Pratibha Debnath
User Experience Design
Major project
Encourage people to buy Electric cars [Read more]
Go Electric assists users to drive Electric cars more efficiently by providing battery analysis by scheduling and planning trips and battery charging.
Go Electric is a companion app that can integrate with Electric cars and provide a complete Battery degradation analysis on the different factors of driving like Speed, Temperature, Climatic factors, Traffic, etc. by providing voice assistance in order to drive efficiency for a longer battery charge.
The Challenge
The environmentally conscious international students who want to buy an EV but feel reluctant due to battery charging issues. They are under the impression of having to go through the hassle of frequent charging and don't feel confident enough to invest in an EV.
They are going to live on rent in the UK which means it is most likely that they'll not have a built-in charging station in their house. Therefore, charging can be an issue depending on the location and day-to-day schedule.
User Research
Qualitative research was done to uncover user's decision-making process when they buy a car and how they perceive Electric cars. It was imperative to explore the factors that stop them from choosing an EV over any other conventional car.
Methods included:
1. Autoethnography was conducted to analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experiences.
2. Semi-structured interviews with ten participants was conducted to understand how they perceive the issues and understand the factors that stop the users from buying an EV,
3. Cart Sorting activity was involved during the interview process where users were asked to prioritize their preferences of choosing a car.
Key Insights to Opportunities
The data collected through various methods were analyzed using an Affinity diagram and Empathy mapping. The insights were extracted from the results:
1. Even if people know the exact term Total Cost Ownership, they do try to determine the total direct or indirect cost that comes with the purchase of a vehicle.
2. Environment-conscious people are reluctant to buy an EV but they are leaning towards buying one, however, they don't feel confident enough due to the common barriers.
3. Charging regularly is the biggest barrier which is stopping people from buying EVs because they feel that they will get anxiety from the charging issue.
4. There is an awareness about Road to Zero plan which is why young people want to make a wise decision for a long-term purchase but they're more familiar with conventional cars which makes them lean towards buying a normal car over an EV.
These insights were then developed into several Opportunity statements to develop the final concept
Concept Ideation
The opportunity statements were evaluated on the HMW matrix and the How Now Wow matrix to determine the feasibility and the Wow factor of the ideas created throughout the process simultaneously. The crazy 8 sessions were conducted with the users to note down their reactions and prioritize their pain points.
Co-Design sessions were conducted with peers and participants to flesh out the details of the final concept. The customer journey was developed post that to explore the touchpoints and tap into the emotions of the chosen persona.
Design Iteration
Design Iteration involved wireframing the proposed concept which was created by ideating different scenarios. The user requirements were prioritized using the MoSCoW method. This was then developed into different stages of prototyping from paper-based digital prototypes to the final High fidelity interactive prototypes created in XD. At every stage, the changes were made from the feedback received by the participants.
Final Design and Features
Go Electric is a companion app that provides voice assistance to the users so that they can drive EV more efficiently and helps in scheduling the battery charging so that users can plan ahead for the entire week/ month and don't feel anxious at any point. The key features are:
Voice Assistant (Lumi):
-Controlled by voice commands
Battery Save Mode:
-Assist in increasing Battery efficiency
-Modes can be controlled manually
-Sets schedule for charging
Battery Health Check:
-Displays the Battery level history
-Displays Consumption levels
-Check daily/ weekly/ monthly history
-Shows different Battery Usage Factors
4. Map Assistance:
-Provides Google Map Assistance
-Helps in planning long journeys
-Provides different journey plans
-Provides battery level estimation
Car Breakdown Service:
-Lumi suggests parking the car
-Lumi sends a request for Car towing
-Helps to Track or Call help
Experience Principles and Video Prototyping
Experience design principles were developed during the ideation stage and were kept in consideration throughout the process. The features meet all the principles that were set initially.
Video prototyping was also created to showcase the voice assistant and Battery Save mode features.
Video prototype link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2otTlRdDIc
Interactive Prototype link: https://xd.adobe.com/view/cd81c5fb-dfe3-443e-9c5a-3003569804a5-98d2/
Pratibha Debnath
As an aspiring UX designer I am interested in understanding user's deep-rooted issues and transform them into positive experiences.
I have a bachelor's degree in computer applications and a master's degree in MBA, and I have a total work experience nearing 5 years.
Before my MBA in marketing, I worked as a Tech associate where my role was to interact with users and resolve their software issues. I learned a great deal of empathy from that job experience. Post that, I worked as a Data Associate where I used to generate traffic for my company by conducting Backlink Audits for top-tier websites to clean up webpages and provide the best user experience. This is where I was exposed to the course of User Experience and gained my interest in the field.
My master's in User Experience has nurtured my interest in a design context. I consider myself a very user-focused designer. This course has helped me expand my cultural frame of reference and take a holistic approach to deliver outcomes that can genuinely resolve users' problems.
Major project
Encourage people to buy Electric cars
Awards
Hackathon (Design Jam Live 2021) was a day-long design sprint competition at Loughborough University that involved collaboration with start-ups based in Nigeria. My team was voted the second-best Branding for our design.
Work Experience
I worked at Mphasis for one year as a Tech associate where I directly interacted with the user and resolved their technical issues either on-call or by taking remote access. I received many good ratings and appreciation from the users and my manager. I learned to empathize with the user and spontaneously come up with solutions. It was a challenge to multitask because I had to refer my resources, navigate the users while talking to them, and simultaneously had to jot down every action while raising the ticket. However, with time I learned the process and began solving more issues in a day.
In 3 years of my experience at Quinstreet as a Data Associate, I conducted Backlink Audit for top-tier websites to clean up web pages and provide the best user experience. I also managed the content on the websites and suggested top keywords to the editors to publish new articles using Semrush. The challenge was to sometimes come up with unique solutions to be at par with the competitive websites. I learned to think on my feet and conduct thorough analyses in order to improve the customer experience.