Kia Motors — Next-Gen Responsive Homepage Redesign

No Device Left Behind: Reclaiming #1 in J.D. Power Mobile Satisfaction Through Touch-First Architecture

Role & Engagement

Executive Creative Director, Lead Product Designer (UX/UI)
Ansible / IPG Mediabrands for Kia Motors

The Challenge

When Kia previously launched a responsive website through another agency, their ranking in the J.D. Power Mobile Site Study plummeted from #1 all the way to almost last. The redesign suffered from desktop-first bloat—massive, non-scalable hero viewports buried high-intent conversion triggers and vehicle discovery tools far below the mobile fold. Having designed Kia’s original first-place mobile experience, our team was brought back to overhaul their flagship responsive product, overhaul the touch-first architecture, and reclaim industry leadership.

Strategic & Hands-On Scope

Data-Driven Post-Mortem
Benchmarked behavioral analytics between site iterations to identify drop-off points, friction in the buyer journey, and underperforming UI components.

Full-Funnel Product Design
Led end-to-end UX architecture, wireframing, interactive storyboards, and high-fidelity design systems across all responsive viewports.

Viewport Optimization
Re-architected primary mobile viewports to surface key promotional assets, vehicle discovery components, and conversion hooks within the initial view.

Engineering & Handoff
Partnered directly with Kia Motors America (KMA) engineering teams to ensure pixel-perfect fidelity, high performance, and smooth gesture implementation.

Central Product Strategy

Touch-Native Spatial Design

The core product philosophy was anchored in extreme simplicity: design for the constrained canvas first, then scale UP.

High-Efficiency Viewport Hierarchy

First-Fold Viewport Density
Replaced oversized static hero blocks with dynamic, viewport-aware frames that keep key vehicle selectors and primary conversion triggers visible without scrolling.

Dual-Axis Micro-Interactions
Implemented independent horizontal swipe carousels for vehicle selection and promotional offers, maximizing interaction density within a compact mobile footprint.

Fluid Cross-Platform UI

Universal Component Architecture
Built responsive UI components—drag-and-click carousels, progressive disclosure accordions, and tactile toggles—that adapt seamlessly between touch gestures and desktop cursor interactions.

Adaptive Visual Art Direction
Established a multi-breakpoint art direction framework ensuring vehicle assets automatically frame and crop dynamically based on screen ratio and orientation.

Business Impact & Industry Recognition

J.D. Power Award Winner

Named by J.D. Power as the #1 Most Improved Site in consumer satisfaction, reversing their drop and returning Kia to the top.

Conversion Funnel Acceleration

Generated a massive lift in high-intent actions, including dealer locator activations, custom vehicle builds, and test-drive bookings.

Engagement Surge

Achieved record-high session duration and click-through rates across all mobile and tablet breakpoints.

Architecture & Technical Execution

Friction Point Modern UX Solution Business Impact
Rank Dropped to Near-Last Legacy responsive redesign buried primary CTAs and vehicle selectors far below the mobile fold. Restructured spatial hierarchy to surface vehicle discovery and top CTAs within the first fold.
Cluttered Mobile Navigation Desktop-first menus created high cognitive load and tap-target friction on small screens. Integrated touch-native swipe carousels and progressive disclosure accordions.
Unresponsive Asset Scaling Fixed desktop hero imagery scaled down poorly, cropping vehicles awkwardly on mobile viewports. Established an adaptive breakpoint grid system ensuring optimal vehicle framing on any display.