Case Study: CarMax achieves faster user insights and improved conversions with UserTesting

CarMax uncovers insights to improve customer experience with UserTesting

CarMax, the nation’s largest used-car retailer, sought to stay ahead as online shopping habits shifted. Although analytics and in-person usability labs provided useful data, product teams lacked frequent, hands-on access to real customer feedback, slowing innovation and limiting empathy-driven design.

By having product managers, designers, and engineers run and watch UserTesting studies together, CarMax embedded rapid, iterative user research across websites, apps, prototypes, landing pages, and even ads. Teams now validate ideas within minutes, prioritize high-impact features (like a successful “badge” that increased buyer attention), and use video insights to influence executive decisions—improving conversions, speeding product development, and bringing the customer’s voice directly into design choices.

CarMax

Chip Trout

Manager, Interaction Design