INTRO
During discovery for another initiative, we learned that it isn’t uncommon for service writers to create quotes long before they're ready to purchase parts. Quote creation plus purchasing doesn't happen in a single session, it often spans hours, days, or even weeks while shops wait for customer approval. I designed a workflow that allowed repair shops to pause and resume purchasing without recreating carts from scratch, making it easier to move from quote creation to parts ordering.
ROLE
Sole product designer responsible for leading the Saved Carts experience from discovery through launch. I partnered closely with PM and UX research to synthesize customer insights. Working alongside my PM, I gathered input from support, sales, and partner teams to refine requirements and define the MVP. I collaborated closely with engineering and QA throughout implementation and conducted usability testing to validate and iterate.
STATUS
Shipped, 2024
TOOLS
Figma
Miro
Userpilot
DISCOVERY
RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY
We uncovered this opportunity during discovery for another initiative. Customer interviews revealed that service writers often created quotes long before they were ready to purchase parts, forcing many shops to recreate carts or manage quotes outside of PartsTech.
Additional conversations with customers showed that the need for saved carts varied across workflows. While standalone users viewed the feature as essential, many SMS users already relied on their shop management system for quote management. This led us to define four distinct user segments and prioritize standalone users for the MVP while leaving room to expand the experience over time.
Although we identified four distinct user segments, we intentionally focused the MVP on standalone users where Saved Carts solved the largest workflow gap and was not duplicating existing SMS functionality.
CHALLENGES
PRIORITIZING THE RIGHT USERS FOR THE MVP
Challenge
Multiple customer segments requested saved carts, but each had different workflows, levels of value, and technical complexity. I needed to determine where an MVP could deliver the greatest customer impact without delaying production.
Constraint
Although support and sales identified demand for saved carts across multiple customer segments, the value and implementation complexity varied significantly between them. Building for every workflow would have delayed delivery and introduced deep technical dependencies with SMS providers.
Solution
I partnered with my PM to define four primary user segments and evaluate where Saved Carts would deliver the greatest immediate value. Early conversations with engineering highlighted the complexity of supporting punchout workflows, while usability testing confirmed that many SMS users viewed the feature as redundant with their existing systems. We prioritized standalone users because they had the greatest unmet need and could benefit immediately without introducing complex SMS dependencies.
HELPING USERS CONFIDENTLY RESUME THEIR WORK
Challenge
Saving a cart was only part of the problem. Users also needed a reliable way to find, identify, and continue working on previously saved carts—even after days or weeks.
Constraint
Users relied on different information to recognize their saved work, and the context around a cart could change over time. The experience needed to make it easy to identify the correct cart while accounting for changing inventory and different customer workflows.
Solution
I.Auto-save every cart
Users told us they were frequently interrupted throughout the day and didn't want to think about manually saving their work. During usability testing, auto-save was the clear preference. It also simplified an already complex experience, avoiding another call-to-action in a workflow that was originally being designed to support all four user segments, including punchout users.
II. Dedicated saved carts workspace
Saving a cart only solved half the problem. Users also needed a reliable way to find, identify, and resume previous carts. I designed a dedicated Saved Quotes page that surfaced key information to help users quickly identify the correct cart.
During testing we learned that part availability was a big concern, so I also introduced alternate part search so users could replace unavailable parts instead of rebuilding the cart. After launch, we received some feedback from MSOs and added a Created By column, making it easier for teams to identify who originally built the cart.
III. Connected workflows
I wanted saved carts to feel like a natural extension of the ordering experience rather than a standalone feature. Once a cart was converted into an order, users could navigate directly to the corresponding order. In a later iteration, we also expanded the experience to preserve associated labor, keeping parts and labor together as users moved from labor, to cart creation to purchasing.
IV. Designing beyond the MVP
Alongside Saved Carts, I designed a similar experience for Saved Tire Quotes. Although it was ultimately deprioritized due to roadmap changes, designing both experiences together established shared patterns and a cohesive long-term vision.
BALANCING AUTOMATION WITH USER CONTROL
Challenge
Auto-saving protected users from losing work, but it also required clear system driven statuses so users could understand where each cart was in the purchasing process.As the product evolved, the opportunity was to create a more connected experience that helped users transition from understanding a repair to selecting relevant parts without disrupting their workflow.
Constraint
Cart status depended on user actions rather than manual triggers. The experience needed to distinguish between the cart currently in progress, saved carts awaiting purchase, completed orders, and older order records without adding management work for users.
Solution
I designed carts to auto-save by default, removing the need for users to manually save their work. To help users understand where each cart was in its life cycle, I introduced system-driven statuses that reflected meaningful milestones. After launch, user feedback revealed confusion around which cart was currently being worked on, so I introduced an “Active” status to clearly distinguish the in-progress cart from previously saved carts. Ordered carts were automatically archived after 30 days while remaining searchable, giving users access to previous purchases without cluttering their main workspace.
RESULTS
THE FINAL PRODUCT
From a saved cart feature to a workflow for managing in-progress purchases.
What started as a request to save carts evolved into a dedicated workspace for managing in-progress work over time. The experience grew beyond simply preserving carts to supporting retrieval, inventory changes, team collaboration, and deeper integration with the purchasing workflow.
Autosave: Automatically preserve in-progress work without requiring manual saves.
Saved Carts: A dedicated workspace to find, search, and resume previous work.
Cart Management: Statuses, VIN, alternate part search, and contextual information to help users confidently return to saved carts.
Connected Workflows: Direct links to completed orders and later support for preserving associated labor operations.
OUTCOMES
Saved Carts became a core workflow for standalone repair shops.
Strong adoption among standalone (non-SMS) users.
92.9% of users viewing a saved cart re-added parts to their cart.
93.8% of those users completed a purchase.
87.2% end-to-end conversion from viewing a saved cart to completing an order.
REFLECTION
Designing the right MVP mattered more than designing every workflow.
This project reinforced the importance of defining the right problem before designing a solution. While customers requested Saved Carts, discovery revealed that the underlying workflows and the value of the feature varied significantly across user segments. Prioritizing standalone users allowed us to deliver meaningful value without taking on the complexity of SMS integration.
Working closely with engineering early helped us understand where technical constraints existed and where we could move quickly. Rather than designing for every possible workflow, we intentionally focused the MVP on the customers with the greatest unmet need while leaving room for future expansion.
Post-launch iterations reinforced that shipping was only the beginning. Feedback led to the addition of an Active status, enhancements for dealers and MSOs, and support for labor, demonstrating how small improvements continued to refine the experience over time.
If I were approaching this project again, I'd revisit the life cycle of created carts. While ordered carts are archived after 30 days, created carts remain indefinitely. As adoption grows, automatically archiving inactive created carts while keeping them searchable could reduce clutter without sacrificing flexibility.