Pop Charge
Designing a service so you’re never without a fully charged phone -
Easy as 1, 2, 3.
Project TL;DR
Pop Charge is a power bank sharing service that allows users to rent a charger in minutes.
I designed their iOS app.
Client
Pop Charge is a start up based in New York City.
Currently, there are a handful of competitors in the U.S. who have seen limited success.
Quick Look
c2c model
Competitive market analysis
End to End development
Lean product design
Team
Adam Lempel, UX Designer
Shanshan Wang, UI Designer
Yanli Yin, UX Researcher
No more separation anxiety.
Pop Charge is an initiative that provides an affordable and environmentally friendly power bank sharing service in New York City.
It was expected to launch in Summer 2020, but due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, has been delayed. However, Pop Charge is already in completion phase with more than 1000 power banks available for use.
Pop Charge’s competitors’ reach has been largely limited and unsuccessful.
Role
I was part of a team of four designers and responsible for the strategy of the iOS app. I led the UX work, and produced all deliverables for presentation to the client after 3 weeks of development.
What We Did
High fidelity prototype of the Pop Charge iOS app
Digital branding
Voice and tone for all content
Outcomes
⇣50%
Decrease in task completion time
⇡80%
Percentage of successful power bank rental
⇡80%
Increased user approval rating
How might Pop Charge provide an efficient, trustworthy rental service to its users that support their need for connection?
3 Big Takeaways
01. Create an identity that’ll last
02. Slash the time between application and first rental
03. Keep them coming back
01.
Research + Discovery
Create an identity that’ll last
Competitors using a similar business model encountered shared issues. By directly addressing these missteps with a tight time constraint, we looked to lean UX in order to converge ideas, iterate rapidly, and test.
To gain an understanding, I conducted several rounds of user tests using competitor app - we’ll call this Product A*.
A spectrum of user engagement was observed among the participants interviewed which was founded on commonalities - the importance of smart phones in their lives, how they use them, how they view the role of phones/apps to gauge their lived experience.
*Product will remain anonymous
Methodology - Testing Competitor A
I measured testers’ task completion rate, time to completion, and emotional state to pinpoint potential areas for growth. Follow up interviews produced insights into emotional response - which was important to building an identity that differentiates Pop Charge from its predecessors.
02.
Feature Analysis
Slash the time between application and first rental
Competitor A’s app demonstrated a key weakness - a lack of efficiency. When considering the situation, a new user needs to be able locate a nearby power bank kiosk, and effortlessly check out.
We pinpointed important weak areas as growth opportunities.
Key Insights
Stay Connected
People want to charge their phones as fast as possible. Owning a phone is staying connected with others through various social media platforms, texts, or calls - efficiency is of importance here.
More Security
From gathered research, people using competitor A felt unsure about checking out with their personal payment methods. Using new apps should instill confidence in information security and secure checkout.
Eliminate Decision Fatigue
Streamline the payment method to just one, familiar method, and create a visually simpler interface. When using a new app, people feel overwhelmed and negatively faced with complexity.
Aligning the Approach
Following competitor test analysis, a persona and storyboard were created to understand how new users might engage with the Pop Charge power bank rental service.
03.
Ideation
Keep them coming back
Competitor A’s app demonstrated a key weakness - a lack of efficiency. When considering the situation, a new user needs to be able locate a nearby power bank kiosk, and effortlessly check out.
We pinpointed important weak areas as growth opportunities.
Wireframing
Converging on key aspects of the Pop Charge app through low to mid fidelity wireframes clarified what needed to be prioritized to achieve our goals.
Home Screen provides a map view of user’s location.
Using Google Maps API, users can quickly and easily orient themselves and move towards the nearest kiosk.
While the user is using the Pop Charge battery, the app provides a progress report and shows live rental cost (dependent on time used)
Rental history displays time of rental, amount charged, and payment method used.
Synthesizing insights gathered from low and mid fidelity testing, we designed the high fidelity version of the Pop Charge app.
Onboarding
Simple, easy and quick. Pop Charge includes a quickly learned, onboarding process that users can skip if needed.
Direction
The Home screen displays a familiar map view along with users’ current location, so that they can orient themselves and know where they’re headed - to the nearest Pop Charge kiosk.
Checkout
The Pop Charge app makes it easy and safe for users to enter their payment information. The app partners with Stripe, a widely used payment processing service.
Validation through Testing
The Pop Charge iOS app was tested on the local population, achieving impact through quantifiable results such as increased checkout rate as well as a positive experience.
“This is a really great concept - I always forget to bring a charger with me to work.”
“It’d be cool to see how I’m saving e-waste through statistics while I’m using the app.”
“What about a subscription? Could it be more cost-effective than repurchasing power banks?”
Thoughts
Every user represents their own ecosystem, a hub of input and output through their phones. In order to support this, power bank sharing services like Pop Charge strengthen ecosystems by integrating into them.
Furthermore, with increased user retention and usage - small businesses, commuter hubs, and tourist venues can lease the Pop Charge power bank kiosks and create more customer - brand relationships through advertising.
