David Randall PhD 👋
A Passionate User Research Specialist with 15 years of Experience conducting research in academia and business.
We Buy Any Car - Inspection Discovery
Company:
BCAWe Buy Any Car
Tools:
Pen and paper
Miro
Overview
We Buy Any Car (WBAC) asked for research to improve inspection quality and reduce over payment on vehicles with cosmetic issues. While the original brief focused on updating the inspection app, I stepped back to look at the entire inspection process. By observing inspections across dozens of sites, speaking with inspectors and comparing WBAC appraisals with the more detailed BCA inspections, I uncovered both product and operational factors driving inaccuracy. This broader lens allowed me to influence not only app development but also operational changes that improved inspection validity and business outcomes.
Research Goals: 🎯 Identify the causes of inspection inaccuracy 🎯 Define priorities for an updated inspection app 🎯 Surface operational conditions that undermine inspection quality
Discovery Research
To move beyond assumptions about the inspection app, I carried out extensive fieldwork across WBAC sites. I observed live inspections, spoke with inspectors and mapped workflows. I followed vehicles through to BCA inspections to capture discrepancies and quantify where errors were occurring. This approach allowed me to pinpoint how both the app and wider operational conditions affected appraisal quality.
Fieldwork Highlights:
- 📍 30 plus site visits covering weekday and weekend operations
- 👥 50 plus inspector conversations and spot interviews
- 🚗 Cross check of WBAC appraisals against BCA inspection results to flag common misses
- 🗺️ Workflow mapping of inspection tasks, tools and handoffs
Methodology:
- 🧪 Observations: Shadowed inspectors during real inspections to capture live behaviours.
- 🧪 Contextual Interviews: Gathered insights into challenges, workarounds and pain points.
- 🧪 Journey Mapping: Tracked where time, attention and accuracy were lost across steps.
- 🧪 Comparative Review: Measured WBAC appraisals against BCA data to identify systemic discrepancies.
Outcomes
The discovery research identified key app shortcomings such as poor navigation, inconsistent VIN guidance and weak prompts for cosmetic damage capture. More importantly, it exposed operational issues that directly impacted accuracy, including poor lighting, inadequate rain protection and time lost hunting for VINs. Addressing both product and operational issues created measurable improvements in accuracy and reduced overspend. The findings shaped priorities for the new inspection app and informed operational changes across WBAC sites.
