Overview:
A three week design sprint focusing on rapid ideation and concept building. Utilized Figma, Figma AI, and Figma prototyping features.
Please Note: This project was carried out as a design sprint based on how some features and products need to be brought to market quickly. Typical phases like user interviews and user testing were skipped in order to fit the time frame of this project.
The Result
OnTrack is a mobile/desktop platform built around making both maintenance tracking and reselling a vehicle simpler. In addition to these benefits, the platform also affords the ability of making overall car care less daunting in general. This is especially so for new car owners.
The Problem Space
Cars Require Upkeep
We use vehicles every day to get from point A to B, but only if it is kept in good condition. Keeping track of this over time can become taxing on a person.
Keeping Track Sucks
Making sure to keep records of a vehicle's maintenance history can be especially difficult if a person goes to multiple mechanics over time.
Why Keep Track of Maintenance?
Selling Your Vehicle Is Easier
With platforms like Clutch, buying used cars and selling your own can be done from the comfort of your home. Knowing your history can make the selling experience easier as well.
There is always a market for used
Between 2020 and 2022, the Canadian used vehicle market saw a 24.5% increase in sales. This has only continued upwards.
Source: Statistics Canada
A Good Way To Avoid Tariffs
It's no secret that with the ongoing trade woes Canada is experiencing, buying a used car is the more logical choice.
Jobs To Be Done
Which Translates into these main features:
Maintenance History Tracking
Appointment Booking
Vehicle Re-Sale Report Generation
The Design Phase
Task Flow Creation
Aesthetic Inspiration via Mobbin
Figma AI Generated Concepts (Asking it to create various info-heavy dashboards).
Some good aspects from these generated concepts were prioritizing info at a glance, geographical data, and calendar events that are easily accessible.
Manually Created Wireframes
After the AI generated wireframes were considered, I then took to shaping the main dashboard view on mobile. Although I had components with text already generated, I chose to start off with blocks to get a feel of weight and balance in the page composition.
Mid-Fidelity frames of OnTrack.
Swapping out the grey shapes for text and preliminary components, I moved OnTrack into a more refined state. Further refinement was carried out in the final stages after consulting with my mentor, Lea.
Final Solution
UI Overview
Mobile Screens
From the mid-fi frames I created, I moved onto creating the final form of OnTrack's mobile experience.
I began with mobile first since it is a more challenging canvas to design for than desktop.
Desktop Screens
Once the mobile experience/UI was finalized, I transferred the screens into a desktop format.
This step was easier than creating the mobile experience, but still provided its own challenges, like having to work with more negative space.
Colour Palette of OnTrack
UX Overview - 4 Main Functions of OnTrack
Onboarding
Although a seemingly simple portion of the overall experience, this portion of the product is one of the most important since it's the first point of contact between the user and OnTrack.
Onboarding is a fine balance of making sure you gather enough info to facilitate KYC, but not having too many steps that it becomes a mental burden to a new user.
Dashboard
The dashboard is the heart of the OnTrack experience. An informative, glance-able page helps give vehicle owners a quick "Sit-rep" (Situational Representation) of their car's maintenance.
The main functions of the platform can also be easily accessed from this page.
Recording Maintenance
OnTrack offers vehicle owners a quick and simple way of logging their maintenance history as one of its standout features. This is achieved by offering the use of AI Scanners for receipts and manual forms to be filled out so that no detail is missed.
Re-Sale Report
The final standout feature of OnTrack is the ability to set your vehicle up for maximum return on resale value. This is achieved via a thoroughly detailed maintenance history that is presented once the user decides to create their Car Report.
This report gives the vehicle owner peace of mind, while also building trust with whomever purchases the car later on in its life.
Design Impact
Simpler Car Maintenance
Having a one stop shop (App) readily available at the user's fingertips makes owning a car much less stressful.
Less Downtime
Instead of having to do guesswork on what maintenance a car will need, a quick scan of the OnTrack platform can help inform what work should be done!
Higher Resale Value
Knowing the history if your car at the time of re-sale can help get owners the best return on their initial investment.
Increased Trust
Handing off a used car to a new owner can now bring better peace of mind to them since there are less unknowns.
Next Steps
Bringing in Development
The next logical step would be to work alongside a development and engineering team to bring the platform into a beta stage. This will help with user testing before launch.
Collaboration
Establishing conversations with car info/resale companies like Clutch, Carfax, and Car Info would be something that OnTrack could explore.
Creating a Marketing Pitch
Without a good marketing team, word about OnTrack's mission won't reach the desired target users. That's why crafting a story that resonates with them, Via marketing is important.
Key Learnings & Take-Aways
The Design Process Isn't Always "By The Book"
Since this was a relatively fast design process, being okay with skipping steps and finding shortcuts was part of the process. As someone who has designed by the book for years, this exercise was refreshing.
If You Build It, They Will Come (More Related Features)
As a product is built, being open to the affordances it brings is important, especially for scalability. Once a product gains a foothold in the market, expanding upon these new features is crucial.
Done Is Better Than Perfect
It's a lot better to get the basis of what features you want finished, rather than worrying about every detail.
If one worries about it being perfect, it will never be "perfect", especially after user feedback.
Working With A Mentor Is Valuable
Instead of working within a silo as an Individual Contributor on a case study, having a well-versed and experienced person working alongside you helps you see the details you may have missed! (Thanks again, Lea!)