Enviro

A Universal mobile app for EV owners navigate to closet charging station

Note: This project was part of my virtual experience program by Forage

About the project

Forage has provided me with a valuable opportunity to participate in a virtual experience program with BP, a company dedicated to delivering reliable, affordable, and lower-carbon energy solutions globally.
BP is actively leading the charge in the sustainable energy transition, particularly with the rise of electric vehicles (EVs). As the demand for EVs continues to grow, so does the need for a universal mobile app that seamlessly helps EV owners locate and navigate to nearby charging stations.
The project centers around creating a user-friendly, environmentally-conscious solution designed to support drivers in finding the closest charging stations while promoting sustainability in the evolving energy landscape.

Overview

Enviro is an innovative mobile app created specifically for electric vehicle (EV) users, offering a seamless and intuitive experience.
With its user-friendly design, Enviro simplifies the journey for EV drivers by providing essential features such as real-time navigation tailored for electric vehicles, accurate battery range estimations to help users plan their trips effectively, and detailed vehicle-specific information to enhance overall efficiency.
This comprehensive tool is designed to meet the practical needs of modern EV owners, ensuring they stay informed and confident on the road.

Problem

Electric vehicles (EVs) are revolutionizing modern vehicle automation, allowing drivers to connect with their eco-friendly cars easily. However, concerns about battery status can detract from the enjoyment of driving. Below are some of the problems the majorily faced by drivers:

Finding nearby charging stations using EV navigation apps can be challenging, leading to stress about reaching destinations.
Additionally, drivers often face issues such as cluttered apps that provide inaccurate information about charging station availability and problems with charging plugs.
By addressing these challenges, we can enhance the driving experience and increase the appeal of electric vehicles.

Goal

To create a seamless user experience for EV users to reach the closest charging station and carry out their driving journey with ease and comfort.

Solution

To help EV users to navigate to closet charging stations,

“How might we design and develop a user-friendly and universally accessible mobile app that utilizes geolocation technology, allowing electric vehicle (EV) owners to find and navigate to the nearest charging stations effortlessly and providing real-time battery level monitoring, ensuring that EV owners can confidently reach the charging station without running out of power"

Role & Responsibility

As a virtual experience participant, to perform the role, specified tasks are given. It was intended to carry out the project in order as it describes the overall design process and next steps. My part was to conduct market research, build a persona, and create wireframes along with prototyping.

Date

March, 2023

Type of work

Competitive audit & Research, Wireframing, UI design, and Prototyping.

Tools

Figma, Milanote

Research: Comprehending the market insights for competitive audits

Although a pain point was supplied, for creating a persona, I needed to understand the market of Electric vehicles and the apps assigned to them. Conducting market research helped me to understand Electric vehicles, their uses, and how they can help us to reduce our carbon footprint. A competitive audit was performed to understand the market insights to develop an EV app that meets the user's needs and contributes to the sustainable energy transition.

To create a User persona from the obtained market research and supplied pain points.

A goal-directed persona was made from the supplied pain point and market research. While developing a persona, the market analysis helped me to know about EV apps and compare them with the available pain point.

Ideate and develop wireframes

After going through market research, conducting competitive audits, and creating a persona, it’s time to bring ideas of how the final product will look in the form of wireframes. Creating Wireframes can provide the overall look of the product, and its functionality, addressing the user's pain into solutions. I started with creating sketch wireframes and translated them into lo-fi wireframes. For this task, the goal was to meet the user's needs and approach their pain points with better solutions.

Low- Fidelity wireframes

As I approached further, I converted my LO-fi wireframes into high-fidelity for the final look of the app screens. For hi-fi screens, I opted an environment-related color theme. this is my version of Hi-fi screens.

Get started

A simple look to get started!

You are welcome

Users create their accounts to get access to the app.

Look for nearest charging stations

The home screen with a map indicates the user's live location along with the nearest charging station available

Charge now

The charging station's availability helps users to get info about the type of charger available according to their needs.

Let's check the battery

Battery status indicates users about their battery % along with the distance covered by them and the distance that can be covered by the remaining battery.

It's charging

The charging pop-up system indicates the battery functions and overall battery information.

My profile

The profile screen enables users to have an overall look at the app's usage.

High - Fidelity wireframes

Let's Prototype it

Task 5

Learnings from the virtual experience programme

Forage has allowed me to be a virtual experience participant of bp and helped me to dive into a company's working system.

The virtual experience program with bp offered me a unique glimpse into their inner workings, allowing me to explore their team dynamics and project processes.

It has given me insight into how a team works on a project and the challenges faced while designing a product.

The experience unveiled the importance of market research, user-centered design, and iterative prototyping in their design process.

This unique opportunity with bp has broadened my perspective and inspired me to approach future design projects with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and best practices within the industry.