CASE STUDY — 2018

The image shows a computer monitor with a light blue screen, a keyboard, and a mouse on a white desk.

Mercedes-Benz
Financial Services

AI Virtual Assistant

Multiple screens displaying a Mercedes-Benz online banking platform and a live chat feature, showing account details, payment due date, and customer service chat window.

About the Project

Designing the first digital assistant for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, which had to represent the brand while offering helpful assistance and enabling self-service.

My role

Senior designer – responsible for the discovery, ideation, branding, interaction design, and prototype

Team

Wayne Fujita — Group Creative Director
Chelsea Andrews — Associate Creative Director
Chris Groser — Associate Creative Director
Rachel Samuels — Senior UX Designer

Goals

The goal of this project was to launch an AI virtual assistant for MBFS’s registered customers by utilizing the Oracle platform. It has to enable self-service to provide information about FAQs, payoff quote, confirmation of recent account activity, and billing statement.

Primary KPIs

  • Total number of users

Secondary KPIs

  • Response time (less than 1 min)

  • Response accuracy (80%)

  • Use rates

Collection of mobile phone screens displaying various financial and vehicle-related information, including payment details, messages, and vehicle data, with the Mercedes-Benz logo.

Design Process

UX Goals

Engage

Offer a chat session if the user has been on a page for a certain amount of time without any activity.

Provide context

Serve up different welcome message based on the page the user is on, i.e., use generic messaging on the dashboard and specific messaging on the payments page.

Anticipate

If customers have conducted several searches, without finding what they’ve been looking for, i.e., clicked on multiple navigation items without engaging in an action, invite the user to chat.

Be unobtrusive

Once opened, if the user does not interact with the chat after a certain amount of time, the chat should close. If the user manually closes the bot, it should not open again during the session unless user opens it manually.

Comparison of Chat Frameworks

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services online account dashboard displaying a payment due of $1,425.72 with a due date of March 10, 2018, and options to pay, schedule payments, enroll in AutoPay, and manage account settings.

Docked panel lower right

Pros
It is a small, recognizable, and traditional chat pattern.

Cons
It covers a small amount of content.

Tech notes
It works the best across all breakpoints.

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services online account webpage displaying an account summary with a $1,425.72 due amount, due date March 10, 2018, and options to schedule payments or enroll in AutoPay.

Pop-out

Pros
It can persist from vehicle to vehicle.

Cons
It disconnected from task on page and is easy to get lost behind browser window.

Tech notes
It is challenging to keep two separate browser windows in sync and is not the most accessible. Mobile view spawns new window; switching between more difficult.

Online banking dashboard for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services showing a car loan or lease account with due amount of $1,425.72 and due date March 10, 2018, with options to pay, schedule payments, and enroll in auto pay.

Slide-out the right panel
// Winner

Pros
It is small in the closed state and has a big stage when opened. Also, it is scalable.

Cons
The portal already has a slide-out menu.

Tech notes
By pushing page content to the left, it may kick users down to mobile breakpoint on some tablets.

Naming for the Virtual Assistant

Mercedes // Winner

  • Brand recognition

  • Extensibility across all Mercedes-Benz properties

  • Global reach

  • It is already a brand name — we’re giving it back to a character

Embi

  • A distinct construction with a clear connection to the brand

  • Unusual enough to stand out as a name

  • Warn and approachable, yet clearly pointing to a virtual character

Otto

  • An approachable name that suggests “automotive”

  • A nod to the brand’s German roots

Explorations of Icon Animations

Icon of a speech bubble inside a circular button with green and blue outline, on a dark background.
Dark empty background with no discernible objects or details.
A person sitting at a desk with a laptop and coffee mug, working in an office environment.

UI Design

Access Point

The selected icon has been used as a visual element for the access point to grab users’ attention so that they can start engaging with the Mercedes if needed.

Screenshot of a Mercedes-Benz Financial Services online account dashboard showing account details, payment due date, amount owed, and options to schedule payments, manage AutoPay, confirm profile, and contact support.

Intro Animation and Welcome Message

An intro animation represents Mercedes’ friendliness by shown when the chat panel opens up. The welcome message reveals its personality and sets clear expectations.

Quick Action Buttons

By displaying selected quick action items that are highly performed on the site, it guides users to find what they need in a short amount of time.

Screenshots of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services mobile app and website chat interface, showing account details, payment options, and virtual assistant information.
Screenshot of a mobile app interface showing a chat window and a website. The chat window on the left and right sides features a conversation about a car lease payoff quote and remaining payments. The central website displays an account summary for a Mercedes-Benz finance account, including an amount due of $1,425.72, a due date of March 10, 2018, and options for scheduling payments, managing auto pay, updating profile, contacting support, and other account details.
Screenshots of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services mobile app and website displaying account details, recent billing statement, virtual assistant chat window, and payment options.
Three screenshots of a mobile banking app interface for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, displaying account details, recent transactions, and virtual assistant chat chats.

Text Input

The text input contains the following; a typing area that expands up to 5 lines then becomes scrollable for more and a “Send” call to action which posts the message that the user wrote.

By having different chat bubble colors for sender and recipient, it creates visual separation. Also, we implemented a micro animation when the Mercedes is typing with a “typing” indicator to provide a human feeling.

Screenshots of Mercedes-Benz financial services online account interface from a mobile device. The interface includes a chat window with IBM virtual assistant, account summary showing due amount of $1,425.72 due on March 10, 2018, and options for making payments, managing AutoPay, profile confirmation, contact support, and other features.
Screenshots of a mobile banking app and a Mercedes-Benz financial services dashboard. The banking app includes a chat window with options for payoff quote, transactions, and statements, as well as a message input field. The dashboard displays account details, the amount due of $1,425.72, payment due date March 10, 2018, and options to schedule payments and manage AutoPay.
Three mobile screens displaying Mercedes-Benz Financial Services account management. The left screen shows a chat window with options for payoff quote, transactions, and statements, and a message asking about lease payoff costs. The middle screen displays a financial dashboard with a vehicle image, account details, billing amount of $1,425.72 due on March 10, 2018, and options for scheduling payments or managing AutoPay. The right screen features a virtual assistant chat window explaining its functions and offering help.
Three screenshots showing Mercedes-Benz financial services app interfaces. The center screenshot displays a payment due of $1,425.72 due on March 10, 2018, with options to schedule a payment or manage AutoPay, and menu options for account summary, payments, activity, and settings. The left and right screenshots show chat interfaces of the app with options for payoff quote, transactions, statements, and a chat with the virtual assistant.
Center image shows a Mercedes-Benz financial services webpage displaying an account summary with a $1,425.72 amount due and a payment due date of March 10, 2018. Surrounding images depict a chat interface on mobile devices with conversations about loan payoff and lease details.

Customer Handoff

The handoff calls to action get populated for the following scenarios to support them to find the bits of extra help:

  • When the Mercedes doesn’t understand or cannot help the users

  • When the users request human supports; such as typing “help”, “human”, or “agent”.

Screenshot of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services online account dashboard displaying a payment due of $1,425.72 with a due date of March 10, 2018, and options to schedule payments and manage AutoPay. Also shown is a virtual assistant chat window with options for pay history, transactions, and statements.

Outcome

Since the launch of the virtual assistant in October 2018, about 300 users chat with Mercedes daily, and over 70% of all chats are rated as accurate or successful. This feature is available to customers 24/7 across multiple platforms and devices.