Accenture / Hertz Rental & Car Sales UXUI Refresh
Hertz, founded in 1918 as the world’s first car rental company with a fleet of Ford Model T vehicles, has grown into one of the most recognized global brands in mobility. Today, it operates more than 12,000 locations worldwide under the Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, and Firefly brands.
Over its century-long history, Hertz has pioneered industry innovations and built unmatched trust. Early milestones include its 1925 affiliation with Yellow Cab Company and later partnerships with United Airlines and Ford to deliver seamless travel experiences.
Hertz also created a unique closed-loop ecosystem: customers can rent a car, experience it firsthand, and then purchase it through Hertz Car Sales and Hertz Rent2Buy — confidently buying a vehicle they already know and trust. This integration of rental, travel, and retail ownership remains a distinctive advantage in the industry.
Hertz engaged our combined team — Chaotic Moon, Fjord, and Accenture — to deliver a seamless digital experience across all platforms, with a sharp focus on mobile. Our mission: simplify and streamline every multi-step process for customers.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 001 / Research, Interview & Analysis
Understanding Stakeholders, Users & Current Landscape
Partnering with a 100-year-old icon like Hertz meant navigating rich legacy systems, decades of digital assets, and deep cultural significance—while meeting today’s expectations for seamless digital-physical integration in a rapidly evolving automotive landscape.
We began with comprehensive stakeholder discovery to surface pain points and long-term vision, paired with nationwide user interviews spanning all demographics to uncover real needs around car rental and used-car purchases.
From these insights, we crafted detailed personas and end-to-end journey maps, pinpointing every cross-platform touchpoint. We then reimagined the experience by borrowing proven behaviors from other industries—streamlining rental flows for effortless speed and gamifying the car-shopping journey to make it intuitive, transparent, and even enjoyable.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 002 / RAC UX
Concept 001 / Modular Cards
Drawing from user testing, feedback, and best-in-class patterns like Uber’s frictionless flow and Netflix’s bite-sized personalization, I developed several bold directions to reimagine the Hertz car rental experience.
The first design is the “Card Design” system, an intuitive, tactile user interface that works seamlessly across web, Android, and iOS. These cards are fully customizable and personalized, yet retain a familiar paper-like feel. They elegantly group related content such as reservations, loyalty rewards, and curated travel recommendations, creating a clean, glanceable experience for every user.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 002 / RAC UI
Hertz Digital Rebrand 003 / RAC UX
Concept 002 / One-Click Instant Booking
The second concept is the “One-Click” interface design. This concept introduces true one-tap reservations. Customers review the time and date, select a car, and confirm instantly—no forms, no waiting—dramatically reducing friction and abandonment while driving higher conversions.
Powered by personalized recommendations, pre-filled preferences, and Hertz’s century of customer data, it delivers speed and trust in a single gesture, perfectly serving last-minute travelers and loyalty members who expect a seamless, tailored experience.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 003 / RAC UI
Hertz Digital Rebrand 004 / Rent2Buy UX
Concept 001 - 004 / Gamify Car Shopping Design
Research shows that buying a car (especially for younger, first-time buyers with limited credit or support) is often stressful: too many options, complex paperwork, and high-pressure sales tactics.
To transform that experience, I reimagined Hertz Car Sales with playful, low-pressure mechanics: bite-sized personalized recommendations, Tinder-style left/right swipes to explore matches, and light gamification elements that reward progress completion. The result is a fun, transparent, and empowering journey that turns intimidation into confidence and makes finding the right car feel effortless and enjoyable.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 005 / Rent2Buy UX
Concept 005 / Seamless Online-to-Offline Bridge via Support Chat
User research revealed a persistent gap: customers love browsing cars online but hesitate to commit without real guidance — yet dread pushy in-person sales pressure. Online car shopping endures the same e-commerce struggle: customer retention and conversion.
To close this gap, I designed a contextual Support Chat built specifically for Hertz Car Sales and the Rent2Buy program. It delivers just-in-time answers, gentle nudges, and personalized advice — all without high-pressure tactics. Shoppers move confidently from online exploration to reservation or delivery, often skipping the traditional test drive entirely because they’ve already experienced the car through Rent2Buy. The chat becomes the calm, trusted advisor that turns hesitant browsers into relaxed, ready-to-buy customers.
Hertz Digital Rebrand 005 / Rent2Buy UI
