Lionel

A self-initiated car-shopping concept that uses the car you already own to help you find your next one. I designed and built a working prototype to explore the experience.

Try the prototype

Most car searches start with filters. Lionel starts with the car you already own.

The prototype explores a flow that estimates your car’s value, asks what you would keep or change, then suggests three alternatives based on your priorities.

Lionel could connect customers with matching listings across multiple car-shopping sites or work as a branded experience for a single partner, with referral fees as a potential revenue model.

The idea was heavily influenced by my mother-in-law, who knew what she liked about her Audi Q7 but not what cars could replace it without hours of research.

Testing the flow with her helped shift Lionel from a generic questionnaire towards a conversation grounded in a car she already understood.

"This is the most amazing thing ever. I wish someone had built it when I was looking for my car. Can you come over and fix my Wifi now?"

- Mother-in-law

I used Claude to build a working prototype in a day, covering research, product logic, design, development and imagery. I shaped the flow, challenged its suggestions and refined the interactions through testing.

It also let me quickly explore an advertising idea. Lionel was intended to feel like a friendly adviser - “Have you tried asking Lionel?” - with a nod to Lionel Richie. In the ad, a woman spots a car outside a café and stands up to sing a rendition of Hello, changing its iconic line to: “Hello, is this the car I’m looking for?”

Lionel is still a prototype. The next step is to validate valuation accuracy, live inventory and whether its questions adapt meaningfully to different customers.