The post-sales service sector in India's automobile industry is a crucial part of the automotive ecosystem, providing after-sales services like vehicle maintenance, repairs, spare parts, and customer care.
Vehicle Management System
Project type
System Design
Project date
20 Nov 2024
Project duration
1 month
The post-sales service sector in India’s automobile industry is a crucial part of the automotive ecosystem, offering essential services like vehicle maintenance, repairs, spare parts, and customer care. With the market projected to reach $25 billion by 2030, this project was focused on enhancing the customer experience in post-sales automobile service - making it more transparent, efficient, and user-friendly.
🧠 Problem Area: Lack of real-time updates, unclear service status, and inefficient booking processes
👤 Target Users: Vehicle owners, service advisors, dealership managers
📱 Platform: Mobile app (Android) Tablet Dashboard App (Android)
The Problem We Faced
Despite buying premium vehicles, many customers experienced frustration during the post-sales service journey. Manual appointment booking, unclear service updates, and a lack of transparency in billing left them uncertain and dissatisfied. On the dealership side, fragmented workflows and disconnected communication channels slowed down operations, creating avoidable delays and reducing overall customer trust.
What We Learned
To understand the pain points and opportunities, we conducted in-depth interviews with six car owners and held workflow mapping sessions with dealership staff. Customers shared frustrations about appointment hassles, unclear service timelines, and surprise billing amounts. On the dealership side, bottlenecks emerged from manual tracking, paper-based approvals, and a lack of real-time communication between service advisors and clients.
These findings shaped our design priorities:
📊 Transparency in service progress and billing
📅 Ease of booking and rescheduling
⚡ Faster internal approvals for repair work
Path From Problem to Solution
To bridge the gap between customer expectations and dealership operations, we created a comprehensive journey mapcovering every touchpoint from service booking to final handover. This helped identify exactly where communication broke down and where delays occurred, enabling us to design targeted improvements that streamlined the process for both customers and service teams.
🛠 Before Mapping: Multiple disconnected steps, unclear responsibilities, and no unified tracking
🗺 Customer Journey: Booking → Service Check-in → Updates → Billing → Delivery → Feedback
🏢 Dealership Journey: Job Card Creation → Work Allocation → Progress Tracking → Approval → Delivery
🎯 Opportunities Identified: Real-time status updates, integrated approvals, and a transparent billing process
Designing for Real Use
With the problem areas clear, we moved into ideation — sketching layouts that balanced clarity, functionality, and speed. We focused on an intuitive booking flow, transparent tracking, and seamless customer–advisor communication. Wireframes were tested with users and refined before moving to high-fidelity UI design.
The Solution
The final design delivers a streamlined service experience, combining ease of use, real-time updates, and clear communication. Each feature directly addresses a pain point uncovered during research, ensuring both customers and service teams benefit from the solution.
📅 Easy Service Booking – Calendar-based scheduling with workshop selection
📍 Real-Time Tracking – Live status updates at every stage
💬 In-App Chat – Direct link between customer and service advisor
🧾 Transparent Billing – Detailed cost breakdown before approval
📜 Service History – Record of past and upcoming service visits
The Impact We Delivered
The redesigned Vehicle Management System led to a more streamlined, transparent, and user-friendly service experience. Customers gained confidence through real-time updates, clear billing, and direct communication channels, while dealerships benefited from faster approvals and fewer repetitive queries.
📉 Reduced Service Queries: Customer inquiries about status dropped significantly (approx. 40%)
😀 Improved Customer Satisfaction: Clearer timelines and billing transparency boosted trust
🏢 Operational Efficiency: Service advisors spent less time on manual follow-ups
🔄 Scalable Design: Framework later adapted for additional dealership verticals
What I Learned
This project taught me the importance of designing with both user empathy and operational clarity in mind. While customers needed transparency and simplicity, the dealership required smoother internal processes. Striking the right balance between these two perspectives became the key to success.
