel, gift retail) approached personalisation revealed that: simplicity and ease-of-use mattered more than the breadth of options.
Phase 2 combined qualitative depth with practical testing. We recruited a diverse sample spanning age groups (18-64), models and purchase intent. We didn’t just ask about simplified configurators – we introduced customers to stimulus showing the proposed strategy, curated designs and pack structure.
Live configuration tests, observed not just what customers said but how they behaved. This revealed tensions between stated preferences and lived experience: customers said they wanted simplification, but when shown options, wanted to understand how packs worked, whether they could customise within them and the trade-offs.
Combining interview insight with UX observation, moving beyond “what do you think?” to “how do you actually engage?” We held space for emerging tensions: customers loved expert guidance in principle, but feared missing customisation freedom in practice.
Phase 3 was designed to scale these insights, testing whether observed differences by brand, model, age and gender held statistical significance, and addressing cost: what premium would customers accept for pack convenience versus individual option building?
Turning insight into clearer choice and customer confidence
- Key finding #1: simplification ≠ limitation.
Customers embraced the simplified structure – not because they wanted fewer options, but because they expected improved user experience. They were seeking clarity, not restriction. This reframed the narrative from limiting choice to making choice easier.
- Key finding #2: packs work, with conditions.
Customers liked bundled packs provided they remained optional and customisable. They accepted -even expected- add-on costs to modify packs, but needed visibility into what they could adjust. This opened a new revenue opportunity while preserving control.
- Key finding #3: curated design as a starting point.
The concept of expert-guided recommendations resonated powerfully because customers felt closer to the brand’s creative vision. The catch: designs were too easily missed in the current UX. Our recommendation was to make curation explicit and prominent, treating it as a distinct pathway rather than a buried suggestion.
- Key finding #4: segment differences matter.
The less vehicle-savvy, first-time buyers showed the strongest preference for simplification, while enthusiasts wanted reassurance they could still deep-dive. This segment insight enabled targeted communication strategies.
These insights mean the client moved forward with confidence. Rather than launching blindly into a major UX rebuild, they now understood the emotional contract with customers: “We’re making this easier for you, not taking away your voice.”
The research became the foundation for quantitative validation, moving from ‘customers like the idea’ to quantifying impact at scale, addressing cost sensitivity, comprehension requirements, and building the case for investment.
Most importantly? Trust increased because the client knew their customers genuinely wanted this evolution.
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