Product Designer
Streamlining Car Painting Processes with Innovative Solutions
DEC 2019 - APR 2020
Role
As a product designer, my role encompassed various aspects of Halley-Meter, including user research, user flows, UI design, and prototyping. I was responsible for understanding user needs, optimizing the user experience, and creating an intuitive and visually appealing interface.
Impact
An Innovative B2B solution for car paint shops, simplifying processes, optimizing resources, and enhancing efficiency. It offers streamlined project management, accurate color matching, and material calculations, enabling increased productivity and cost savings, driving industry growth.
Agency
A consolidated effort by Shake Design, Comet@Progress, and Webinside
In a nutshell
Halley brings a cutting-edge B2B solution to the car painting industry, offering a simplified and streamlined approach to enhance business operations. Tailored to meet the specific needs of car paint shop services, Halley-Meter revolutionizes car painting processes by providing a digital solution that improves organization, efficiency, and resource optimization, allowing business owners and their employees a more accessible and organized way of car painting.
Driving Success with Strategic Goals
Halley-Meter’s Business Objectives outline the strategic goals and priorities that drive the development and implementation of the app. By aligning with these objectives, Halley aims to position Halley-Meter as a leading B2B solution for car paint shop services, achieve market dominance, and generate revenue through a licensing model.
Market Dominance
Halley-Meter aims to become a leading B2B solution for car paint shop services, offering comprehensive features and unique benefits and differentiating it from competitors to achieve market dominance.
Growth & Satisfaction
Generate revenue through licensing model for car paint shops using Halley-Meter. Prioritize client success by delivering a user-friendly, efficient solution that builds long-term relationships.
Resource Optimization
Showcase Halley-Meter's ability to optimize resource utilization, resulting in cost savings and increased profitability for car paint shops by streamlining operations and improving resource management.
Research Plan
I developed a research plan to understand the needs, pain points, and preferences of car paint shop owners, garage managers, and painters, guiding the development and design of Halley-Meter. This plan illuminates the path to success for Halley-Meter by providing a comprehensive roadmap for gathering crucial insights.
Discovery Phase
Gain a deep understanding of the challenges and pain points faced by car paint shop owners, garage managers, and painters in their car painting processes. Identify the key features and functionalities desired in a B2B SaaS solution for car paint shop services. Determine user preferences regarding user interface design, color code accessibility, project management, and material calculations to tailor Halley-Meter to their needs.
User Interviews
Conduct one-on-one interviews with car paint shop owners, garage managers, and painters to gather qualitative insights into their pain points, needs, and preferences related to car painting processes. (Add-on: Inquire about their experience with existing competitors and any suggestions for improvement.)
Observational Research
Conduct on-site visits to car paint shops to observe their current processes, challenges, and pain points firsthand. (Add-on: Note any software or tools used by competitors during the observation.)
Secondary Research
Examine competitor brands like AutoPaint Pro and ColorMaster for features, strengths, weaknesses, and user feedback. Identify non-direct competitors and explore related products or services for insights. Conduct in-depth market research to understand global paint and coatings’ size, potential, and trends.
User Persona Development
Consolidate research findings to create detailed user personas representing car paint shop owners, garage managers, and painters. (Add-on: Incorporate any insights gathered from competitor analysis and user feedback about existing solutions.)
Observational Research
Observational research involves visiting car paint shops to gain firsthand insights into their current processes, challenges, and pain points. Observing the shop’s on-site environment, interactions, and workflows, I gathered valuable qualitative data and uncovered areas that could be improved.
Resource Optimization
Identifying material over-usage or underutilization highlights areas where Halley-Meter can optimize resource management. During on-site visits, it was observed that car paint shops often needed help accurately measuring and calculating the required amount of paint and thinners for each project. This led to the wastage of expensive raw materials and increased costs.
Project Management
It was noted that there needed to be a collaborative platform between business owners and employees for effective project feedback and review processes. Observations indicate the need for improved project management in car paint shops. From tracking project progress to coordinating tasks efficiently, the shop's workflow complexities demand a more comprehensive and user-friendly project management system.
