Personalized Vehicle Health

An ambiguous interface is presented at time of service.

People wanting a simple oil change are forced to decipher this list of services the technician is proposing. It contains; the proposed maintenance, services that are free, and results of tests done on the car, with no visual distinction between each.

Audience

The majority of Canadians own their own vehicles, with Statistics Canada reporting that 26.3 million road motor vehicles were registered nationwide in 2022. To support this large population of drivers, no-appointment auto repair shops are widespread across both Canada and the United States, offering convenient, on-demand maintenance. Brands such as Jiffy Lube, Car Hub, Mr. Lube, Midas, and many others cater to vehicle owners who need quick, walk-in services without the friction of scheduling appointments.

Quick Research

To accommodate the project’s tight timeline and to confirm my suspicions that there was room for improvement, I conducted qualitative user research by reviewing online customer feedback for auto repair shops across the country. Across these reviews, the most frequently mentioned theme was “upsell,” often framed negatively. While some customers explicitly praised locations for having “no pushy sales tactics,” many others expressed distrust, sharing stories of friends or family members feeling taken advantage of.

Slow Research

I interviewed 12 strangers outside of Mr. Lube, resulting in a deeper understanding of the pain points. The majority of customers expressed frustration with being sold services they did not originally come in for, often perceiving these interactions as unnecessary or mistrustful. At the same time, most customers did not identify as automotive experts, yet believed they understood their own vehicles better than the technicians recommending additional work. This tension reveals a critical gap in trust and communication, suggesting an opportunity to better align technical expertise with customers’ sense of ownership and understanding of their cars.

Key Insights

• Trust breaks down at the moment of service, not before or after

• Customers often interpret additional recommendations as sales tactics rather than care

• Mixed information (diagnostics, free checks, proposed services) increases cognitive load

• Paper receipts prevent long-term visibility into vehicle health and spending

• Customers want control and understanding, not avoidance of maintenance

Opportunity

How might we create transparency and continuity around vehicle maintenance so drivers feel informed, not sold to, while enabling service shops to make credible, necessary recommendations?

Proposed Solution

Service Stack is a clean, minimal dashboard that helps car owners stay on top of vehicle maintenance. Track service history, set reminders for upcoming work, and organize receipts—all in one place. In partnership with local service shops, Service Stack syncs records for transparency on both sides.

Omitting Paper

During interviews, many users emphasized the need for digital invoice tracking, since auto shops still hand out paper receipts. To solve this, Service Stack allows partnered shops to upload receipts after each visit, giving users a complete service history.

Reflection

This project reinforced that distrust in service environments is rarely about cost alone. It is about clarity, timing, and perceived intent. By reframing vehicle maintenance as an ongoing relationship rather than a single transaction, Service Stack demonstrates how small shifts in information design and service continuity can unlock trust at scale.

The principles explored here such as transparency, shared context, and longitudinal visibility extend beyond automotive services and are applicable to other high-stakes domains such as healthcare, finance, and home services.