Outline Approach

I will start with asking clarifying questions to ensure I have a solid understanding as it relates to the problem statement and design goals.

Second, I will brainstorm a list of user groups and pick one to focus on, ID their user needs, then prioritize them

Lastly, I will brainstorm solutions to address the design goal and the needs of the user group I am designing the product for, ID metrics to track success, and summarize the solution.

Clarify Scope for the Product Design Challenge

I understand that you would like for me to design an app for the DMV. I will decide later and after I have picked a user group and understand use case for that user group better or to focus the product design on if to build a mobile app, MEW, or a Facebook app.

I will assume to minimizing the time spent at the DMV to be measured as average time per DMV visit. Will that work?

User Groups 

Various user groups are:

1. DMV Visitors: people that contact the DMV to complete a task related to their cars or driving (e.g. renewing license, changing car ownership, etc). Their primary need is to minimize overall time spent on DMV related tasks such as renewing registration, drivers license, etc., minimize time at the DMV, get their documents as quickly as possible, etc.
2. DMV agents: they represent the DMV and help citizens complete their tasks. Their primary need is to have as pleasant a work environment as possible and as productive as possible.
3. DMV Management: They manage the agents and other DMV employees. Their primary need is for the DMV to run efficiently as possible to reduce overall cost, while providing great customer service.

I will chose DMV Visitors because they are the largest group and designing for them can make the biggest impact on the design goal, which is to reduce time per visit at the DMV.

List User Needs for My Persona for the User Journey 

1. It is difficult to make and keep track of appointments
2. When visiting the DMV they need to take a number to reserve a spot in the queue to speak with a DMV agent if they don’t have an appointment and wait for an extended period of time.
3. When it is their turn to speak with an agent, visitors need to provide documents to identify themselves and submit an application form, then they are told that they should have filled out the application prior to their visit – they step out of line for that get back into line after done with filling out appl.
4. Visitors sometimes realize at the time of their visit that they are missing some documents and that they would need to come back another day to present the missing documents.
5. Visitors often cannot renew their drivers license without coming into the DMV.
6. Visitors wait for a long time to receive the documents they came in for from the DMV (e.g. drivers license).

Prioritize the User Needs

Based on the scores above, I have chosen user needs / use pain points 2, 4, and 6.

       Brainstorm & Evaluate Solution

Product Goal: “Design an app for DMV visitors to minimize the time spent at the DMV.”

Given that mobile phone usage has increased drastically in recent years to over 60% and given that we can cater and market a DMV strictly to the DMV office visit (rather than adding this functionality to the existing DMV website), we will assume a mobile app as a solution.

Circle the components of the solution to build in above matrix, then summarize recommendation.

Summarize Recommendation

In summary, I designed an app for DMV visitors to minimize the time spent to obtain DMV documents. The user pain points or needs I prioritized to solve for were to address long wait times at the DMV w/o an appointment, DMV visitors realizing at the time of their visit that they are missing key documents and need to come back to DMV for that, and lastly that they needed to wait for weeks to get the documents from the DMV (e.g. drivers license). The proposed solution would be a mobile app in support of the customers DMV visit, incl. the following features as the initial MVP based on having the highest impact on CSAT, biz goals, and implementation cost:

1. Manage the entire application process in app incl. prefill info from app, inform that docs needed to bring, etc.
2. Allow users to reserve their space in line before the visit in the app – they will receive an in app notification when it is their turn
3. Deliver DMV documents to the mobile app immediately after the appointment, e.g. using mobile app as ID for drivers licen

This mobile app will reduce the time it takes for DMV customers to apply for documents, wait time at the DMV, while increasing DMV staff productivity and reducing the elapsed time for customers to receive their DMV document

Metrics to track effectiveness of the app:

1. Time customer / citizen spent at DMV – tracked by checking into DMV and out via scan at DMV office
2. Total time spent by citizen on DMV docs
3. Elapsed time for customers to receive documents (e.g. drivers license)
4. CSAT metric for citizen, e.g. Foresee survey / NPS score compare to baseline

I would first ask the interviewer if they have a particular goal in mind in the design of the app or if I can chose mine. There are a few goals that I can think of:

– reduce number of calls made to DMV support line
– reduce number of visits made to DMV office
– reduce the average time spent per visit by citizens at the DMV

For the purpose of this interview, I’d ask the interviewer if it’s ok for me to focus on reducing the average time spent per visit at the DMV. Let’s assume they agree with my goal.

There are a few different persona’s that could benefit from a DMV app:
– DMV employee
– Government officer seeking information
– Citizen seeking service from the DMV

I’m going to ask the interviewer if it’s ok to focus on building an app for the citizen who would be using the DMV app. Let’s assume they agree.

Next, I want to think about the use cases of a citizen who’s seeking service form the DMV:

– Visiting the DMV help desk to explain the reason for their visit and ask to see a DMV officer. They usually get a number at this point.
– Wait for their number to be called
– Visit an officer and provide documents to identify themselves
– Explain reason for visit and provide documents needed for the request (e.g. renewing driver’s license, registering a car, taking a driver’s license test, et)
– Pay for service with their credit card
– Wait for a few days / weeks to receive new documents / letters from DMV

There are other use cases. Here, I’ve highlighted some of the most important and time consuming ones. Here are a few ideas to reduce time spent per visit:

1. Book your visit in advance and present wait times at different hours
2. Provide real time information on where you are in the queue to visit a DMV officer
3. Enable user to select reason for visit from the app. Provide a list of required documents and ask the user to confirm that they will bring all the requested documents to the DMV.
4. Enable user to upload required documents in advance
5. Accept payment via phone in advance
6. Provide status updates on the request. Help user see if the card / license / registration document has been created / mailed / delivered.

I would now want to evaluate these ideas against each other based on impact on DMV, impact on the end user, and cost of implementation.

1. Medium impact on the DMV. This can help DMV encourage users to book appointments at slower times of the day. High impact on the user since it reduces their wait time and gets rid of the first step (getting a #). Implementation cost is medium as you will need to develop a process that connects inside office and mobile data to each other

2. Low impact on the DMV. Medium impact on the user as they can use the wait time to get something done (e.g. shopping) while waiting and still be back before it’s their turn. Low cost since the app just needs to connect to the queue data

3. Medium impact on the DMV since many people do their own research to ensure they do have the required documents. High impact on the user as it makes it easier for them to understand what’s needed. Low cost of implementation.

4. Low impact for the DMV since they might have concerns around fraud. Medium impact on the consumer since they now have to take out their phones and take pictures. High cost of implementation since the development of such service requires some special capabilities (e.g. eliminate blurry images, fraud detection, etc)

5. High impact for the DMV as it helps them reduce number of payment terminals needed at the DMV offices. It also helps them speed up the service. High impact for the consumer as they don’t have to take their wallet and pay in the office. Medium implementation cost to connect payment on the app to DMV’s financial system

6. Low impact for the DMV. Medium impact for the user (not critical information). Medium cost of implementation since DMV has to connect to its backend to get access to status of a request

Based on what’s discussed above, I suggest that we first prioritize building features 1, 3, and 5 as the initial features of the app. User can book their visit in advance and pick a time that suits them the most while knowing the traffic at the DMV office at the different times of the day. Feature 3 helps them ensure that they do possess all the information they need to complete the job they are visiting the DMV office for. It also helps DMV officer know immediately the reason for the visit And feature 5 ensures no time is wasted for payment in the DMV office.