Caterpillar UX Design Challenge

Client: Caterpillar Inc.

Timeline: August 2024 – October 2024

Role: UX Designer and Design Challenge Winner

The Problem

Every year, Caterpillar Inc. hosts a UX design challenge in honor of World Usability Day. They give students a design issue that Caterpillar is currently facing and ask them to create a solution.

This year’s challenge was centered on the current equipment rental process. Caterpillar rental customers are not easily able to find and rent attachments for their machines. Due to the lack of information on the attachments, customers are likely to rent incompatible attachments and are not aware of certain parts needed. This leads to many customers not being able to complete their projects due to the lack of necessary equipment.

With the current Cat Rental Store, it is hard for the user to complete simple tasks. With a new solution, customers should be able to easily find the correct attachments for every machine, while also being able to see the cost and specifics.

The Solution

Over the course of six weeks, my team and I were able to create a solution that included a visual redesign of the current rental website, integration of AI, and a new flow for the rental process.

Our solution consisted of a new step by step process for selecting machines and attachments so that users would automatically be prompted to choose an attachment for their machines. This is a crucial component that was missing in the pre-existing design.

We presented our solution to a panel of Caterpillar employees, and our design was deemed as the winner due to our innovative solution and detailed process.

Final Deliverable

My Process

Addressing the Problem

Journey Map

Our first step was to journey map the current customer experience, discover what pain points the customers were likely to face, and how to resolve these issues.

The pain points we found were regarding the process of finding attachments, confusing checkout process, and not being able to find where to contact customer service.

Ideas & Concepts

Competitve Analysis & Ideation

After the journey map, we conducted a competitive analysis to find what other similar companies were doing regarding their rental process.

Then, as a group, we did a Crazy 8’s ideation activity and shared our results with each other. We then dot voted on our favorite designs. From this session, we decided that we wanted to take an innovative approach and incorporate an AI chatbot into our design solution.

User Flow

Once we had an idea of what direction we wanted to go in, we created a user flow encompassing multiple paths that a user could take while ordering a rental.

Due to the time constraint of the project, we had to choose one flow that we wanted to design. We decided on our “new user” flow as it would be the happy path for customers who had never used the site before, while also satisfying the needs of a returning customer. This involves using a “Build-A-Bear” style flow to allow users to create their desired equipment.

Screens

Landing Page

Our solution consisted of a visual redesign, integration of AI, as well as a new system for selecting machines and attachments.

When the user enters the site, the top of the homepage will prompt them to start a rental order.

Initiate Rental with AI

Once they initiate the rental order, the user will be directed to the start page, where they will be prompted to enter basic information about their rental. They will enter the dates of your rental, location, and task(s) they need to complete.

Select Machine

After entering the necessary information, the user is taken to the machine page. From here, they are given recommendations of machines based on the tasks that they entered on the previous page. They are also able to browse all machines and utilize filters.

Select Attachment

Once a machine has been selected, the user is then taken to the attachment page. The top of the page will provide recommended attachments, and the user can scroll down to view all attachments compatible with their selected machine.

Confirm Order

After both the machine and attachment are selected, users will be prompted to a confirmation and checkout screen where they can swap parts or change quantities if needed. If they are signed in, they can also save their bundle to their account for easier ordering in the future.

Checkout

Finally, users are taken to the checkout screen, where they can see their order summary and still change dates or quantity if desired.

The Result

To conclude the challenge, all of the teams presented their design and process at Caterpillar to employees and executives. After being scored by judges, our team was declared the winner due to our innovative design and thorough process.

My Teammates

Hannah Dickinson

Faith Lohse

Phiona Pauly

Bella Wilson

Let's Connect!

I’m currently available for freelance projects and full-time opportunities. I’d love to connect and learn more about how I can help bring your vision to life.