BMW

When BMW first approached Pixel Funnel, its dealerships across the U.K. had a fragmented customer care experience. Each dealer used their own system to intake and schedule vehicle maintenance requests. But for a world-class brand like BMW, the systems were clunky and outdated. Associates at the dealerships would field phone calls from customers and schedule appointments the old fashioned way. But today’s customers, especially high-end ones, expect a more seamless experience and the ability to schedule appointments on their own time.

Initially, BMW had a vision for what they wanted—an easy scheduling experience for customers where they could input their information, request maintenance services, and schedule appointments at their convenience. But they didn’t have the expertise to bring this vision to life.

We started working on the project from the ground up. Taking inspiration from Apple’s Genius Bar, we wanted to create an appointment scheduling system that was easy to use for customers and reliable for dealership employees. Not only did we want to build a flawless product, but we wanted to get it right from the beginning.

“We’re solutions-oriented. A lot of people have an end-goal in mind, but in software development, you’d be surprised by how many hurdles there are,” says Grant Bajere, Director of Pixel Funnel. “There are a lot of constraints in development, from hitting timelines and budgets to actually bringing the designs to life. We work with each customer to create products that are both user-friendly and functional.”

At Pixel Funnel, we think of ourselves as advisors and partners, in addition to our roles as designers and builders. So we approach projects holistically, taking into account all considerations and project goals. With BMW, for instance, we knew they wanted to build the initial product in English, but also translate it into other languages, like French and German. But a word that’s only a few letters in English may be much longer in German. So we customised the design of certain features to fit multiple languages.

We take into consideration these types of unique circumstances from the beginning. This allows us to build efficiently, correctly, on-time and within budget. We also prefer to take an iterative approach to building. By developing the product in segments, we can constantly perform quality control tests and conduct reviews with the client. Ultimately, this saves time, money, and client headaches.

Along the way, Pixel Funnel meticulously tests the product. We run manual and programmatic tests across all devices and browsers—from Macbooks, iPhones, iPads, Dell desktops and Androids, to browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla, and Safari. It’s critical that the product is reliable and consistent anywhere it’s going to be used. No matter the device or platform, we’ll test, tweak, and retest until it’s flawless.

One feature BMW associates were particularly thrilled about: the new app’s connection with their calendars. We synced the client web app with the calendars of all employees, updated in real time. BMW controls the appointment slots, so customers only see available times and employees aren’t double-booked or over-scheduled.

All in all, the project took about a year from conception to launch. Now, BMW dealerships across the U.K. are implementing the new system to the delight of both customers and employees, who no longer have to field service request calls throughout the day. Looking to the future, BMW wants to replicate the success of the maintenance request system with an updated platform where prospective customers can schedule test drives.