Environmental Concerns
While visiting, I was also concerned about the environmental impact of the observed issues. The need for improving efficiency and organization in car painting processes was clear to me. Halley-Meter can address this by offering eco-friendly and sustainable practices for paint application and resource utilization.
Color Usage
Observations revealed that car paint shops faced challenges in meeting customer demands for diverse color choices due to the limited color palette defined by vehicle manufacturers. Delays in color code retrieval or inefficient material calculations highlight the need for streamlined solutions.
User Research
During the discovery phase, user interviews provided valuable insights into car paint shop challenges, enabling the identification of optimization opportunities for Halley-Meter. Key takeaways include:
Inefficient Color Coating Process
65% of participants encountered errors in color coating or measurements. Halley-Meter can reduce mistakes by implementing a system that minimizes human errors and ensures accurate color application.
Waste of Materials and resources
Around 50% of respondents reported discarding valuable materials, highlighting resource wastage and environmental impact. Halley-Meter can optimize resource usage through precise material calculations and efficient resource management.
Time-consuming Color Code Retrieval
70% of users expressed frustration over extended searches for manufacturers' color codes. Halley-Meter can streamline this process with an integrated and regularly updated color code database.
Insights and Recommendations
Minimizing Decision-making and Human Errors
Halley-Meter should offer intelligent recommendations or preset options to reduce decision-making complexity and ensure consistent color coating choices.
Resource Optimization and Waste Reduction
Accurate material calculations will help users order the right amount of color and coating, reducing waste and costs.
Streamlined Color Code Access
A user-friendly interface with an integrated database will enable quick access to manufacturers' color codes.
Secondary Research
By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitor tools, Halley-Meter can be refined to address specific pain points and offer unique features and advantages.
About
AutoPaint Pro is a project management system for creating, tracking, assigning tasks, managing timelines, and integrating with suppliers for seamless material ordering.
Strengths
Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of AutoPaint Pro, which simplifies project management and color code retrieval.
The reporting and analytics features provide valuable insights for business decision-making.
Weaknesses
AutoPaint Pro lacks advanced customization options or integrations with other software systems in the industry.
There could be occasional issues with the accuracy of color codes or the integration with suppliers, leading to inconvenience or delays.
About
ColorMaster is a comprehensive color management system with advanced measurement tools, collaboration features, and color-matching recommendations for accurate reproduction.
Strengths
Creating and saving custom color formulas enables customization and consistency in color coatings.
The collaboration features foster effective communication between painters and suppliers.
Weaknesses
ColorMaster's interface might be considered complex and requiring a learning curve for new users.
Specialized color measurement tools may increase costs and be limited in accessibility.
Strengths
Project Management for garage Managers: Comprehensive system for efficient project tracking.
Timeline Management: Effective monitoring of project progress and deadlines.
Weaknesses
Lack of Industry Specificity: May lack essential industry-specific features.
Limited Color Coating Functionality: Might not offer specialized color coating features required by car paint shops.
Through competitor analysis, valuable insights were gained to refine Halley-Meter into a user-friendly solution that prioritizes accurate color matching and provides precise color-amount capabilities to meet the critical need for correct color coatings.
Understanding the market
The global paint and coatings industry is a significant subset of the international chemical industry. Coatings refer to any covering applied to an object’s surface for functional or decorative reasons. Paints are a subset of coatings that are also used as a protective coating as a, decorative, colorful coating, or both.
The market value of automotive paints worldwide in 2017 and 2025(in billion U.S. dollars)Source: Statista, January 2020.
Developing User Personas
Understanding the needs and preferences of car paint shop owners and painters is crucial in creating a successful B2B SaaS solution. We have developed detailed user personas based on our research findings and interviews to ensure a user-centered approach. These personas represent our target users’ typical characteristics, pain points, and goals, providing valuable insights to tailor Halley-Meter’s features and user experience.
By empathizing with our users and incorporating their specific requirements, Halley-Meter aims to revolutionize the car paint shop industry with a comprehensive and efficient solution.
Defining The Problems
Car paint shops face several challenges in their day-to-day operations, which impact productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The following problems have been identified through extensive research and observation:
Inefficient Resource Management
Car paint shop owners and garage managers often need help efficiently managing multiple painting projects, leading to delays and resource allocation challenges.
