Readable controls
Only a manager with the correct access could open the modal, review profit, and set negotiation limits.
01 · The market limitation
A one-price product entering a negotiating market.
A2Z Sync was created for one-price dealerships. Without a way to set negotiation limits and protect profit, the product could not support dealerships that negotiated vehicle or trade values.
02 · Research
The workflow looked physical. The opportunity was technical.
I worked onsite and remotely with dealership managers, financial advisors, and client advisors. Concern mapping, heuristic evaluation, and storyboarding showed that managers needed control without becoming the middleman.
03 · Three major versions
The right scope emerged through iteration.
We completed three major design versions before piloting the product with dealership staff.
04 · The final system
Discreet to customers. Clear to dealership staff.
Authorized managers set trade and vehicle-price limits inside a readable modal. Client advisors saw a coded summary on the customer-visible dashboard and could negotiate within those limits without leaving the customer.
Video playback may vary by browser. If it does not load, the final interface screenshot is displayed instead.
Discreet guidance
The dashboard code showed the advisor their room without exposing sensitive profit information to the customer beside them.
05 · Designing the rules
This was a system, not just a modal.
I defined the calculations, DMS field mapping, shared updates, save behavior, negotiation limits, and negative or zero states. The Lead Engineer helped adapt the concept to existing backend constraints.
Protect the source system
Each deal pulled from the DMS once. Manual changes stayed with that customer deal and were never pushed back to the DMS.
Keep both roles current
More than one user could work in the deal. Saved limits and shop codes updated across users, with notifications when key values changed.
Make the limits real
Advisors could negotiate only within enabled allowances. Invalid changes reverted, while negative and zero-profit states followed explicit code rules.
06 · Outcome
A tool dealership staff understood without training.
The negotiation tool reached production in four months and was used daily by at least four locations. It reduced the manager’s role as a middleman and enabled A2Z Sync to support negotiating dealerships.
Dealership staff said the code was discreet enough for a customer-visible screen and clear enough for advisors to understand without a tutorial. It also gave new advisors a simple way to see how changing one number affected the rest of the deal.
07 · Leadership takeaway
The strongest design move was not the modal. It was asking the technical question that changed the product direction.
Connecting dealership behavior, A2Z Sync’s business model, and an existing system capability turned one dealership request into a product capability that enabled market expansion.