AI meets user-friendly self-diagnosis for a smarter
maintenance experience
Client
Honda
Timeline
5 months
Year
2023
Honda
Timeline
5 months
Year
2023
My Role
UX Design, UX Strategy
Team
Designer, S. Dabas, Service Manager, T. Jones,
Engineer, E. Clepper, VP, Honda Research, D. Detwiler
UX Design, UX Strategy
Team
Designer, S. Dabas, Service Manager, T. Jones,
Engineer, E. Clepper, VP, Honda Research, D. Detwiler
Project Overview
I was contracted to research and design a mobile application from zero to one that addresses critical maintenance issues that Honda is currently facing. In collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, I delved into an in-depth analysis of Honda's maintenance challenges, crafting innovative solutions to enhance efficiency and user experience.
Solution
An innovative mobile maintenance application that empowers drivers to independently identify and diagnose maintenance issues through cutting-edge AI/ML technology. Users can tap into a range of resources, including the HondaGPT chatbot equipped with advanced sound and image recognition capabilities. This application enhances the diagnostic process, offering a comprehensive and proactive approach to vehicle maintenance.
Results
I successfully revealed a new market of Gen Z drivers who expressed interest in self-service automotive repair.
I designed a robust application allowing drivers to self-diagnose their maintenance issues and enhance Honda technicians' efficiency by reducing the overall dealership diagnostic time by ~30%. This was achieved by implementing AI/ML capabilities to pinpoint and streamline potential maintenance issues.
Problem Statement
How might we improve the automotive maintenance process for Generation Z drivers?
Why Gen Z?
As Gen Z transitions into adulthood from 2022 to 2034, it becomes crucial for Honda to tailor its marketing strategies and offerings to align with the preferences and requirements of this demographic. Bloomberg highlights that Gen Z wields an impressive $360 billion in purchasing power, a figure poised for expansion as they join the workforce. Honda aspires to establish itself as an industry leader by delivering automotive solutions tailored explicitly for this emerging generation.
Why a mobile application?
Our research discovered that roughly 98% of Gen Zers have a mobile device and are accustomed to getting things of value quickly and efficiently through it. This digital-first approach creates opportunities for Honda to use today's technology to put their customers first and co-create value at critical touchpoints.
Key Features
Enhance the maintenance experience for Generation Z drivers
With our AI-powered application, drivers can quickly diagnose maintenance issues using image and sound recognition technology. Allowing Honda drivers to have a personal maintenance assistant in the palm of their hands.
Enable Honda and its dealerships to streamline data collection
Honda can establish a centralized platform that serves as a shared space for Honda and its drivers, facilitating easy access to essential documents and driver notes that can be referenced during the maintenance process.
Allow Honda users to video chat with qualified technicians
By introducing video chat capabilities, technicians will be available to answer maintenance-related questions and schedule dealership repairs if needed. This will also allow Honda to extend its presence to customers outside the dealership, always keeping the Honda brand in mind.
Final Designs
Onboarding
Streamlined onboarding for a fast and tailored setup process within the
Honda maintenance app.
Homescreen
Gain access to essential resources and vital tools such as self-diagnostic
tools, direct chat, documents, and task lists.
Lead With Research
Design through matchmaking
Given our limited timeframe, I engaged in a creative session to generate potential solutions. To explore innovative ideas, I employed a technique known as Matchmaking. This approach involves researching and aligning the strengths and functionalities of available technologies with the needs of potential users and prioritizing those capabilities that can make the most significant impact.
I started Mind Mapping ideas around emerging technologies like Computer Vision, Generative AI, and Augmented Reality.
Understanding our users
It was clearly emphasized that our design should be geared towards the Gen Z audience. Keeping this in focus, I conducted extensive primary and secondary research to gain insights into the expectations and traits of this generation. The objective was to utilize this knowledge to foster empathy and craft solutions that effectively address their specific needs and expectations.
Stakeholder Map
I explored different maintenance-related areas, including the idea of overhauling Honda's dealer management system. However, I ultimately decided to concentrate on improving the maintenance process because it appeared more feasible and offered substantial potential to benefit a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
This clarity came after sketching multiple stakeholder maps for various ideas and noticing that a maintenance application could benefit Gen Z drivers, Honda dealerships, auto part manufacturers, and the gig economy.
Contextual Inquiry
After conducting 12+ semi-structured interviews with Gen Z drivers, I led an onsite field study at a Honda Dealership in Pittsburgh. I interviewed the Service Manager, Lead Service Technician, and Service Advisor.
