Electek

Summary

As part of an Interactive Design Studio class, my team of 4 undertook a UX challenge focusing on newly defined opportunity areas created by recent technology innovations.

Roles: Visual Designer — a third of the hi-fi screens in the app, plus prototypingLead Product Designer — the 3D charger renderLead Motion Designer — video and animations
Programs: Figma, Miro, Cinema4D (Redshift Renderer), After Effects, Illustrator

Below is a summary of our Discover, Define, Develop and Delivery process. Our full process book is available here: View PDF.

Welcome To Electek onboarding screens beside a charge gauge and a map of nearby stations

The charging station’s own screen — a 60% charge dial, a welcome state and a payment step

Drivers section: station map, route to a charger, charger detail and a cash-back screen

Mechanics section title over a photograph of a mechanic at work

Pricing screen breaking a job down into line items and a total

Survey section title over a photograph of a repair shop forecourt

A mechanic’s home screen greeting Jake, with video assistance and current lessons

Videos section title over a photograph of a mechanic working beneath a car

Training video library screen, lessons listed by system: brakes, engine, battery

Augmented Reality section title over a photograph of a car’s rear wheel

A phone held up to an EV, the AR overlay labelling an orange pipe on a 2021 Porsche Cayenne EV

Connected section title over a night map of city lights

Scheduling and chat screens — a July calendar beside a conversation with a driver

Driver section title over a photograph of a car interior and dashboard

Finding a charger: a station map, the route to Charger Joseph, and its detail with pricing

Charging section title over a photograph of a wheel and a plugged-in charge port

Charge status screens for a 2019 Chevy Bolt: percentage, time to charge and battery health

Cash Back section title over a photograph of a shop owner at a counter

Cash-back screens: a rewards balance and a QR code to redeem at a partner pharmacy

The full charging station interface set — welcome, charge dial, payment and confirmation states

1. Discover

Prompt: Create a product/service that addresses a newly defined opportunity area created by recent technology innovations.

After running through a list of potential topics, we found that we were all passionate about the effects electric cars were having on our environment and industries. We then found some proof of change:

At least 50% of new cars produced will be electric in 10 years.
As of late 2020, auto manufacturers pledged to spend a total of $225 billion developing new EVs.

After identifying the proof of the change, we dove deeper into the economic issues. Employment impacts and electrical fire issues were found as our main concerns.

We sent out a survey on multiple social media pages and collected 57 responses. 71% were from ages 46-76 years old. 29% were 18-35 years old.

77% plan to buy their next car from new from dealerships
51% are interested in electric/hybrid cars
96% have never owned an EV

Another pain point found through our research indicated that people were nervous to purchase an electric car due to lack of charging accessibility.

Secondary research slide: 15 interviews with industry professionals, including 3 interactive interviews and 2 cultural probes

Affinitization board — hundreds of yellow research notes clustered into themes in Miro

A closer view of two affinity clusters, colour-coded notes grouped beside written findings

Interview quote: “Some of our mechanics can work on EVs but they are not certified officially. For more serious issues we would send them someplace else.”

Interview quote: “I have been thinking about this. I do not know the future of our shop. We are a small shop and I would hate to close but my guys would all need to be trained.”

Survey results slide, 71% aged 46–76 beside 29% aged 18–35

2. Define

Building off this idea of potential economic issues in gas-powered job industries, we conducted 15 interviews with auto mechanic professionals, including 3 interactive interviews and 2 cultural probes. We found:

Very few mechanics know how to work on electric vehicles.
Mechanics are acknowledging that a rapid change is coming in their industry.
Most mechanics are open to EV training if it is not expensive or free.
Mechanics believe that charging stations will not make any money.
Mechanic shops will consider drastically changing their business or closing due to the uprise of EVs.
100% of interviewed mechanics expressed interest in being trained to work on EVs if it was cheap or free.
80% of interviewed mechanics expressed they would need to shut down or adjust their careers/business for EVs.

So how might we… Create affordable and accessible EV training for car mechanics of small auto shops? Facilitate tools for auto mechanic shops to be prepared for EVs?

The Problem

The increasing adoption of Electric Vehicles poses a threat to the lives of small auto repair shops focused on gas-powered vehicles. Obtaining adequate training and certification is expensive and inaccessible.

Our Solution

An ecosystem that helps small auto repair shops obtain EV certifications and helps EV drivers find fast charging stations

Our solution is an ecosystem of products, Electek. Electek connects consumers to chargers, connects consumers to certified mechanics, certifies mechanics on EVs and gives mechanics a new revenue stream.

We generated a couple user personas and their journey maps.

Persona: Liam Lacey, The New Driver — a 19-year-old high school student with his bio, characteristics, pain points and needs

Liam’s journey map, a flow of steps from hearing about Electek to booking a diagnostic

Persona: Todd Cox, The Apprehensive — a 55-year-old mechanic photographed at work, with his bio, pain points and needs

Todd’s journey map, tracing him from doubting EV work to registering for certification

3. Develop

Product Design Process

As lead product designer, I was in charge of developing a digital model of the Electek charger.

I did research on current charging stations features to find most basic features and needs.

The finished Electek charger render, a slim dark pillar with a lit screen against a plum background

Cinema4D viewport with the charger modelled in grey geometry, seen from the front and side

Cinema4D viewport of the studio lighting setup, a dome light and a point light shaping the charger

Lastly, I wanted to create a more dramatic setting for the final render. I created a simple studio with one dome light and another point light, which gave the charger the contrast I was looking for.

Mid-Fi Prototypes

Mid-fi screens for finding a charger — login, a station map, a selected charger and its detail

Mid-fi while-charging screens showing charge percentage, vehicle details and a diagnostic check

Mid-fi mechanic certification screens: EV certification progress, lessons and a training video

4. Delivery

Our final wireframes are at the very top.