Commissioned by Volvo Cars, to design a digital prototype with specific functionality to visualize and illustrate the connectivity possibilities and key-sharing capabilities.
Design an app that supports locking and unlocking a car from a mobile app. The app contains the following:
METHODS
Flowchart, Affinity Diagram, moodboard, Desktop Research, Storyboard, Surveys, Interviews
TOOLS
Miro, Google Surveys, Excel, Balsamiq, Figma
Our application revolutionizes the sharing of car keys, providing users with a hassle-free and secure way to share access without compromising safety and control over their vehicle.
Security Measures: Implements password protection and utilizes mobile security features like Face-ID for enhanced convenience and protection against unauthorized access.
Flexibility in Key Sharing: Offers users the flexibility to grant temporary or permanent access to family, friends, or trusted individuals who can handle the vehicle, based on insights gained from thorough market research.
User-Friendly Design: Prioritizes user experience by simplifying the process of key sharing, reducing the likelihood of lost keys, and streamlining daily tasks by integrating the digital key into their mobile device.
Enhanced Security: Users can trust in the robust security measures, ensuring their vehicle remains protected against unauthorized usage.
Convenience: Eliminates the need to search for misplaced keys and manage multiple physical objects, making daily life more convenient for users.
Control and Trust: Empowers users with control over key sharing, allowing them to share access only with individuals they trust, maintaining a sense of control over their vehicle
Informed Design: Informed by a comprehensive understanding of user routines and car habits through market research, the application is designed to seamlessly integrate into users' lifestyles.
In the early stages of this project, our team delved into Desktop Research right after diving deep into the project brief. The goal was to soak up insights and data from various sources and perspectives, to truly wrap our heads around the subject and its context. This phase was like giving ourselves a crash course – getting to know the problem, diving into the domain, and figuring out what's already out there in the market.
We explored other existing services that share similar concepts, and we compiled our discoveries into a set of diagrams, systematically arranged by car brand apps. Those diagrams became our cheat sheet, helping us get a grip on what's hot in the tech world related to our project. Also, they let us play matchmaker between different services.
Identifying our target audience was a pivotal aspect of our work in determining the focus of our design solution. We began by formulating assumptions based on the provided brief and the research we conducted regarding the problem area. The assumptions we derived about our target audience were as follows:
We brought three user journeys to life; one centered around lending a car, another about borrowing, and a third capturing the overall digital car key experience. By navigating through these essential journeys, we uncovered user pain points. This insight empowers us to sidestep these challenges in the development of our design solution, ensuring a smoother and more user-friendly outcome.
Our flowchart aims to gain a comprehensive overview of the user's path through the service, ensuring no crucial steps were overlooked.
Starting with identified requirements and needs, we created flowcharts mapping the service journey from download to adding and sharing a car with a borrower. We tailored separate flowcharts for owners, focusing on their ability to lend out their car key, and borrowers, who only borrow the car key. Visualizing the service flow from different user perspectives allowed us to pinpoint features specific to each user group. These flowcharts served as a foundation in later stages to construct and refine the service flow.
Our graphic profile took shape through an analysis of visual designs in various services. We started by exploring different car apps to establish a foundational understanding, allowing us to draw inspiration and select elements that aligned with our concept. For this reason, our focus extended beyond Volvo, incorporating aspects from the visual designs of other services. In the end, we compiled nine colors and two fonts. This graphic profile served as a starting point and foundation in shaping the visual design of the service.
We also designed a set of intuitive icons to represent key actions and features within the app. These icons were crafted to ensure universality and ease of comprehension, aiming to provide users with a seamless and visually cohesive experience. The iconography not only adheres to our established graphic profile but also serves as a visual language, contributing to an intuitive navigation experience for our users.
We initiated the visualization of each flow using hand-drawn sketches. We generated sketches at different stages throughout the process, iterating on our wireframes and features to align them with user needs.
After creating our hand-drawn sketches, we transitioned to Balsamiq for refinement and translation into a digital format. Balsamiq allowed us to test basic layouts and information architecture without getting bogged down in small details. We opted to generate two variations for each ID number, conducting A/B tests during critique sessions to gather input on different design choices. We then consolidated the feedback from the critique session to shape the final version of our wireframes. Once we were done with our Wireframes, we hopped on Figma to finish our prototype.
