When I started working on the task, I wanted to explore the Mercedes Me app’s features in more depth, but it had to be connected to a real vehicle. So I decided to do some fundamental research by looking into existing automotive apps in the market, and compare their features.

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What is more important, I really wanted to identify the needs of people who use the Mercedes me app and consider their goals in my design. I eventually found myself swiping through a YouTube channel by Nick O'Leary, who is a content creator covering tech focused car reviews, having an active audience of more than 100k subscribers. Nick has done many reviews specifically on Mercedes cars, including his recent experiences with the app.

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Having watched his several videos, I decided to reach out to Nick directly and ask for insights. To my surprise, not only did he share his personal experiences and suggestions, but also agreed to put my questions out to his subscribers.

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Just within two days, we have received a ton of feedback under the community post. Wow!

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My process

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Initially, I had been planning to create a CJM to get a bird’s-eye view of the project. However, after sorting the feedback on Miro, I thought it would make sense to explore different use scenarios and prioritise design solutions that could be implemented and applied in a new design.

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Based on my research and the user feedback, I sketched some screens, keeping in mind the task to design the button and card components for a potential design system.

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Findings & Suggestions

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• Widgets can be small or large – if a user prefers to have more info on one screen, they can choose small widgets.
• If users want to see only the most important items, they may opt for large, noticeable widgets. It will also allow for better accessibility.
• In widget editing mode, users can select the photo tab and add an image from the gallery or directly from the camera.
• Preferred grid layout and widgets could be chosen in the app settings. Users could set favourite photos and images as a wallpaper, or choose from preset templates.

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Personalised Feed

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I had a Hyundai car, and I remember I used to actively explore automotive forums and YouTube, where I could get information or advice from the community. I believe that for any famous automotive brand, there is a strong community-driven aspect where members help each other troubleshoot issues and share their vehicle ownership experience.

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I would use the Hook Model to see how we could integrate this feature into the current scenarios.

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Personalised suggestions and targeted offers that can cover a range of Mercedes products. For example, we may show trade-in offers to users who own a 2- to 3-year-old car or finance leasing offers to business users.

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Digital History & Logbook

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• Recording of previous and all trips can prove to be useful especially for business users.
• Although tracking and storing locations involves privacy and security considerations, people still could access a logbook with details like mileage on specific dates, kWh/100km average, and average speed.

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Ensuring design consistency across Mercedes Mobile Apps

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I think one of the most essential points in any Design System (especially for multiple apps) is design consistency to reduce confusion for users and make the overall user experience predictable. For users it means that Mercedes products look and feel familiar, and for designers and developers it means building new parts of existing ones. In other words, from the user's point of view, consistency is about how the product looks and feels, allowing them to understand what is happening now and what will happen next.

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So I am coming to the importance of proper documentation process. It needs to be clear for everyone how to submit a new component, how to change it, and how to implement a new rule in the overall design process. This can also be helpful for product owners who may identify inconsistencies or require changes.

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Summary

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• Current navigation patterns look confusing especially for first-time users.
• Combining the hamburger menu and tab bar is not the best choice for intuitive navigation.
• I would introduce scrollable tabs to make navigation experience more clear. If logically ordered, such tabs could also act as filters so the user can select the content they like.

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