Owners
13User interviews
Semi-structured. Pain points, bliss points and expectations of a connected-car app.
Nissan Motor India · Connected-car mobile app
NissanConnect,
rebuilt around the driver.
The connected-car app had flat engagement and almost no business impact for 2.5 years. I led the end-to-end redesign for the Indian market. Nissan's leadership then adopted it as the benchmark for NissanConnect in other countries.
+120%app revenue against the previous two years
+82%service bookings through the app
1,800+new-car bookings and leads in the first 3 months
Globaladopted as the NissanConnect benchmark for other markets
Situation
A feature-rich app nobody trusted
More than 30 features, from geofence alerts to a virtual showroom. But vehicle data was often stale, alerts were late, and service booking broke after updates. Owners installed it, checked it a few times and stopped.
What I did
Rebuilt it from evidence
A 58-point heuristic audit, an accessibility review, nine field studies, 13 interviews and 2.5 years of analytics became a new IA and a glanceable home. I then co-created a global design system with Nissan's Europe team.
Outcome
A revenue channel, then a global standard
Service bookings, accessory sales and leads rose sharply. Nissan's directors made the design the reference for other countries, which led to the Kicks infotainment redesign.
My role
Leading the design end to end
I was Head of Design on the engagement. I owned the design strategy, ran the research plan and design reviews, and was the design voice in front of Nissan's director board.
- StrategyReframed the brief from “increase engagement” to “earn back trust, then turn it into service and sales”.
- ResearchDesigned the research mix and ran the director-board and stakeholder interviews.
- TeamLed product designers, UX researchers and a UI designer through critique and quality reviews.
- AlignmentPresented home-screen directions to the director board and drove the decision to one direction.
- SystemPartnered with Nissan's Europe team to shape a global design system instead of a one-market style sheet.
SajinHead of Design
ArathiDesign team
GokulDesign team
ShafaazDesign team
VishnuDesign teamSajithDesign team
RishinDesign team
Approach
Five phases, one thread of evidence
- Understand the current appUsed it as owners, mapped every flow, ran heuristic and accessibility audits.
- Define & ideateField studies, interviews, analytics, reviews, competitors and the journey map.
- Solution & wireframesNew IA, sketches and a clickable wireframe prototype.
- Design & prototypeDirections for the director board, light and dark themes, working prototype.
- Usability testingGuerrilla tests in five cities and heuristic validation with the client.
Chapter 01The problem
Thirty features, and owners still didn't open it
“The current mobile app has not been generating significant business for the last 2.5 years, and user engagement is consistently low.”
That was Nissan's brief. Before redesigning anything, we used the app as owners and as designers, and mapped every flow end to end. We recorded the first-time experience and checked our understanding with Nissan in several sessions.
Existing user flows
We rebuilt the whole app as a flow map first
The full map showed dead ends and loops that single screens hide. Signing up with Google led back to the sign-up screen, and core status needed the ignition on. These maps became the baseline for the audit. Click to zoom in.
Chapter 02The audit
A heuristic evaluation of every screen
We started with an expert usability review to find what was broken before talking to owners. That let the interviews go deeper than surface complaints. The full evaluation runs to more than 40 slides.
Open the full heuristic evaluation ↗How we ran it
Five steps, scored the same way on every screen
- Set objectivesEvaluate the current app, build empathy from store reviews, and find innovations that matter to users and the business.
- Walk every flowEach evaluator used the app as a new owner, screen by screen, following the flow maps.
- Score against principlesNielsen's 10 heuristics, 7 UX laws and Nissan's global design guidelines.
- Rate severityEach issue rated S0 to S4, from “not a problem” to “fix before release”.
- RecommendEvery issue paired with a recommendation, summarised in a prioritised report.
LawAesthetic–usability effectLawLaw of proximityLawHick's lawLawFitts's lawLawJakob's lawLawLaw of similarityLawDoherty threshold
Swipe or use the arrows
What we found, screen by screen
Each issue: the violation, the severity, the fix
Every slide pairs an annotated screen with the heuristic it breaks, a severity rating and a recommendation. These four show the pattern: sign-in friction, forced registration, a congested home and slow feedback.
What we captured
Most problems were about consistency and clutter
The app had no shared design language, so every screen solved the same problem differently. One in four problems was a release blocker.
Violations by heuristic (total 58)
Problems by severity
13
25
12
17
S1 · CosmeticS2 · MinorS3 · MajorS4 · Catastrophe
The 17 catastrophes broke core tasks: signing up, reading the car's status and finding the car.
