Carvice Car Care: Case Study
Designed to enhance the driver’s car care experience—ranging from car servicing, general maintenance, and car knowledge.
Team & Roles
Sam Lee
UX Designer, UX Researcher, UI Designer
Renan Castro
Design Advisor
Tools
Figma
Miro
Key Skills
Ideation, User Interviews,
User Stories, Journey Maps,
Sketching, User Flows,
Guerilla Prototype Testing,
Wireframing, Visual Design,
High-Fidelity Mockup
Duration
12 weeks
Background
As a car owner, I know firsthand how frustrating it can be to keep up with maintenance and find affordable services. That's why I decided to explore ways to make the car care experience more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
I wanted to create a solution that would simplify the process and help drivers feel confident that their cars are in optimal condition.
Problem Statement
Maintaining a car can be frustrating and time-consuming, with drivers having to search for services and pricing information across multiple providers. Many car care providers also lack transparency and fail to provide clear pricing information, leading to further frustration and distrust.
This fragmented experience can lead to confusion and delay, causing some users to avoid car care altogether.
Goals
The goal was to create a mobile app that simplifies car care and makes it accessible for all drivers. The app would allow users to easily find and book car care services, view pricing information and ratings, and keep track of their service history. I wanted to help drivers understand the importance of regular maintenance and take control of their car care needs from their mobile devices.
Motivations
The main motivation was to provide a solution that reduces the frustration and confusion that many drivers experience when searching for car care services. I believed that by making car care more accessible and transparent, we could help drivers stay up-to-date with regular maintenance, leading to a safer and more reliable driving experience.
User Interviews
I interviewed a total of 5 participants who met the following requirements:
between the ages of 18 to 40
currently own or drive a car at least 3 times a week
owns a smartphone
interacts with web and mobile services at least 3 times a week
To better understand the needs and pain points of my target audience, I synthesized the information gathered from the interviews using an affinity map and empathy map. This allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the user's perspective and design something that would meet their specific needs.
Affinity Map & Empathy Map
I used the insights gained from these interviews to create an affinity map and empathy map, which allowed me to easily identify the common pain points and needs of the users. These tools helped me gain a deeper understanding of the target audience and informed the design decisions for the Carvice app.
User Research
Target Personas
Based on my research and insights gathered from user interviews, I created three personas that highlighted the common pain points and reasons why users tend to delay their car maintenance. Creating multiple personas allowed me to address the various priorities and concerns of different user segments, ensuring that the solution is more comprehensive and effective.
Findings Implementation
I focused on three key insights from user interviews and research to guide my design:
Users are not car experts and need a beginner-friendly platform.
Users want a product that can achieve multiple car care goals.
Users value ease-of-use and efficiency when it comes to car care.
Design Phase
Early Ideation
Conceptualizing with User Stories
I used user stories to conceptualize and visualize what users wanted to do, which helped define the minimum viable product (MVP).
Defining User Goals
I set out with Post-it notes and arranged ideas provided by interviewees from the previous conducted research. This allowed me to have an open visual cluster about my potential designs and what kind of features would be necessary to assist users properly. Some of them were marked with an asterisk (*) to show their crucial importance.
User Flow
Visualizing User Flows
I created user flows based on the personas to visualize how they would use the product with their unique goals in mind. From these user flows, I identified common red routes.
Designing & Testing
Initial Sketching
My initial sketches incorporated the user flows I created previously which led me to create sketches of 3 red route screens: Login/Sign Up, Home, and Confirmation Page.
From there, I worked on creating screens that would allow the flow between each screen to be efficient and make sense.
Wireframing & Wireflow
After going through a guerilla sketch testing phase, I focused on easy-to-read fonts, comprehensible icons and buttons, and user-friendly flows.
Style Guide
I created a style guide to represent the idea of dependence and responsibility, which aligns with the purpose of Carvice. I experimented with different colors, fonts, and styles to find the best fit for the app's users. The goal was to create a visually inviting, comforting, and easy-to-read interface.
High Fidelity Screens
Next step was creating high fidelity screens which focused on easy-to-read fonts, comprehensible icons, beginner-friendly design, and sensible task flows.
User-Centered Design Changes
Usability Testing
The design underwent 2 rounds of unmoderated usability tests to observe how potential users would interact with the prototype. Participants were given tasks like signing up and scheduling an appointment.
The testing phase showed that:
Key Findings
Key findings showed that while the majority of participants were able to complete tasks with ease and expressed a positive overall experience while some struggled with navigating the prototype due to the lack of familiar functionalities.
This insight led to a focus on making design changes based on user feedback for an improved user experience.
Clear Button Functionality
It was noted that certain buttons lacked clear functionality, which led to confusion among participants during usability testing.
Some buttons were not giving visual feedback that they were pressed
Some buttons were not greyed out when they are not able to be pressed
Some buttons were labeled or were visually different but returned the same results
Visual Button Feedback
Updated
Initial
Disabled Buttons
Initial
Updated
Ability to Scroll
Users made it clear that when functions visually look as if it scrollable, they are going to expect this to work and instinctively try to use the scroll function.
The scroll function allows for more freedom for users to navigate through the prototype
Scrolling Functionality
Initial
Updated
Validation and Feedback
In testing the high fidelity screens, users found the prototype easy to navigate overall (yay!), but identified issues with basic details like button feedback and scrolling capabilities.
While these elements hindered the user experience, participants also provided feedback on additional features they would like to see in future versions of the product (exciting because it shows Carvice could potentially be a real product out there with real features!)
Final Design
Future of Carvice
During user testing, I received valuable feedback and suggestions from participants. If I had more time on this project, I would look to incorporate features brought up by fellow test participants, including:
💡 A dashboard icon database for users to easily search for and identify car problems
💡 A symptom database to help users diagnose car issues and find potential solutions
💡 An emergency feature to easily connect users with roadside assistance and other services using their insurance information
Learning Outcomes
Usability can always be improved
During the development of Carvice, I realized that even the smallest changes can have a huge impact on the user experience. User feedback taught me that there is always room for improvement. I learned that even when I thought I had found the perfect design, it could still be improved to better cater to users. This taught me to never settle for a design and always be willing to make changes for a better user experience.
Designing for the user, not for myself
Initially, I designed Carvice based on my own experiences with car maintenance. However, user research and testing showed me that everyone's experiences and opinions are different. I learned to put aside my own biases and design based on the needs of the user. Gathering feedback from users was invaluable in helping me understand what works and what doesn't work for them, allowing me to create a more user-centered final prototype.
People like familiarity
Throughout the design process, I learned that users tend to stick with what they are familiar with. Familiar icons, symbols, and actions are easier to recognize and understand. I incorporated this knowledge into the design of Carvice by using common digital practices that users were already familiar with. By using familiar elements, users were able to navigate the app more easily and with less confusion.