CarMax Auto Finance, Reimagining Digital
CarMax Auto Finance is the financial arm of CarMax, the largest used car retailer in the U.S. With approximately 1 million used vehicles sold annually, CarMax Auto Finance (CAF) supports over 40% of CarMax's total customer base through 1.2 million customer accounts.
As part of a company-wide user experience audit, CarMax identified a strategic need to modernize the CarMax Auto Finance website to better support customer payment experiences. The online account management experience had not been meaningfully updated since 2014.
Branding & Audience
In 2024, CarMax refreshed its digital product suite with a comprehensive brand redesign, leveraging Google's open-source Material Design system to deliver a high-quality, modern, and welcoming experience for it's customers. Visual design principles centered on three brand pillars: approachability, a bright and saturated color palette, and simplified layouts and copy that are clear and focused.
Once the brand direction was established, we aligned on a set of baseline customer personas for CAF. Developing these two personas enabled us to build a deeper understanding of our users—their needs, motivations, behaviors, and pain points.
Defining the User’s Problem
We then moved into discovery. Intercept screeners were strategically placed on high-intent areas of the website where customers were actively reviewing account information. Targeted emails were sent to customers with financing, directing them to surveys hosted in Optimal Workshop.
Usability and screen flows were evaluated through UserTesting, with session recordings shared with the product team to inform decision-making. In parallel, we analyzed key behavioral data using FullStory to identify the most-visited pages and understand preferred devices for account payments.
Our research surfaced three core themes shaping the new account experience: a need for flexibility, transparent payment options; a simple and consistent experience across digital channels (web and app); and accessible information on payoffs and trade-in value.
Visualizing Our Opportunities
To ensure that both sides of the business were strategically aligned on direction, I developed a series of hand-drawn UX storyboards to clearly communicate the vision for the new website. By visualizing real-world customer scenarios, I was able to gather focused executive feedback early—before investing significant time in iterating and refining Figma designs. What was most important to me was that the story we were crafting for our customers was clear.
These user scenarios were reinforced through in-depth journey maps and service blueprints, ensuring customers could complete key actions and manage their accounts with ease. I leveraged AI platforms such as Claude AI and CoPilot to analyze competitors, identify best practices, and ensure the journeys aligned with current technical standards. The resulting journey maps were shared via Figma Make to inform rough wireframes for key landing pages, guaranteeing that content was well-placed and that users could navigate the new website experience seamlessly.
Conceptualizing New Designs
The initial website dashboard designs were developed to align visually with the existing customer dashboard on CarMax.com, ensuring a seamless experience for users navigating multiple product channels within the brand. As the first team to implement the new brand and Material Design system in code, our goal was to establish a clean, intuitive user interface that could evolve through ongoing product iteration. The initial layout was created by a program visual design manager, establishing a standard design framework that would be consistently applied across all subsequent pages of the website.
Payment status and key actions were prioritized to ensure customers always have a clear view of their account standing. Account balances were enhanced with interactive, data-driven visualizations, providing both clarity and engagement. The dashboard also integrates recent account history, statements, and conenient links to FAQs and customer support. Fully responsive, the site delivers app-like functionality on mobile devices. A beta version of this redesigned dashboard launched in early 2026, enabling seamless one-time payments and making a significant step forward in CarMax's modernization efforts.
Building Bridges For Business Impact
My role on this project was multifaceted. As Senior Manager of Product Design for the Finance program within CarMax's Product organization, I served as both Lead Product Designer and Creative Director, partnering with a newly formed product team established to support the development of the new website. I collaborated closely with a Senior Product Designer, a Program Visual Design Manager and his team to translate concepts into high-fidelity Figma designs.
In addition to design leadership, I played a key role in building new cross-organizational relationships between CarMax Auto Finance and CarMax's product organization. I delivered monthly progress updates on strategic direction to executive leadership across both organizations and reported directly to the VP of Product Design to ensure alignment with CarMax's evolving brand standards.
Research tools: included UserTesting.com usability testing, Optimal Workshop surveys, CarMax customer emails, FullStory analytics
Vision storyboards: all hand-drawn
Figma: used to create all layouts and clickable prototypes
Figma Make: used to generate all website wireframes
Claude AI: leveraged to generate all customer journey maps and proposed site map architecture