Accessibility & readability review
Readable for every owner, at every age
We audited every screen against WCAG 2.1 and the iOS and Android guidelines. Our research flagged that vision changes start from around age 40, and that colour blindness affects millions of drivers. So accessibility became a core requirement of the redesign, not a polish item.
| Check | Found | Target | Fix in the redesign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touch target, Smart Drive Score | 41dp | ≥ 48dp | Score becomes a large hero element |
| Toll icon contrast (#20A9FF on white) | 2.57 : 1 | ≥ 3 : 1 | New icon set and palette checked for contrast |
| Text on brand red | 3.57 : 1 | ≥ 4.5 : 1 | Red reserved for alerts. Text on navy or white. |
| Dynamic type | Layouts break | Scales | Components built to reflow |
| Screen-reader labels | Missing | All inputs | Labels specified in the design system |
Chapter 03Listening
Riding along with real owners
The audit told us what was broken. Only owners could tell us what mattered. We ran an ethnographic field study with nine owners in their own cars, then structured interviews, and set both against Nissan's data.
9ethnographic field studies
13semi-structured user interviews
2.5 yrsof analytics from Nissan
1.8Mmonthly page views analysed
Ethnographic field study
How the app lives in a real car
We watched owners in traffic, in car parks and at home. Phones sat on seats and in holders and were checked in quick glances. That is why the redesign is built for a three-second look, not a long browse.
How we structured the interviews
Three audiences, one structure
We interviewed owners for pain points, bliss points and expectations. We interviewed Nissan's director board for business goals, and every stakeholder for constraints. Each owner interview followed the same three-part structure so answers could be compared.
Leadership
BoardNissan director board
Business expectations: service revenue, lead generation, brand perception.
Delivery
AllProject stakeholders
Designers, PM, and backend, Android and iOS developers: constraints and data realities.
1 · IcebreakerEasy questions to set the tone and build comfort.
2 · Contextual interviewThe core. Questions adapted to each owner's answers: how they use the car and the app, and where it lets them down.
3 · Cool-downUpcoming trips and memorable stories, to close on a positive note.
Interview mapping
Almost every note was about reliability
We clustered interview notes in Miro. Five themes emerged: vehicle status, location, service booking, alerts and the fuel expense log. Nearly all of them were about the app being wrong or late, not about missing features.
Behaviour data
Two screens carry the whole app
Nissan's analytics team shared 2.5 years of data. In one month of 1.83 million page views, Home and Find My Car took two thirds of all traffic. Yet the old app gave them no more weight than a dozen rarely used features.
Share of monthly page views
Top 8 of 14 tracked pages, one month, 1,828,133 views.
Competitor benchmarking
Premium apps lead with the car, not the menu
We compared features and patterns across Indian and international connected-car apps. The best ones open on a live picture of the car and push secondary tools one level down.
App Store & Play Store reviews
The voice of the owner
If I want to see whether I locked my doors, it says I need to turn on the ignition.
Doesn't update in real time and shows the wrong status for ignition, doors, battery.
No OTP coming for login. Not able to delete the guest account.
Rebuilt for this case study from the research
Personas
Three people we designed for
These personas pull together the field-study and interview findings into the three needs the design had to balance.
RM
Ram, the family road-tripper
Owner · 38 · Kochi · KicksI want to know the car is fine without having to start it.
- Goals
- Plan long family trips, check fuel and doors at a glance, find the car in big car parks.
- Frustrations
- Status that is hours old. Alerts that come late. Too many menus.
- Design answer
- Car-on-map hero, exception-first status chips, Find My Car one tap away.
AN
Ananya, the curious buyer
Guest · 29 · Bangalore · considering a KicksLet me look around first. I'll sign up when I'm ready.
- Goals
- Explore models and features, ask a question, book a test drive from home.
- Frustrations
- Asked to register before seeing anything.
- Design answer
- Real guest mode. Lead capture only at moments of intent, like a test drive.
JT
Joseph, the two-car household
Owner · 54 · Chennai · two NissansBoth cars look the same in the app. And the text is so small.
- Goals
- Keep both cars serviced on time at an authorised centre, with clear costs.
- Frustrations
- Can't book after updates. Can't tell same-model cars apart. Low-contrast text.
- Design answer
- Plate-number car switcher, service-due card, accessible type and contrast.
SynthesisInsights
A trust problem, not a feature problem
When the app shows the wrong door status once, owners stop believing every other screen. More features would not fix that. Fewer, more reliable and better-prioritised ones would.
01 · Trust
Stale data breaks the promise of “connected”
Status showed data 10 to 15 hours old, doors “open” when locked, and idle alerts for parked cars.
How might we make freshness visible and honest?
