Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: digital tender

Context and business problem

The tender had two parts: ATL/BTL and Digital. An agency could win one or both. My scope was to win the Digital part.

The whole concept was mine: rebuild the current site and improve the configurators and contact forms to create as little friction as possible, capturing even partial lead data so a dealer can contact the prospect quickly, plus a strategy for running related tools through advanced systems connected directly to the website.

Users and their goals

• Business buyers of commercial vehicles: a fleet manager or business owner who knows what they need to carry every day, not which model or trim to pick. Pain point: a classic configurator asks product questions before it understands the business.
• Dealers: need a lead with enough context to call back quickly.
• VW: more and better leads from the website and campaigns.

Constraints

• Time: ~2–3 weeks for the full pitch and two interactive prototypes.
• A multidisciplinary team of five under pressure.
• I was lead and individual contributor at the same time: coordinating, estimating, designing and coding.
• A realistic estimate: fixed rates for one-off projects plus a monthly FTE retainer.

My role and responsibilities

• Digital lead of the pitch
• Internal co-coordination: the person in the agency connecting technology with marketing
• Estimation of hours and costs (fixed rates + monthly FTE retainer)
• UX/UI design
• Coding the prototypes

Process and key decisions

1. Discovery

I reviewed the current VW Commercial Vehicles site and its configurator journey and mapped where a business buyer drops off before leaving contact details.

2. Definition

The homepage got a mini-configurator under the hero that does not configure a van; it helps choose one. It starts from the customer’s need:

industry → daily volume → industry-specific features → electric or combustion → matched vehicle → full configurator or leave a lead.

Decision: start from the need, not the vehicle.

Why: a shorter decision path and a lead that already carries a profile.

3. Ideation and design: one landing page per industry × model

Each landing page targets one audience and one model, so campaigns can be targeted the same way. Built example: Crafter for logistics / e-commerce.

4. Prototyping with AI

Instead of static mockups, I built two fully coded interactive prototypes, mainly with Claude Code, in Next.js and Astro, on password-protected hosting, together with a web-based presentation. AI is what made a coded, clickable pitch possible inside a 2–3 week sprint.

5. Validation

I validated the flows through internal reviews with the strategist, account and UX Designer, and checked them against UX heuristics and my experience with lead forms; the client’s evaluation was the tender itself.

6. Delivery

Pitch delivered on 2026-05-08, with an estimate based on fixed rates plus a monthly FTE retainer.

Solution

No prototype screenshots are published (owner decision). The solution is described in text only.

Prototype 1: new homepage

• A better content layout and a shorter decision path
• The need-first mini-configurator under the hero

Prototype 2: landing page per industry × model (Crafter for logistics / e-commerce)

1. Hero with a short lead form, a strong headline and the van in action
2. Benefits and problems solved, per industry
3. Mini-configurator: shorter or longer variants depending on volume
4. Reinforcing the van’s advantage, plus fleet benefits
5. A real installment calculator: the monthly cost
6. Closer: add-ons and “find a dealer nearby” / “test drive” CTAs
7. Final form auto-filled from all previous interactions, so the lead arrives with a profile

Outcome and impact

• GPD Agency won the tender: a digital service contract worth millions.
• The concept that won the Digital part was mine, and it was presented as working, coded prototypes rather than static designs.

What I learned and what’s next

• A coded prototype sells a concept faster than slides. The jury could click through the need-first flow instead of imagining it.
• Being lead and individual contributor at once only works with a clear split: I kept the concept, estimate and code, and delegated layouts and content to the team.
• Now leading the implementation at GPD.