This visit aimed to understand how we could innovate the maintenance process and find new ways to benefit Honda Dealerships. I learned the importance of the maintenance assessment process and how much information could potentially be collected before customers even get to the dealership.
Customer Journey Map
After conducting the site visit and interviewing stakeholders, I successfully charted the existing customer journey. This process provided me with valuable insights, enabling me to create a fresh journey map that illustrates how we can capitalize on potential opportunities.
By implementing a system that allows customers to self-identify potential maintenance issues and subsequently schedule a video session with a Honda technician if necessary, we can reduce customer wait times at dealerships and provide the convenience of providing drivers with the resources to do their own repairs on accessory maintenance issues like changing your oil or checking your tire pressure. According to the service manager I interviewed, this accounts for 70% of services at dealerships.
Key Insights
From our research we gathered three key insights:
01
No value in going to the dealership for Gen Z
The lack of perceived value of going to the dealership for Gen Z is turning them away. They are usually met with higher cost and long commutes to the dealership.
02
Knowledge transparency is what Gen Z drivers are looking for
Gen Z drivers are inclined to seek knowledge about their cars maintenance issues instead of merely leaving it at the dealership, expecting it to be magically resolved.
03
An opportunity for dealership data collection
Dealerships collect most of their customer’s car information and driving habits when they arrive at the dealership. Missing out on key times to gather data before they arrive.
Design Iterations
Low fidelity / Wireframes
Due to our tight schedule, we promptly transitioned to including color in our wireframes and employed these prototypes in a user testing session involving 8 Gen Z drivers.
Our initial design primarily centered around establishing a seamless onboarding process and integrating our chatbot feature into the user experience. We were eager to gauge user responses to receiving advice about their vehicles from the chatbot.
With feedback from our usability testing, I went back and started creating low-fidelity screens with no color to refine the user flow. This process then led me to organize five lowfi prototyping sessions. This method proved highly advantageous for brainstorming and investigating different ideas to improve the user experience.
Usability Testing
I completed a day of usability testing with a group of 15 Gen Z drivers during a workshop held in Pittsburgh, PA. With a semi structured interview method, I observed that many participants displayed limited interest in the application's personality questionnaires and the option to select their own chatbot. They found these features to be somewhat juvenile and expressed a preference for a more straightforward onboarding process.
Participants found the chatbot feature to be enjoyable. Their primary concern revolved around establishing trust, as they were accustomed to seeking advice from familiar figures like their fathers or older siblings.
Participants found the chatbot feature to be enjoyable. Their primary concern revolved around establishing trust, as they were accustomed to seeking advice from familiar figures like their fathers or older siblings.
Final Design Flows
Onboarding
I created a user-friendly and easy-to-follow onboarding procedure that enables the application to quickly verify the driver by scaning their VIN. Utilizing Honda's database of drivers, powered by machine learning capabilities. This enhancement significantly accelerates the onboarding process.
Self diagnostic support
Additionally, this feature enables Honda to gather valuable data, enhancing their understanding of prevalent issues in specific vehicle models.
OnDirect chat
Customers can easily initiate a service request and expect a prompt response from a qualified Honda technician.
OnDirect Pro
Creating a CRM dashboard for Honda's dealership was imperative, enabling them to manage appointments seamlessly, from maintenance schedules to OnDirect chats. Upon visiting the dealership, I observed their reliance on an outdated platform, hindering efficient communication between service technicians and managers.
Conclusion
Due to our time constraints, we opted for an agile design approach, conducting design sprints and prototype testing weekly to drive the project forward. While it could be hectic at times, I found the process of iterating each week and presenting our discoveries to the Honda R&D team quite rewarding. Each week was met with an hour meeting, with 45 mins of it being a presentation that me and my collegue would prepare throughout the week. If we had more time, I would have done more usabilty testing with Gen Z drivers, as well as defined key metrics to be used to validate the success of our application.
Adoption
Integrating a new virtual technician approach into Honda Dealerships maintenance processes across the United States may encounter some challenges, primarily due to the older age demographic of dealership owners. Who may be apprehensive about adopting new technology. Nevertheless, a gradual approach could be employed to introduce this innovation into Honda's ecosystem. Initially, we can target dealerships who are open to new technology which would enable drivers to schedule one-on-one sessions with Honda-certified technicians. Simultaneously, efforts can be directed towards collecting and refining the vast amount of data within Honda's repository. This data can then be harnessed to develop a robust language model, designed to assist drivers in addressing maintenance queries.