The issue presented for this project was to make automotive maintenance more accessible and less overwhelming to the average consumer because car ownership isn’t usually accessible to new people especially without a teacher of some kind (e.g. an expert family member, friend or institution). I focussed on compartmentalizing simple car maintenance tasks into easy steps that are very digestible. And then find ways to make classes for more complex tasks (or even compartmentalized lists if the task is truly simple enough). I completed this project over the course of one semester.
Research
Before I began the majority of the design work, I started by distributing a survey to determine the contents and general design of the app as well as multiple interviews to gain more specifics on the information I received from the survey results. I also completed an analysis of competitor apps such as CARFAX CarCare and My Car to identify primary pain points in apps similar to the one I was trying to create. My overall results were to create an app that would be easily digestible using videos, step-by-step instructions and specified steps tailored to user and their vehicle.
Design
The design used a natural color scheme and friendly illustrations to help make the topic of the application more appealing to the user. On top of that I completed low-fi and high-fi wireframes which were texted on prospective users. I carefully considered user feedback and implemented features that users generally agreed on and that I felt would most help solve the issue I sought to solve.
Testing
I held user testing sessions with little hands-on guidance by providing users short information about the app as well as the issue it was trying to solve. I learned that users desired many different forms of learning through step-by-step screens, visuals through video as well as listed instructions in one screen. They also discussed how personalized instructions would help. I incorporated the other forms of learning as well as making the screens respondent to the selected car in your profile.
Results
I completed this project well ahead of schedule (approximately one month prior to the due date) and received great feedback from my professor and previous users who tested it. They all found that the content, UI design and functionality catered to their needs exceedingly well.
Conclusion
I’ve found that illustration and aesthetics play a key role in solving a UX problem like the one posed here. This project made me excited to pursue UX work in the future and find creative ways to solve design problems in general.
PROTOTYPE
Narration by Brennan Senfera