Portage Cars

Portage Cars is one of New Zealand’s largest used-car dealerships, with six branches across the country. While the brand had a strong offline presence, its website was not supporting one of its key business goals — generating leads and financing applications.

The existing platform felt overloaded and outdated. The user journey was unclear, important information was hard to navigate, and the overall experience lacked trust and structure. Our goal was to redesign the UX/UI to create a modern, intuitive, and conversion-focused platform that works seamlessly for both customers and the internal team.

We began with a comprehensive UX/UI audit to understand the core issues. It quickly became clear that the problem wasn’t just visual — it was structural. The interface lacked hierarchy, layouts were cluttered, and the heavy use of red combined with oversized buttons created a sense of pressure rather than trust. Content was repetitive, financial tools were poorly integrated, and contact forms felt unnecessarily long and complicated. At the same time, key trust signals such as reviews, certifications, and team visibility were missing or underrepresented.

After aligning on priorities with the client, we restructured the entire experience. We introduced a clearer UX logic, simplified navigation, and redesigned key flows to make the path from browsing to inquiry more natural and efficient. The platform was rebuilt around clarity, transparency, and ease of use.

Visually, we moved toward a cleaner and more balanced aesthetic. The brand’s signature red and blue were preserved, but used more thoughtfully as accents rather than dominant elements. We introduced lighter typography, more white space, and a clearer visual hierarchy to improve readability and reduce cognitive load.

Product presentation was also reworked. Car listings were redesigned to include complete and transparent information, allowing users to quickly compare options and make decisions with confidence. Filters and navigation were simplified to guide users toward key actions without friction. At the same time, the structure was optimized for SEO, ensuring better visibility and long-term performance.

The result is a modern, conversion-oriented platform that feels clear, trustworthy, and easy to use. The new experience creates a smoother journey from discovery to inquiry, strengthens the perception of the brand, and supports higher lead generation.

The interface now works seamlessly across all devices, combining functionality, clarity, and a confident visual language.