Designing the Car Maintenance Booking Feature
Product Design
Micro-interaction
2023
Overview
Keeping a car in good condition is essential for safety and performance, yet many car owners face difficulties scheduling maintenance in a simple and efficient way. This project aimed to solve this problem by creating a maintenance booking feature within an automotive workshop’s app, providing users with an easy and convenient experience.
Problem Definition
Customers faced the following challenges when trying to schedule maintenance:
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Lack of an organized and intuitive process.
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Difficulty visualizing available dates and times.
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Low trust in the current system due to the absence of clear confirmations.
The main goal was to develop a user-centered solution that made the booking process quick and hassle-free.
My Role in the Project
As a UX Designer, my responsibilities included:
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Analyzing user feedback provided by the founder and sales team to understand their pain points and expectations.
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Creating personas based on the profiles of workshop customers.
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Mapping the user journey and identifying improvement opportunities.
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Developing user flows, wireframes, and navigable prototypes.
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Validating solutions through usability testing and feedback.
How might we...
How might we assist car owners in scheduling their car maintenance in an easy way?
Process
To understand the key issues faced by customers, I performed:
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Feedback analysis from customers shared by the founder and sales team: This feedback revealed that many avoided scheduling maintenance due to confusing and time-consuming processes.
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Competitor analysis: I identified best practices in competitor apps that could be adapted for this project.
Key Findings:
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Simple interfaces with clear calendars increase user trust.
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A visual confirmation provides feedback that reassures users of the booking process.
Research and Insights
Project Milestones
Ago 2023
Solution Presentation for Stakeholders
Based on the user flow, I developed wireframes to discuss with stakeholders and ensure no steps were missing before proceeding to design the screens.
After creating the screens and the clickable prototype, I put together a brief presentation where I detailed the key points, what happened upon clicking each item, and where it led to. This helped clarify any doubts the developer had, but I made myself available in case there were any aspects I hadn't covered.
Desk Research and Benchmark
Mapping User Flow
Wireframes
Set 2023
Prototype and handoff
I conducted a desk research to see the most common ways of registration and scheduling. I suggested integrating Calendly (a tool already known and used by the company, but the CEO wanted an in-house solution). In addition to Calendly, I found solutions like Appointlet and Doodle.
I created the User Flow with two possibilities: one for users who already had an account and another for new users, including a verification code step for both email and SMS.
At this point, I presented to the CEO and the developer who would implement this new feature. After the discussion, we added a list of postponed services for users who had been previously attended to the project.
Persona's creation
Based on the collected data, I defined two primary personas to guide the design process:
Persona 1
Dona Johnson is a 45-year-old dedicated accountant in the bustling city of New York. Passionate about her car, she sees it as an essential tool for connecting with her family, especially her beloved grandchildren. She loves taking them on outings and picking them up from school. Although she has a special affection for her car, she is not familiar with technical terms such as "engine rod." Dona is seeking a trustworthy auto shop where she can schedule regular maintenance to ensure her and her grandchildren's safety during their time together.
Persona 2
Mitchell Howell, a 36-year-old salesperson residing in Brooklyn, relies on his car as a tool for work, frequently traveling to other states. His ability to close deals is directly linked to the reliability of his vehicle, as an unexpected breakdown could result in the loss of potential clients and, consequently, a reduction in his income. For Mitchell, keeping up with car maintenance is essential to ensuring professional and financial success.
User flow scope
Out of scope
Direct addition to calendar (e.g., Google Calendar, Outlook, etc.)
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User Flow Scope
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New user registration.
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Information validation.
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Vehicle and owner details.
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Additional Services / Deferred Services (for returning users).
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Maintenance scheduling
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Reminder sending (by email or SMS)
Mapping and understanding the flow
For this new feature, it was necessary to understand how the flow would work, so I crafted the user flowchart below previously mapping out the steps the user would need to take to complete the Walk-in Registration, This allowed me to start planning how the pages would look and what was necessary to have on each page, focusing on a intuitive interaction.
In the registration process, I ensured to:
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Creating a user-friendly approach
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Including the total number of steps
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Providing the sense of conclusion upon completing the registration process
It’s worth to mention that in any project technical or time limitations are very common, and this one was no exception. I wasn’t feasible to add the appointment to the user’s calendar due to time constrains. As a UX Designer, I consistently advocate for our users, however in this particular instance, due to time constraints for delivering the first version, the addition of this function had to be postponed to a future version.
Prototype
How do this feature impacts on autoshop daily operations?
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Customer Loyalty: By offering a convenient solution for customers to schedule their car maintenance, auto shops can increase loyalty, as customers will have a more satisfactory and efficient experience.
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Increased Customer Trust: By allowing customers to easily schedule repairs, auto shops demonstrate their commitment to safety and customer satisfaction, which can increase customer trust in the brand.
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Increased Service Utilization: With a simpler way to schedule maintenance, customers are likely to use auto shop services more frequently, which can result in increased sales and revenue.
Lessons I learned from this part of the project:
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When you have time constrains, you should focus on the MVP, but if you have time, deliver the whole flow so the developers can built it in a second version.
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Heuristics evaluation helps keep focus on usability and to assists in using the solution.
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The more you work on documentation to help the developers with handoff, the better it is, as it can reduce the questions by providing answers in advance.
