Guidewire

Task: Steve needs a "main screen" he can log into every morning, and work in every day, to track what's going on in his repair shop.

Timeframe: no more than 8 hours 

Assumptions (Given)

• All customer information has previously been entered in a database when the repair was scheduled.
• There is a database of estimated costs of all standard repairs.
• Service technicians have their own interface for noting when parts are needed, when ordered, and when received. Steve doesn't do this, but may want to have access to this information.

Time spent: 

~ 1.5 hr user research, understanding the problem  
~5.5 hr designing
~ 1 hr documentation

Design Process

Goal

The goal of this design is to go through the user-centered design process and to design the user experience of a management software for a repair shop. This design is an opportunity to help repair shops have a better and more organized management system so that the shop can provide a quick, efficient experience for the customers. 

User Research (Given)

User stories

To better empathize with our users, I was given one persona that reflect the typical user for my product.  

Service Manager 

As a service manager, I want to provide an efficient, quality experience for our customers, so that they will return for future services if needed. I need an organized, user friendly system to avoid miscommunications on ordering parts, so that I do not have to keep my customers waiting or have to reschedule the service. 

Mechanic worker

Using my knowledge of the audience, I wrote my own user story of a mechanic work that is also a typical user for my product. 

As a mechanic worker, I want to be able to easily update, add, or cancel customer's orders. I want to be able to understand information at a glance, so that I do not have to keep my customers waiting or provide them the wrong information if they have a question. 

Defining User Tasks (Given)

These are the activities Steve does, and which my prototype needs to support. 

1. Add a vehicle to the list when it is dropped off for repair, and tell the customer what the estimated cost will be.
2. Mark a repair job as completed when the customer picks up their car
3. Update the cost or time of completion based on input from the service technician, and notify the customer if that happens.
4. Call the customer to tell them their car is ready.
5. Cancel the repair job if, for instance, an inspection revealed repairs that the customer doesn't want to do right now.

Storyboard

Creating storyboards allows me to map out the customer's journey and to get a picture of what interactions my design needs to support.

Inspiration Analysis 

I looked for competitors and other auto shop repair management systems for inspiration. 

Shop Boss: Shop Boss is a leading automotive repair software meticulously designed for the core functions of the auto repair shop aiding in handling their day-to-day operations. 

Likes:

• home screen listed in table format 
• Was able to scan data without losing place

Mitchell Repair Center: With our new Production Management, you can manage and update the current status and location of in-process repairs in order to keep staff informed of the repairs’ progress and to better manage and influence the outcome of the repair.

Dislikes: 

• Looks outdated
• Not very clean, information seems to be all over the place
• Cluttered 

Low-Fi Sketches

Before starting to design, I thought about what platform should be best with this product (Desktop, iPhone, iPad). Each platform has their own pros and cons, but I found designing for the iPad would be the best for this product. 

Some ideas I explored...

Design Decisions

Based on the tasks given to me, I had to decide what information needed to be initially displayed on the home screen and what could be displayed in another way (such as another page). 

What I displayed on the home screen: 

• Customer Name: Allows the user to provide fast customer service when they come pick up their vehicle and so the customer is not kept waiting
• Vehicle: Helps user identify what car the customer drives and to allow the user to provide fast customer service
• Dates: Allows the shop to prioritize what car needs to be repaired and to stay on track for deadlines
• Estimator: Makes the shop more efficient by allowing all workers to know who is working on what vehicle
• Cost: Makes payment easier when the customer comes up to pick up their vehicle after a repair has been completed
• Status: Helps the worker know the status of each vehicle; knowing whether that they are waiting for parts for a certain vehicle can allow them to work on another vehicle and make the shop more efficient

All other information can be found when the user goes into more detail with the order by clicking the on the order. Many of those information would have made the table very cluttered. This information is more for the worker, rather than the customer, so it can be kept on another page. 

• Type of Service
• Parts Needed/Status of Part
• Comments
• Customer Contact Information 

Challenges

Some challenges I ran into:

• I have never designed an iOS app before, I do not really know the iOS guidelines.
• Designing a table on sketch seemed time consuming - not sure if there are better ways to do it, I would need more time to do more research on this. 
• Knowing what information was important vs. what was not for the table of repair orders

Usability Test 

Give 2 ideas about how to source people for a usability test.

1. Go to different auto repair shops and recruit the auto shop workers. It is important to recruit people in your user groups and existing users.
2. Ask customer service to ask customers (auto repair shops) at the end of the call.  You already have existing customers on the line, and they can schedule to come in for the test. In addition, if the customer on the call does not want to participate, you can ask them to ask their co-workers if they want to participate in return for a small compensation. You can explain to them that this feedback is vital, as it will help improve the program and make the program easier for them to use. 

Design the tasks for a usability test that will validate your designs. 

Task 1

A new customer, Joseph Appleseed, brought his Tesla into the shop today for a repair. After you have inspected the car for repairs, you will need to add him into the system. You will need to write down the customer's information, the repair order, and notify him the estimate cost of the repair. 

Task 2

The parts for Daniel's Knick's vehicle has arrived early. Update Daniel's estimate due date to a day earlier than the original date. Call Daniel that his estimated date for completion will now be a day earlier. 

Task 3

You have completed the repair on Jay Neilson's car. Call the customer to tell them their car is ready for pick up. After he picks up the car, mark the repair job as completed. 

Task 4

Verona Dean has brought in her car for a repair. She was not able to stay for an estimate cost because she was going to be late for work. She tells the shop to call her for estimate cost. You call her and told her the estimate cost for her repair would be $1,100. She realizes that it is a bit pricey right now and would come back later in the month when she gets her paycheck. You now need to cancel her repair job.

What I learned 

Management systems are difficult to design. I learned how to present a lot of data into a table with easy readability. Here are two resources that I used online on how to design tables: https://design-nation.icons8.com/intro-to-data-tables-design-349f55861803 and https://uxdesign.cc/design-better-data-tables-4ecc99d23356. Because of the time constraint, I was not able to follow every single thing on these articles about designing tables.  Based on my own research, many auto repair shop software seems outdated and does not have a good user experience - I never thought about designing in this space.

If I had more time

If I had more time, I would go out and conduct my own user research and gather my own data. I would go out to different auto shops and recruiter the managers and workers for user interviews. I want to empathize more with my users and learn more about their problems. With more user research, I can identify what information is most important vs what is not important for workers on their home screen. I would try my best to follow all of the techniques the article presents on how to design better data tables - I found this source to be really helpful! If I had more time, I would definitely do the user testing portion of it and iterate on my design based on the feedback. 

Another thing that I did not have time to think about was how can my users view past completed repairs and vehicles that are currently in the shop. Maybe I can have a navigator tab at the bottom of the screen with "Completed Repairs", and the user can search through old orders.