EV Charging Experience – New Design Lab

Enhancing Electric Vehicle Public Charging Experience

To redefine the public charging experience for electric vehicles (EVs) by deeply understanding customer needs, behaviors, and daily goals.

Client
Electrify America
2017

Focus
Qualitative Research
Experience Design
User Interface Design

Role
Design Lead

APPROACH

Conducted rapid immersive field studies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Atlanta to gather authentic behavioral insights. By meeting EV drivers at local recharging stations, we were able to empathize with their genuine problems. This immersive research illuminated critical customer experiences and expectations surrounding the EV charging process.

The emerging insights from the field studies highlighted customer pain points throughout the EV charging experience cycle, revealing opportunities beyond the charging station UI to improve the overall EV charging experience. The Human-Machine Interface (HMI) design scope was specifically focused on enhancing the at-station charging UI design.

OUTCOME

Based on the insights gathered, our focus was on refining the EV charging stations' Human-Machine Interface (HMI) to craft a user interface that is both intuitive and an efficient charging process. The reimagined HMI highlights simplicity and considers the environmental context, significantly easing user interaction and enhancing the overall charging experience.