Interviews · Reviews · Field study
02 · Priority
Two features do two thirds of the work
Home and Find My Car made up 65.8% of views but competed with 30+ features.
How might we put location and condition in one glance?
Analytics · Heuristic review
03 · Safety
Critical alerts get lost in a list
Engine, speed and geofence alerts arrived late or sat unseen in notifications.
How might we surface the exception the moment it matters?
Interviews · Reviews
04 · Revenue
The service journey leaked money
Owners couldn't book after an update, couldn't find dealers, and saw costs that didn't match.
How might we make authorised service the easiest option?
Interviews · Stakeholders
05 · Consistency
Inconsistency reads as unreliability
58 violations, mostly consistency and clutter. Sloppy UI suggests sloppy data.
How might we give every screen one language that scales to new markets?
Heuristic review · Accessibility
06 · Leads
Guests were asked to commit too early
Prospective buyers had to register before seeing anything.
How might we capture leads at moments of real intent?
Heuristic review · Director board
Chapter 04The journey
One family trip, from Kochi to Bangalore
We turned the field study into one realistic journey. Ram and his family drive from Kochi to Bangalore: a weather check, tolls and FASTag, a low-fuel warning, a lunch stop, a lost car in a huge car park, a breakdown and a late arrival. Each moment shows where the app must help, and which features have to sit on Home.
Slides 35 and 36, stitched into one journey. Scroll sideways, or click to enlarge.
Customer journey map
Emotions, touchpoints and opportunities across the trip
The journey map added the emotional curve and pain points to each step, split into before, during and after the journey.
Rebuilt for this case study from the research
Service blueprint · Book a service
Where the service journey broke, and what we changed
Service booking was the biggest revenue opportunity and the most broken journey. This blueprint lines up what the owner does, what the app shows, and what Nissan does behind the scenes.
Service due
Choose centre
Pick a slot
Confirm
Service day
Pay & review
Owner actions
Notices the car is due, often too late
Looks for a nearby authorised centre
Chooses a date and time
Submits the booking
Drops the car, waits for updates
Pays and checks the bill
Line of interaction
App (front stage)
Before: no reminder on Home
After: “Service due · Book now” card
After: “Service due · Book now” card
Before: dealers not shown
After: nearest authorised centres first
After: nearest authorised centres first
Before: booking fails after update
After: 6-step booking flow
After: 6-step booking flow
After: confirmation and progress on Home
Before: no status
After: task progress card
After: task progress card
Before: cost differs from bill
After: clear cost breakdown
After: clear cost breakdown
Line of visibility
Nissan (back stage)
Mileage and service history
Dealer network data
Workshop capacity
Dealer receives booking
Service advisor updates job
Invoice issued
Systems
Telematics
Dealer locator
Booking service
CRM
Dealer management system
Payments
Chapter 05From insight to idea
Every idea carried its reason with it
We agreed four design principles first, then moved from insights to solutions to wireframes. Each step kept a visible link back to the research, which made reviews with Nissan fast and objective.
Glance, then goCar state, location and score readable in under three seconds.
Surface the exceptionNormal is quiet. Low fuel, open doors and engine alerts rise to the top.
Every screen earns its placeEach surface helps the owner and the business: service, accessories, test drives.
One system, every marketComponents and tokens other countries can adopt without a redesign.
Step 1 · Ideation
One small insight, three kinds of impact
In the brainstorming sessions, every idea had to travel the same path on one Miro board: from a real insight, to a solution, to its impact on users, on the business and on the planet. The Smart Drive Score shows how far one small insight can go.
InsightWhat we heard, saw and measured
SolutionWhat the brainstorm produced
ImpactWho wins, and how
i
User interviews
Owners loved the Smart Drive Score in the first days, then stopped checking it. It gave them nothing back.
Turn the score into reward points. Good driving earns points.
Users
Personal driving insights, and a reason to keep driving well.
ii
User interviews
Owners want to drive well, but nothing helps them get better.
Learn each owner's pattern (driving, score, fuel) and coach them: when to shift gear, how to use the clutch, how to accelerate.
PlanetUsers
Better drivers, less fuel burned, fewer risky moments.
iii
Business · Interviews
Once free services end, owners leave authorised centres. They find them opaque and expensive.
Make reward points redeemable only at authorised Nissan service centres.
BusinessUsers
Owners come back for service and original parts, and pay less for it.
iv
Analytics
11.9% of all views went to the Smart Drive Score detail, the third most-used screen. The interest was already there.
Make the score the hero of Home, so the reward loop lives where owners already look.
Business
Owners open the app more often, every day they drive.
v
Flow audit
Booking a service took 1 min 27 s, and often failed after app updates.
