One tablet-first platform for 120 workshops

Project information

Industry

Automotive

Duration

8 months, fixed scope

Team

1 UX designer, 1 senior UI designer, 2 developers

My role

Design system, Prototypes, UI floorplans

Users

Mechanics, Specialist technicians

Tools

Adobe XD, zeroheight, Trello

Working with Carmelo was a game-changer for us during a critical time on large-scale projects. He excelled at transforming complex ERP data into intuitive designs that aligned perfectly with our business objectives. He consistently delivered high-quality work on time with minimal revisions, exceeding our client's expectations even from vague briefs. His reliability, creativity, and professionalism made them an invaluable partner.

Overview

Pedders Suspension & Brakes is a family-owned Australian company, running since 1950, with more than 120 franchise and dealer stores.

Its workshops sell and fit shock absorbers, suspension, brakes, steering, wheel alignment and towbars.

Challenges

The network had grown, but the way stores worked hadn't kept up.

• Separate systems. Each franchise used different tools, so nothing ran the same way twice.
• Paper. Job sheets and checks on paper caused delays and mistakes.
• Customer follow-up. Little support for keeping in touch with customers after a visit.
• No insight. Franchisees had no real data to base decisions on.

Goals and scope

Bring the shop floor and the back office onto one platform.

• Live access to stock, customer records and vehicle history.
• Better communication with customers.
• A tablet-first interface, so mechanics can work at the car.
• Data migration with as little disruption to the stores as possible.

Methods

• Interviews and system analysis. To find where the workflow broke down.
• One platform. Pronto Xi ERP as the single source of data, with one design system on top.
• Prototype, test, repeat. Including live features such as PartsDB lookup, vehicle check lists and CRM.
• Feedback loops. Regular focus groups with the Pedders community kept the design close to what stores needed.

Outcomes

• Less paper, faster work. The tablet-first design put data in mechanics' hands and joined the workshop to the back office.
• Happier customers. SMS, email and detailed vehicle reports made the work transparent and built trust.
• Growth. Franchisees could see their numbers, follow up leads and close more jobs. A short training programme made adoption easy.

• 90%active user logins
• 4.0user satisfaction score
• −50%error rate
• 98%data accuracy
• +50%customer bookings
• < 3 htraining for a new user

In eight months the stores moved off paper and onto one system. The platform keeps evolving as the network grows.