W. Ma

WORK

A collection of my works.

OBDII Headunit

Auto ownership is an enormous responsibility and can be intimidating. My OBDII headunit reader is designed to help owners, new and old, keep up with their auto maintenance. By capturing the data during each driving session, the OBDII reader will prompt drivers at important time & distance intervals for scheduled maintenance - extending the lifetime ownership of their car.

 

  • TIMEFRAME: 2020

  • TOOLS: Sketch, Adobe Photoshop

 
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PROBLEM

Aside from regular oil changes, more than half of the interviewed drivers find automotive maintenance and care tedious.

 
 
 
 

Questions

  • How often do you visit the mechanic for regular maintenance?

  • How can technology assist you to better understand your automobile?

  • What are the most critical elements of your driving experience? Your maintenance habits?

  • What are the recurring pain points you’ve encountered while visiting the mechanic?

 

WHY Do DRIVERS fall behind on their auto maintenance?

“There are so many moving parts, the last thing I want to do is mess around and be stranded!”

“I rely on the lights on my dashboard to keep me up to date with my maintenance. No lights, no problem!”

“I ask my mechanic to take an extra look around my car during every oil change. I trust his expertise.”

 

PERSONAS

 
 

HOW MIGHT WE help drivers keep up with their auto maintenance?

Education and awareness were recurring themes amongst interviewees. Nearly 20% wished to perform simple maintenance themselves if they had a deeper understanding of the automobile.

 
 

HIGH-LEVEL GOALS

  • Educate new and seasoned car owners.
    Provide accurate feedback and suggestions based on information saved in the car’s ECU and other data logging modules, custom to each car.

  • Increase Automotive Safety and Awareness
    Provide accurate feedback and suggestions based on information saved in the automobile’s ECU and other data logging modules, custom to each car.

 

DESIGN CRITERIA

Intuitive

As an Apple Carplay native App, the design must be easy to navigate and understand. The software is to help quickly identify potential problems for both drivers and specialists.

Direct

Interacting with a digital headunit can be just as dangerous as using a mobile device while driving - Therefore the design must be straightforward to avoid creating any additional distractions.

Discovery

Through the use of the native OBDII app, my goal is to bring more awareness and education to car maintenance and ownership to drivers.

 

STYLING

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ARCHITECTURE

 
 

A simple app home menu provides drivers with quick access, minimizing distracted driving.

Alerts are clearly displayed to capture driver attention immediately.

 

By displaying important information after the scan, both drivers and specialists alike can quickly troubleshoot potential causes and solutions right in the car.

Still can’t figure it out? Sometimes faulty codes arise - drivers can quickly clear it if needed!

 
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Keeping paper receipts after every mechanic visit is a thing of the past.

The active logbook help drivers keep track of their maintenance records and better plan for future visits.

 
 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Many owners fail to keep up with their auto maintenance.

    Aside from regular oil changes, more than 72% of surveyed drivers have failed to perform scheduled long-term maintenance for their car. (I.E. fluids and other wearables).

  • The complexity of an automobile is intimidating.

    Interviews with drivers revealed the complexity of the automobile to be the pain point, rather than a lack of initiative. 19% of drivers who failed their long-term scheduled maintenance (above) shared the sentiment of wishing to perform simple auto maintenance themselves.

  • Drivers like new technology features in modern cars.

    Driving assists and digital screens have resonated strongly with the mass consumer market. Aside from a small handful of enthusiast drivers, over 90% of regular drivers interviewed enjoy the new technology and welcome more innovation.

 
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REFLECTION

Sadly, as of 2020, Apple does not allow third-party integration with its Carplay platform. However, there is clearly an addressable market and a company like Apple is perfect to implement this widespread solution with its existing partnerships with manufacturers.

  • Users liked the simplicity and transparency of the system - the lack of hardware compared to competitors was a large influence in their responses.

  • Quick summaries and suggest solutions also attracted users. Existing solutions require users to visit a mobile app. Users liked the idea of all the data centralized for easy viewing.

  • More than half of the interviewed users view their automobile as a tool. I argue this warrants even more care and attention for their automobile.

 
 
 
UI DesignWilson Ma