Mobile Service by Mercedes-Benz

Mobile Application

This project is a mobile application used by Technicians at Mercedes-Benz to navigate, maintain inventory, communicate with customers, etc. The redesign focuses on giving users the power to maximize the number of services performed and increase dealer profits.

Client /

myKaarma

Role /

Product Designer

Team /

1 PM, 2 Designers, 4 Engineers, 1 Product Marketing Manager

Status /

V1 was released January 2021

OVERVIEW

Where the story began...

Dealer infrastructure is limited and there is a reduced number of experienced technicians as less people are choosing to attend trade school. How do we help dealers increase profits in their limited space and utilize junior technicians?

Drivers have a hard time keeping track of their schedule, managing parts, and navigating to the customer to perform car services. Customers do not know when technicians will perform service, who will be there, and how much it will cost. How might we provide value to our driver users and improve transparency with customers?

RESEARCH

Let's check what we have so far...

Since this project is in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, I wanted to first align all stakeholder expectations. In addition, I wanted to align with the users as well. I started by:

Meeting with stakeholders

Interviewing users and create user personas

Conducting a competitive analysis

Analyzing the current workflow

Aligning with Stakeholders - What are the expectations...

Since this is a collaboration project with Mercedes-Benz, I had to set up a meeting with corporate to align on their expectations and timeline. I have outline the ask below:

Interview Users & Creating User Personas - Going and seeing...

To further understand and confirm user pain points, I started visiting different dealerships in person and observing what was happening. I shadowed a few technicians to see what happens from the point an appointment is received to the point where they complete the service at the customer's chosen location.

Who are we designing for...

After speaking to 30 users, the next step is to create a profile of the users and identify their possible pain points. I found that there are three key roles:

BDC Representative
Technician
Customer

In order to reduce the complexity of this project, let's focus on the technician flow since they will be the main users for the mobile app. I have added the details for all our users below for easy reference.

Competitive Analysis - Finding what works...

During my conversations with our users, I started asking them to identify other applications they used that may be similar to what they want to use. Users started pointing out similarities to car service apps such as Uber, Lyft, and AAA. Although Uber and Lyft weren't exactly what Mobile Service would need, I found that AAA had features that closed that gap.

Analyzing the Work Flow - Visiting the dealership...

IDEATION

Synthesizing my findings...

After gathering the appropriate data, I started making sense of everything by:

Creating an affinity map
Defining feature prioritization
Fine-tuning the user flow

Affinity Map - Finding what stands out...

After gathering all the research, I created an affinity map using post-it notes. I found the following trends:

Technicians work on small screens and often share the same computer with other technicians.
They leave post-it notes all around their computer monitors to keep track of opcodes, customer notes, and schedules.
Currently, technicians have to perform all inspections by hand and physically walk the paperwork over to the Service Advisor's desk. The Service Advisors then type everything up and contact the customer to confirm details.
Technicians are never in direct contact with customers
Technicians get a printed copy of their schedule at the beginning of the day.

Feature Prioritization - What's important to have...

After reviewing our affinity map and competitive analysis, I used the Moscow Method to give insight into some important features to include in our MVP. This is important because I needed to make sure we included all feature requirements that our stakeholders had requested and all features that are useful to our users.

Revisiting the User Flow - How will they use it...

Now that I have digested a lot of the data I've accumulated, it is time to make sense of the user flows. Again, we should focus mainly on the Technician flow, but I have outlined the other flows as well for your reference.

DESIGN AND DELIVERY

Translating into screens...

After consolidating all my findings and sketching out some initial mockups for the user flow, I had a series of design studios. Focusing more on function than form, I created a bare-bone prototype that is effective enough to run user testings and gather feedback.

*Due to my confidentiality agreement with Mercedes-Benz USA, I can not share the full clickable prototype but below are some examples of the early stages of our design.

Next Steps

This first version of mobile service launched at the end of January 2021 to two Mercedes-Benz dealership. We will be tracking success by:

Getting direct feedback from Technicians by both observing Technicians perform the service and user interviews
Reading customer reviews on MBUSA feedback cycle
Tracking usage
Recording user screen to track how much time users are spending on each page
Get direct feedback if app crashes or other issues occur

Our nexts step will include:

Design iterations by incorporating feedback from test dealerships
UI update
Launching at additional stores in different regions for more feedback