A rebuilt booking flow that takes under 25 seconds.
Business
More service bookings through the app.
vi
Brainstorm
Smoother driving across the fleet means measurably less CO₂.
Convert the emissions saved into carbon credits.
BusinessPlanet
Credits Nissan earns instead of buying, and cleaner air.
Parked for a later release: live video of the car being serviced.
Reward points that make roads safer
- Owners earn reward points only for smooth, safe driving.
- To earn points, they drive more carefully: less speeding, less harsh braking.
- Better driving habits build up across thousands of Nissan owners.
- Fewer risky moments on the road means fewer accidents.
- If it saves even one life a day, that alone is worth it.India recorded about 1.68 lakh road deaths in 2022, roughly 460 every day.Source: MoRTH, Road Accidents in India 2022
Better driving that pays for itself in carbon credits
- The app coaches the driver: when to change gear, how to use the clutch, how to accelerate smoothly.
- Smoother driving burns less fuel per kilometre.
- Less fuel across the fleet means measurably lower CO₂ emissions.
- The emissions saved can be converted into carbon credits.
- Credits Nissan earns instead of buying.Nissan can use them against its own emission targets or trade them, instead of buying credits from outside. That is a real change in the budget, earned by better drivers.
Why it works
Every turn of the loop helps all three
The owner gets rewarded for something they already wanted to do. The rewards can only be spent at authorised centres, which brings owners back to Nissan service and original parts. Better driving lowers emissions and risk, and those savings feed the next turn.
- +60%use of Nissan authorised service centres
- +82%service bookings through the app
- +80%accessory purchases through the app
The two chains are the impact model we used to prioritise this idea. The full results are in Chapter 06.
Step 2 · Solutions from the journey
Solutions placed on the trip
We mapped every solution onto the before, during and after stages of Ram's journey. Features that came up at many moments, like status, Find My Car and fuel, earned a place on Home.
Step 3 · Wireframe exercise
Home screen v1.0, on paper
The team sketched many home-screen layouts and compared them against the principles before any pixels were drawn.
Step 4 · Sketching
Dozens of screens, by hand
Paper kept the cost of throwing ideas away close to zero, which kept critiques honest.
Step 5 · Clickable wireframes
Feedback before visual design
We built a clickable wireframe prototype in Framer and Figma and put it in front of users and Nissan, to validate structure and flow early.
Information architecture
From a 14-item drawer to five clear destinations
We grouped every feature by the owner's mental model and moved to a tab bar. Labels show only on the selected tab, because users recognise these icons by shape.
Before · side menu
- Home
- Shop@Home
- Service & maintenance
- Smart drive score
- Vehicle status
- Vehicle health status
- Manage car alerts
- Campaigns
- Weather & air quality
- Fuel & expense log
- Ambient lamp
- Manage FASTag
- My account
- Contact us
After · tab bar
Home
- Car status
- Smart drive score
- Find my car
- Alerts & offers
Utilities
- Service & maintenance
- Fuel & expense log
- FASTag
- Places of interest
- Trip planner
My Kicks
- Car profile
- Car alerts
- Vehicle status
- Ambient lamp
- Digital manual
Shop at Home
- Accessories
- New cars
- Test drive
Notifications
- Alerts history
- Service updates
- Campaigns
How we got there
The card-sort whiteboard
We wrote every feature of the old app on a sticky note and sorted them as a team, asking one question each time: where would an owner expect to find this? The analytics settled the arguments about what earns a place on Home.
Redrawn for this case study to show how we grouped the features.Scroll sideways on a phone.
Chapter 05 · continuedInitial concepts
Exploring directions with the director board
The director board asked to see several versions of the home page. We ran brainstorming sessions and iterated from version 1.0 to 5.0, in light and dark. I presented each version against the principles and the research, so the discussion stayed on evidence rather than taste.
These are early concepts, not the final design. They show how the thinking evolved. The final design follows below.
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Chapter 05 · resultThe final design
Same car, same data, different confidence
The final design keeps everything owners used and removes everything that competed with it. On the left is the app we inherited. On the right is the shipped design in dark and light themes.
Anatomy of the new home
Every element traces back to a finding
1
2
3
4
5
6
7- Help, always top-left Serial positionEmergency contact, roadside assistance and support in one place. Owners remember first positions, which matters most in a stressful moment.
- Car switcher by registration numberFamilies often own two cars of the same model, so the plate is the clear identifier. It sits centre-top because the whole dashboard depends on it.
- The car, on a live map 65.8% of trafficThe owner's model, Smart Drive Score and Find My Car in one hero over the car's location. Two of the most-used screens became one glance.
