Work projectEV-charging

Overview

CloudCharge is an electric vehicle (EV) charging company that offers seamless charging solutions for individuals and businesses. They offer several products, including a mobile app for EV owners to manage home chargers and locate public chargers, as well as a web portal for managing EV chargers at facilities. CloudCharge also offers white-labeled versions of the app for other companies, keeping the functionality consistent while adapting the design to match different brands.

When I joined CloudCharge, the company was transitioning into a standalone entity and undergoing a major rebranding. The app had recently undergone a significant redesign, and the portal was nearing completion. During my time, I worked on all products as well as the website. Read more about the latter here. The foundational work in all projects involved adapting the design to the new brand guidelines and design system, which I structured to streamline the design work.

Goals and Tasks

I contributed to the continuous improvement of the app and portal and systematized the design material for more structure. Using Figma as my primary design tool, I redesigned the design system to align with the new brand guidelines, organizing elements with variables and components. This ensured a consistent design for future projects and provided developers with a single, reliable reference which had previously been missing.

Users and Audience

Our goal was to develop user-friendly app and portal for a diverse audience. Given the varied demographic backgrounds of EV owners, the app was designed to be accessible for both young and older users, catering to tech-savvy individuals as well as those less familiar with technology. We considered different user groups, such as private individuals managing home chargers and those seeking public charging stations, ensuring versatility and inclusivity.

Roles and Responsibilities

The team included a product owner, developers, and myself as the sole UX designer, with several internal and external stakeholders. My responsibilities included improving the user experience based on team feedback, ensuring the design was aesthetically pleasing and functional, and maintaining the design system in Figma.

Scope and Constraints

The rapidly growing EV industry meant new needs arose continuously, often with short notice. Close collaboration with developers was essential to meet deadlines and fulfill requirements, as they set limitations on what was technically feasible. Designs often needed to be iterated independently and with developers to find the sweet spot.

Due to the app's white-label solutions, requests came from various directions and stakeholders. To minimize development time, all white-label solutions maintained the same core functionality and structure, differing only in colors and fonts to match each brand's identity. The challenge was creating a design that worked for all versions, despite different target audiences in the various companies.

The Working Process and Actions Taken

The process varied significantly depending on how close to deadlines the functional requirements were provided. However, it typically followed this structure:

• Specification: Received specifications for new functionality, describing user goals and necessary elements. Some functionalities aimed at increasing upselling, while others aimed at retaining existing customers.
• Data Collection: Researched how others had solved similar problems and identified additional necessary features.
• User Flows: User flows were defined to understand the steps a user would take to achieve their goal.
• Prototype Building: Developed prototypes using existing components for short deadlines and if needed I would create new ones when time allowed.
• Internal Approval: Presented my work in weekly design meetings. Projects were shown in Figma, often as clickable prototypes for a comprehensive experience.
• Improvements: Adjusted prototypes based on feedback to prepare for external review.
• External Approval: Presented designs together with the product owner and/or a developer to key stakeholders and received their feedback. Some requested changes could be time-consuming, requiring an extra thought to balance between time and functionality.
• User Testing: Conducted user testing through semi-structured interviews when time allowed, gaining insights into the user experience and necessary improvements.

Outcomes and Takeaways

Working on various projects at CloudCharge taught me valuable lessons in communication and managing differing opinions. I learned that my completed designs might not always be implemented directly or prioritized due to the rapidly changing market and arising new needs. In connection with this, I also understood that I always have two end-users to design for: those who will use the product and those who will create the product. Something that was quick to design might not always be quick to develop. Therefore, with limited resources, it was important to me that the developers could also give their input on the design to minimize the time to launch.

Presenting designs to external stakeholders highlighted the importance of including a developer. Initially, design reviews together with only the product owner often led to promising changes that could be technically challenging. This meant that we would have to go back to the stakeholder and try to find another way. Including a developer during these meetings ensured technical limitations were communicated directly, avoiding unnecessary and time-consuming steps.

The rebranding brought its own challenges, where I was responsible for ensuring the products followed the new brand specifications, despite not being involved in the discussions where it was all decided. As a result, there were sometimes uncertainties about what had been decided and what I could influence, despite joining later in the process.