The future of
cinch services.
A story-led design vision for cinch's value added products — visualising what enhanced, faff-free motoring could look like for customers.
Context.
A new role, a fast-growing startup, and a strategic conversation that needed a shared picture.
Bring the future of cinch services to life.
In April 2022 I was promoted to Group Design & Research Director for Constellation Automotive Group — which includes cinch, the UK's leading B2C online used car marketplace and one of the fastest-funded startups in UK history.
During a cinch SLT meeting it became clear that conversations around value added products (VAPs) kept getting lost in translation — every stakeholder held a different mental model. There was strategic intent without a shared picture of where it was all going.
- Strategy
- Sprint leadership
- Design direction
- SLT alignment
- Story-led vision
The Problem.
Strategic intent without a shared picture.
VAPs were the future of cinch's customer offer — protection, care, financing, the entire ownership wrapper. But each stakeholder around the table imagined a different version of that future. A roadmap couldn't form. Engineering couldn't size. Marketing couldn't position.
What the team needed wasn't a strategy document — it was a picture they could all point at.
Lost in translation.
Different stakeholders, different mental models, no shared visual.
Tell the future as a story.
Replace abstract talk with a visualisation everyone could rally behind.
“Conversations were getting lost in translation. Everyone had a different opinion. We needed to bring the future to life.”
The Approach.
I volunteered to lead. Two weeks. A small team. One story to tell.
Take the problem off the SLT's plate.
Rather than leave the conversation in stalemate, I offered to assemble a small cross-functional team and bring back something concrete. The premise: until everyone is looking at the same future, no two stakeholders are aligning on the same thing.
Understand the space, then visualise it.
A focused two-week sprint to develop a deeper view of the problem space — then to visualise the future experience in a story-led format. Not a wireframe deck. A narrative the SLT could walk through, scene by scene.
The Vision.
A story the SLT could see, point at, and align around.
cinchCare reimagined — protection, MOT, servicing and aftercare bundled as a single, story-led customer journey. Visualised end-to-end, played back to senior leadership as a coherent future they could agree on.
More to discuss.
This is the high-level overview.
Strategy, process, my direct contributions, and the work itself sit best in conversation. If you'd like to go deeper on how the vision was built, who was in the room, and what came out of it — let's talk in person.
Book a chatTestimonials.
From senior leadership at Constellation Automotive Group.
First-class leader who is able to extract maximum performance from any team. His clarity of strategic thinking was critical in Constellation being first to market.
One of the most talented design leaders I have ever worked with. A rare entrepreneurial mindset, key to the quick development of multiple products we launched as a team.
Up next.
uCheck
Self-serve vehicle valuation, reimagined.
All case studies
Six projects across design leadership, product design and service design.