- Status chips that surface exceptionsOwners choose which statuses to pin. Critical ones like low fuel or doors open always appear, highlighted.
- Service and offers in context Business value“Your service is due · Book now” and campaign cards give the business a channel that doesn't feel like an ad.
- Features ranked by researchBook a service, roadside assistance, FASTag and trip planning, ordered by need and value. Task progress appears here too.
- Five-tab navigationReplaces the 14-item drawer. A label shows only on the active tab.
Design rationale, as presented to Nissan
Section by section
Key screens
The rest of the experience
Intelligence in the product
Smart where it helps, invisible where it doesn't
The redesign uses the car's own data to make the app feel aware of the owner, not just connected. The first three are in the design. The last three are where I would take it next.
Context-aware status
Rules on live telematics decide what appears on Home. Low fuel or open doors override the owner's pinned chips until resolved.
Drive-score coaching
Trip data becomes positive feedback (“Great drive!”) that nudges smoother, lower-emission driving.
Timely service prompts
Service-due cards are driven by service schedule data, so the booking prompt shows up when it is relevant.
Ask your car
A conversational digital manual: “What does this warning light mean?”, answered in plain language with one-tap booking.
Proactive trip companion
Ram's journey prepared for him: tolls, fuel stops and weather at the destination, before he asks.
Explained anomalies
Instead of “engine temperature high”, likely causes, urgency and the nearest authorised centre.
Chapter 05 · scaleDesign system
From an India style sheet to a global system
Midway through, Nissan's Europe team started a new design system for global use. Rather than ship a parallel one, we joined forces and built it together: typography, lists, cards, loading states, callouts and snackbars, in light and dark for iOS and Android. That shared foundation is a big reason the design could later travel to other markets.
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Chapter 06Heuristic validation with the client
Closing the loop on every issue
We took Nissan through each original problem and the design decision that answers it, with the research behind it. That turned the review from opinions into a checklist the client could sign off.
LaunchThe launch screen did nothing for the user or the brand.Dynamic promotional content behind fixed CTAs.
NavigationOverloaded side menu, outdated against the global language.Five tabs: Home, Utilities, My Kicks, Shop at Home, Notifications.
DashboardCar image isolated from any feature.Car on a map with drive score and Find My Car built in.
DashboardNo promotions, so business opportunities were missed.Campaign and service cards with “Book service” and “View brochure”.
AlertsAlerts only in notifications, easy to miss.Distinctive alert banner at the top of Home.
Chapter 06 · field testGuerrilla usability testing
Tested with owners in five cities
We ran unmoderated guerrilla usability tests on the working prototype with owners across India's major car markets. They used it on their own, without a moderator steering them, which shows whether the design works without explanation.
- MethodUnmoderated guerrilla testing
- PrototypeWorking high-fidelity prototype, light and dark
- CitiesBangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai
- FocusThe flows the audit flagged: onboarding, home status, Find My Car, booking a service
Chapter 06 · the proofImpact
From a dormant app to a revenue channel
What we measured after launch, compared with the previous two years of the old app.
+120%app revenue
+82%service bookings
+80%accessory purchases, connected and non-connected cars
+60%use of Nissan authorised service centres
−82%drop-off and bounce rate
87–95%customer retention through the app
1,800+new-car bookings and leads in the first 3 months
CO₂drive-score coaching for more efficient driving
The bigger outcome
Designed for India. Adopted for the world.
The brief was a single-market redesign. When the results reached Nissan's directors, they made this design the benchmark for other countries. NissanConnect car apps in many markets now use the design we created for India.
India app redesign→Global benchmark→Middle East proposal→Kicks infotainment
EpilogueFollow-on work
Taking the language into the car: Kicks infotainment
The app's success earned us a usability review and redesign of the Nissan Kicks infotainment system. We used the same method: feature benchmarking against Qashqai, Rogue, Kia, Audi, BMW and MG Hector, owner and analyst reviews, and an expert review of each screen.
| What we found | Redesign direction |
|---|---|
| The back button doesn't exit camera mode. | One consistent back behaviour on every screen. |
| Volume only on the touch panel, slow to change. | Large, glanceable volume control. |
| Play controls dominate, but drivers use the steering wheel. | Hierarchy built for the co-passenger. |
| Crowded screens, mixed fonts, dull blues. | The app's design language on a calm dark base. |
| Rigid “Customise home menu”. | Widget home with map and music side by side. |
Reflection
What I'd carry forward, and do differently
The biggest lesson: the design system was more strategic than any single screen. It is what let a one-market project become a global standard.