"A new configurator"
Context
As one of the world’s leading sport motorcycle manufacturers, KTM offers a motorcycle configuration experience that allows customers to personalize their bikes before purchase.
Through user feedback and research, it became clear that the customization experience was confusing. Users struggled to find the parts they were looking for, particularly on desktop, which created friction during the configuration process.
Solution
Using the existing Design System, I developed a solution to improve the visibility of PowerParts and introduced a clearer way to present recommendations, making it easier for users to discover and select relevant components during the configuration process.
My role
Senior UX/UI Designer.
Time of project
3 months.
The Discovery
Understanding the problem
The problem was initially presented through multiple inputs: low user adoption of the configurator and recurring complaints about the difficulty of navigating between sections.
My first step was to develop a deeper understanding of the users, their goals, pain points, how frequently they used the configurator, and how the tool could better support the motorcycle purchasing journey.
User research
To better understand user needs, we conducted an unmoderated research study using the Lyssna platform. The goal was to identify users’ objectives, understand where they experienced friction within the configurator, measure how frequently the tool was used, and gain a clearer understanding of who these users were.
Due to a limited research budget, the study was structured to support multiple initiatives simultaneously. Three different projects contributed research questions, allowing us to maximize insights while maintaining an efficient research process.
The research also included demographic analysis, user behavior mapping, and persona development, which helped us better understand our audience and identify key opportunities to improve the configurator experience.
Competitor Analysis
I conducted an extensive competitive analysis to understand how the market approaches this type of configurator experience and to identify patterns that users are already familiar with when interacting with this feature.
The study was not limited to motorcycle brands. It also included automotive manufacturers, which often provide more mature configuration experiences, allowing us to benchmark interaction patterns, navigation structures, and product discovery strategies across the industry.
User flow
The user flow was already established, and my work focused on refining it by introducing updates and targeted improvements to enhance clarity, navigation, and overall usability within the configurator experience.
Findings & Solutions
Findings
During the discovery phase, several key insights emerged that helped clarify how users interacted with the configurator and where the main usability issues were. The main findings are summarized below:
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The color selection feature proved to be the most frequently used element in the configurator. Users often changed colors repeatedly while testing different PowerParts combinations, which meant the feature needed to remain easily accessible throughout the entire journey. In the previous experience, switching colors required unnecessary steps, making this frequent action cumbersome.
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The highlighted PowerParts section was also a major source of confusion. It presented a large number of items without a clear structure or prioritization, which often failed to support users in discovering relevant components.
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Additionally, the horizontal scroll on desktop created significant usability issues. This interaction pattern made browsing difficult and contributed to a high drop-off rate during the configuration process.
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Users perceived the configurator as a valuable and empowering tool. It provided them with the freedom to explore customization options and discover PowerParts they were not previously aware of.
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Usage frequency was also relatively high. Many users reported accessing the configurator at least twice per month, either to explore new releases or to research pricing and customization options.
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Finally, research revealed two distinct user behaviors. Approximately 60% of users already knew how they wanted to configure their motorcycle, while the remaining 40% were either new users or exploring alternative configurations, requiring more guidance and inspiration during the process.
Solutions
Based on these findings, we prioritized solutions that addressed the most critical usability issues identified during the research:
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First, the color selection feature needed to remain visible throughout the entire page. Since users frequently switched colors while exploring different PowerParts combinations, keeping this control constantly accessible would significantly reduce friction in the configuration process.
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We also initiated a review of the highlighted PowerParts section to ensure the recommendations were more relevant to users while still supporting business objectives.
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Another idea explored during discovery was the introduction of a configuration quiz that could recommend a setup based on the user’s goals, enabling a more guided experience and potentially encouraging bundled purchases. However, this concept required deeper exploration and was therefore moved to the product backlog for future research and validation.
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Finally, we needed to improve how PowerParts were structured and displayed using components already available in the Design System. The solution was to reorganize the content using a vertical accordion structure, allowing users to quickly scan all categories while providing a more intuitive interaction pattern for exploring available parts.
The Highlight Section
Aligning business and user-centric design
During the discovery phase, while reviewing the previous layout, I noticed that the highlighted products section contained a large number of items with no clear user-centered rationale. This raised the hypothesis that the selection criteria might not be aligned with user needs.
To clarify this, I worked with stakeholders to understand the objective behind the highlighted products area. The team explained that these items were primarily products with lower sales performance, which the business wanted to promote in order to increase visibility and drive additional revenue.
Instead of simply promoting underperforming items, I proposed a different approach: identifying an intersection between business priorities and user intent, ensuring that highlighted recommendations would be both commercially relevant and meaningful to users.
To support this, we explored the implementation of an AI-driven recommendation model, where suggested PowerParts would be generated based on contextual factors such as:
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User location
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Motorcycle model
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Riding terrain
If the user accessed the configurator through Digitools, additional signals could also be incorporated:
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Purchase history
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Product usage duration
As a longer-term opportunity, the next step would be to synchronize the configurator with the mobile app, leveraging riding and maintenance data to recommend planned replacements such as oil changes, tire replacements, and other service-related components.
The Interface
The Prototype
The prototype below illustrates the full user journey, from customizing the motorcycle in the configurator to accessing saved configurations in Digitools.
Before and After
A comparison between the previous design and the new one.
Hand-off
The Hand-off
A detailed document including all the specifications required for developers.
Impact
Within the first two weeks after launch, we observed a measurable impact, with configurator usage increasing by 8%.
Additionally, the percentage of users adding highlighted PowerParts during the configuration process increased from 0% to 3%.