Introduction

Hello, I am Ki-yuno and working on frontend development for KINTO FACTORY .

In this post, I’d like to share my experience of attending FACTORY’s in-person event as a frontend engineer.

The in-person event I’m talking about wasn’t a tech conference, but a large meet-up for car enthusiasts. The frontend engineers joined to help run the FACTORY promotion booth at the venue.

Since the audience included people less familiar with IT or the internet, it became a great opportunity to hear feedback from viewpoints quite different from our own as engineers.

Event Exhibition Content

Our product provides an upgrade service that allows customers to add genuine manufacturer options to their vehicles through online applications, even after purchase. Most customers discover our products through websites or magazine articles and often make their purchases without many chances to see the actual vehicles in advance. At an event like this, we also display vehicles that have been upgraded and cannot be seen on the web. This time, we showcased a Corolla Cross that had undergone meter design customization.

“Meter design customization” is a product that allows you to add a new design to the vehicle’s instrument panel. *The image shows Classic Gear.

Seeing the actual customized instrument panel is even more exciting than expected! It looks so good that evensomeone without a driver's license might feel tempted to enroll in driving school on the spot.

Introduction to FACTORY and Novelties

At the event, we ask the event participants to register their vehicle information on FACTORY. Everyone who registers will get a chance to play a no-lose gacha and take home a novelty gift

The novelties are quite impressive, including penlights, tumblers, and original cases for vehicle inspection certificates. The original cases for vehicle inspection certificates we prepared are beautifully designed by our team of creators! They look so good that even someone who doesn't drive at all might tempted to sign a contract for Corolla.

Insights from Observing Vehicle Owners Using FACTORY

This is where the engineers truly shine. When the vehicle owners actually tried FACTORY, the following issues became apparent.

• When registering via the QR code provided for guidance, the navigation to FACTORY gets interrupted midway.
• Tapping the “Terms of conditions” link during registration leads to a page with no way to return to the registration flow.
• If the user accidentally closes the page after tapping the authentication URL sent by email, there’s no clear path back to resume registration.

In the flows we engineers had designed without much deliberate consideration, we identified elements that could cause users to drop off. Especially with the registration process,we had become so accustomed to setting up accounts as a routine part of testing that we overlooked the potential barriers real users might face.

Actions Against the Identified Issues

As soon as we got back from the event, we took action to address the issues.

First, we discovered that the QR code URL used for guidance was different from the one we engineers had expected. Therefore, we resolved this issue by sharing another URL that works correctly.

Regarding the issues where users can't return to the registration page from the terms and conditions page, and where there's no way to go back after closing the page opened by tapping the authentication URL, we've communicated the situation and proposed fixes to the responsible team.

Conclusion

By actually participating in the event and observing users engaging with the service, we realized that there are issues affecting users in ways we hadn’t been aware of.

Especially engineers have many opportunities to interact with the product and know the correct patterns of the service flow from the beginning. When you get used to knowing the correct patterns, it's easy to overlook things that are right under your nose, just like in this situation. No matter how user-focused development may be, if nothing evolves, the gap between you and the user will inevitably widen.

If you have an opportunity to communicate with users about the product you are developing, I highly recommend that you participate. I believe it's important to return to the basics and reflect on who you're developing for and why. If there's an opportunity, I encourage you to take part.

Even if such opportunities aren't available, you can still gain fresh insights by asking unrelated team members within the company to help with user testing or by trying different devices.

Hands-on experience makes all the difference. Isn't this what we mean by user-first?

Thank you very much for reading!

P.S.

I exchanged snacks with a stranger sitting next to me on the Shinkansen on my way back, while enjoying highballs. Is this also one of the pleasures of a business trip? It might be. (laughs)