Auto Trader

Clear user experience content and microcopy to help people buy and sell cars

Auto Trader is one of the UK’s best-known automotive brands, with a heritage stretching back more than 30 years.

A better online experience

With more then 10 million visitors each month, the Auto Trader website is a behemoth in the automotive sector.

But with an increasing proportion of visitors using mobile devices, the company needed to provide people with a consistent experience across desktop and mobile platforms.

As a result, Auto Trader decided to redesign the process by which users can advertise cars, allowing them to switch between devices when creating an advertisement.

Making selling easier

Initially, I met with the Auto Trader team to understand the scope of the project and key objectives. By this point, the user flows had been mapped out and core functionality created.

This meant I was able to work closely with the company’s user experience designers and developers, helping establish what content was required and how it would be displayed.

I wrote all the content across both mobile and desktop experiences. Clarity was essential. Selling a car is a rare event for most people, so we had to ensure the process was intuitive, with clear labels and unambiguous messages.

Working across desktop and mobile platforms introduced extra complexity, as I juggled technical restrictions and space constraints with the need to convey Auto Trader’s reassuring, trusted brand voice.

The results

I successfully delivered content for the redesigned customer experience across mobile and desktop sites.

The new content guides users through the process, from entering vehicle details and uploading photos to choosing an ad package. Friendly and reassuring, it’s a key part of the Auto Trader desktop and mobile websites.

See it in action on the Auto Trader website »