The MyMazda App simplifies the experience of Mazda owners by providing maintenance schedules, service history, coupons, and easy scheduling for service appointments, as well as an interactive guide and video demos for vehicle features.

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ROLES
UX Lead
Design Direction
Design Manager

CLIENT
Mazda Motor Corporation
Copyright © Mazda Motor Corporation

TEAM
Station (design and engineering)
Mazda Motor Corporation (Japan HQ)
Mazda North America
Mazda Canada
Mazda Europe
Each region had its own product managers and engineering team.

MY ROLE

UX Lead and Design Manager. I worked directly with each region’s PM and engineering lead on requirements, roadmap and release planning, and directed the Station design team.

THE PROBLEM

Mazda had separate, outdated regional apps. They weren’t connected to the car, were slow to respond, offered limited features and were rarely updated. Mazda wanted one global app that could serve every region, language and vehicle type.

KEY DECISION: RICH ANIMATION VS. WHAT ENGINEERING COULD SHIP

Mazda asked for rich animation: a dynamic vehicle status view alongside remote controls and diagnostics. Our first designs matched that request, but product pushed back. The design was too complex, and engineering estimated it would take too long and cost too much to build.

I worked between both sides on a solution:

• A UI framework of reusable templates. The vehicle image stays fixed and only the status layer changes, which cut the number of unique screens to design and build.

• Native OS-level animations wherever possible instead of custom ones.

• Less decorative motion. We removed animations like the opening transition and spent the animation budget on vehicle status, animating only when the car has an alert.

Mazda kept the experience it cared about, engineering got a scope it could build, and the app shipped on the original timeline.

KEY DECISION: KEEPING OWNERS COMING BACK

Owners downloaded the old apps and rarely returned. We redesigned onboarding to capture email and phone number at sign-up, then used them for maintenance reminders by email and text that brought owners back to schedule service in the app.

KEY DECISION: ASKING FOR RATINGS AT THE RIGHT MOMENT

The old apps were rated around 1.8 stars. We triggered the App Store rating prompt right after a successful remote engine start, the moment owners felt the app working for them. The rating rose to 4.7.

OUTCOME

• One global app replacing the regional apps, with single sign-on

• Launched in 27+ countries and 25+ languages, supporting CRM, connected vehicle, EV and smartwatch

• Best UI Design, J.D. Power 2022 OEM ICE App Benchmark Study

PROJECT SCOPES & DELIVERABLES

• Compatible with iPhone, Android, and Apple Watch devices

• Iconography Design

• Visual Design and Storyboard Creation

• UI Walkthrough Documents

• UI Specifications

• Screen Transition Diagrams

• Animations

• Market Launch and Maintenance Support

• Marketing Automation

• App Analytics Reports

• UI Strings Management

KEY MILESTONES

ACCOLADES