Material Waste and Accuracy
Even professionals need help accurately calculating each project's required color and coating materials, resulting in excessive material waste and incorrect color matching.
Human Errors and Rework
Painters may occasionally need to modify the correct color coating or incorrect measurements, leading to rework, customer dissatisfaction, and additional expenses.
Limited Visibility and Communication
Users need more visibility into key performance metrics and experience communication gaps, leading to misunderstandings, delays, and inconsistencies in project execution.
Empowering Car Paint Shop Services
The Halley Meter App presents a comprehensive solution to revolutionize car paint shop services through digitization and automation. By addressing key pain points, optimizing resource management, and streamlining project workflows, the Halley App aims to enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and improve overall productivity.
The Halley App streamlines car paint shop operations by automating tasks, reducing manual errors, and optimizing resources. It integrates QR stickers for enhanced documentation, allowing garage managers and painters to link photos to damaged parts, improving accuracy and efficiency.
MVP Desktop Dashboard
The MVP for desktops provides a centralized view of all ongoing and completed projects. Car paint shop owners can easily track project statuses, timelines, and resource allocation, ensuring efficient project management.
Usability Testing Insights
Our usability testing was crucial in refining the Halley-Meter solution and ensuring an exceptional user experience for car paint shop professionals. Here’s an overview of the insights gained and the subsequent improvements made:
Intuitive User Interface
Test participants praised the app's simplicity and user-friendly design, which indicated that the interface was intuitive and easy to use. resulting in a 90% improvement in overall user satisfaction.
Avoid Lengthy Process
Potential observed bottlenecks in task completion, particularly in specific project creation steps. Some users took longer to complete these tasks, suggesting there might be room for streamlining the workflow and reducing the required steps.
Two Steps Registration
We noticed confusion during onboarding, specifically in the account creation flow. Users encountered difficulties understanding specific fields and felt overwhelmed, highlighting the need for more clarity and guidance.
Simplified Onboarding
A user-friendly onboarding flow simplifies the signup process for garage managers, ensuring a smooth and seamless start to using the Halley App.
Environmental Sustainability
Prioritizing eco-friendly practices, the Halley App encourages precise material usage, minimizing toxicity, and promoting environmental conservation in the car paint shop industry. Empowering employees with a user-friendly interface, the Halley App streamlines workflows, allowing for efficient collaboration and increased productivity among team members.
Intelligent Project Management
The global paint and coatings industry is a significant subset of the international chemical industry. Coatings refer to any covering applied to an object’s surface for functional or decorative reasons. Paints are a subset of coatings that are also used as a protective coating as a, decorative, colorful coating, or both.
Comprehensive Color Database
The Halley-Meter app features a color database for quick and accurate color code retrieval, allowing painters and garage managers to find and apply perfect coatings, reducing rework and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Lessons Learned
Iterative Development
Iterative development is crucial in testing to gradually improve apps based on user feedback and industry trends, ensuring relevance and aligning user expectations.
Continuous User Testing
Usability testing is essential for gathering feedback and identifying app functionality issues. Testing at various stages helps address problems early and refine apps to meet evolving user needs.
Balancing Complexity and Simplicity
A comprehensive, user-friendly solution must balance complexity and simplicity, catering to car paint shop professionals' needs while maintaining a straightforward interface.
Next Steps
Launching the Halley App will provide transformative car paint shop services through dedication to user needs, iterative development, and excellence, establishing it as a leading tool in the industry.
Continuous Improvement
Establish a feedback loop and regular update schedule to continuously improve the app based on user feedback, industry trends, and technological advancements.
User Training and Support
Provide comprehensive user training resources, support materials, and a support portal to ensure that car paint shop professionals can make the most of the app's functionalities.
Refinement of Features
Seek new features while refining the current ones for Halley. Ensure that these features align with the specific needs of car paint shop owners and garage managers. Consider adding supplier integration to ensure timely material delivery and streamline procurement processes.
Marketing and Outreach
Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote the Halley App within the car paint shop industry. Leverage online platforms, industry events, and partnerships to increase app visibility and attract potential users.
Thanks!