FixIT

Inspiration

When it comes to home appliances, such as kitchen equipment and washing machines, it can be extremely stressful situation when they break down. Who to call first? Is there warranty left? Is it waste of time trying to fix it or should I just buy a new one? What is the cheapest and most eco-friendly solution? And who can I even ask, if everybody just tries to sell me something? What is a non-biased point of view? What are the expenses and where do they come from? How could I compare services efficiently? How could I have more transparency?

There are so many questions and uncertainties regarding this issue so that we didn't even know where to start. After interviewing some people we found out that their maintenance service experience is mainly negative and suffers of a huge lack of information and trust. We found out that they would even be willing to pay more if they knew that their appliance would be taken care of in an easy, fast and reliable process.

What FixIT does

Our goal is to create a platform for customers and maintenance service providers to meet.

The first step is to create a website, where the customer can search for maintenance services according to his/her device, its manufacturer and location. The customer will identify the problem/malfunction the best way he/she can and the program will compare it to the data collected from previous maintenance service data of that appliance. This function is supported by machine learning algorithms that recognize malfunctioning patterns and customer behaviors. There would also be an advanced chat service giving the possibility to send pictures in order to identify the problem as precisely as possible. Then the program will set a price and duration estimate given by different maintenance service providers, which allows the customer to choose the best option available. There will be filters that allow to choose a price scale, duration scale, compare ratings given by previous customers and the eco-friendliness of the solution. FixIT will be first introduced in some city where the maintenance service provider data is easy to collect, for example in Helsinki.

In the second step, the platform will be developed so that the customer can create an account and carry out the whole process through it, including all contact with the maintenance service and payments. There would be a possibility to book a convenient time slot for the maintenance personnel to arrive. This allows even faster and more user-centered service, since the maintenance service providers don't normally have any structured booking system.

In the third step, the platform would courage the customers register all their home appliance into the system. That allows the customers see all the needed product manuals, warranty documents and product data at one look. The service would provide predictive maintenance with the help of the data collected through the previous steps. Smart appliances would be directly connected to the platform, which would allow real-time control. If the customer wants, the system would send notifications when the warranty is about to finish, so that the continuous performance of the appliance would be secured. The platform would also match the insurance data of the customer, that is, check what appliances the possible insurance covers, so that the customer wouldn't need to worry about that each time something breaks down. This registration would altogether provide faster and more personalized service, particularly for busy people who don't want to waste time going through time-consuming research but let the program conduct it.

In the fourth step, we establish a database for the public to compare the durability statistics. For example, when buying a new appliance, the customer could check which product has been the most long-lasting and with least problems and malfunctions. This would be the way to put an end to throwaway culture and encourage manufacturers produce even longer-lasting products.

Our customer segment is private households, and we are particularly targeting families that possess a lot of their own home appliances - and maybe live their boom years.

How we built it

We began with defining the problem and finding the root causes through problem mapping. Then we conducted an interview with 4 different people to hear their opinions and experiences. Next we made research about the issue and decided which problem we want to solve exactly. After that we came up with solution ideas and started refining them.

Challenges we ran into

Our ideation was wild with big ideas about customer-centered maintenance service. First we were thinking about creating an all-inclusive appliance maintenance including also electronic devices such as computers, mobile phones and tablets. After talking with the mentor we decided to narrow a bit and proceed in steps, and restrict to home appliances, to have a clearer idea of what we are doing.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our clear vision in how to define the problem and proceed in finding the solution. Our teamwork was amazing and efficient, and even though we felt a bit lost at some points, we found solutions really fast. Having different backgrounds in the team was extremely inspiring for each of us.

What we learned

We learned a lot about the problem itself: what is home appliance maintenance about and what makes it so painful. We learned that even in 2018 it is an extremely complex problem and all the information is fragmented and not transparent at all from a customer point of view.

What's next for FixIT

In the future, when the appliances will be even smarter and using more and more advanced technology such as AI, VR, AR and IoT, the service will be developed further according to customers' needs and benefiting these tools.

Built With

• chatbot
• data-analytics
• databases
• machine-learning
• search-engine
• web-platform