Daimler Mercedes-Benz · Vehicle Subscription Concept
Daimler Vehicle Subscription Concept
Daimler was exploring a vehicle subscription offer before the model was well understood by consumers or fully defined internally. I led UX definition for a two-month concept that made the service clearer from vehicle selection through lifecycle management, giving the client team a more coherent end-to-end model and surfacing the friction that still needed refinement in user testing.
- Project type
- Greenfield vehicle subscription concept
- Role
- Experience Design Lead, Deloitte Digital Germany
- Scope
- Selection through lifecycle management on desktop and mobile web
- Outcome
- Approved concept, tested with 7 relevant participants, then moved in-house for the subscription experience
The Problem
Clarifying a new subscription model end to end
The brief was as much about clarifying the product as designing the interface.
A subscription service sits awkwardly between ownership, leasing, and a managed service. If the experience could not quickly explain what was included, how commitment worked, and what happened after sign-up, the offer would feel risky before a user ever reached checkout.
The scope therefore went beyond an acquisition funnel. I had to define a journey that made the model understandable from vehicle selection through delivery and ongoing management while the business requirements were still evolving.
Scope proof
My Role
Leading UX definition with clear ownership boundaries
I led UX definition on a small cross-functional concept team and presented the work directly to Daimler and Mercedes-Benz executives.
What I owned
As Experience Design Lead at Deloitte Digital Germany, I owned research synthesis, competitive review, journey and flow definition, wireframes, and executive presentations.
What stayed shared
The team included an automotive strategist, systems architect, UI designer, and design leadership. The business model, visual execution, and any later MVP delivery were shared or outside my direct ownership.
Key Decisions
The most important calls were about clarity and commitment
The strongest part of the work was not surface polish. It was choosing how to make an unfamiliar service legible enough that users could understand it and low-friction enough that they could commit.
Define the full relationship, not just the signup
I scoped the concept from vehicle selection through delivery and lifecycle management so the offer felt like a service, not just a checkout flow. That made the model more concrete for users and more actionable for the client team.
Lower the barrier to commitment
The acquisition flow minimised upfront data entry, used a focused step-by-step configuration model, and kept a persistent subscription summary visible during decision-making. I also moved mandatory identity verification until after subscription, deliberately trading earlier certainty for a lower barrier to entry.
Use testing to tighten high-friction moments
Testing pushed specific refinements rather than broad redesign: clearer navigation, payment before review, better step progression, stronger policy visibility, and clearer explanation of lifecycle actions after sign-up.
Decision proof
Outcome
What changed because of the concept
The work gave Daimler a clearer structure for the service and showed where the model was still creating friction.
User testing with seven relevant participants was light but useful. It validated the overall direction and surfaced specific changes around navigation, payment and review order, policy clarity, step progression, and lifecycle communication.
The concept was approved by the client and helped inform follow-on work that later moved toward an MVP. This phase remained pre-launch, so the clearest consequence is that it turned an ambiguous service idea into a more concrete, testable direction rather than proving market impact.
Validation evidence
