Problem
BEV and PHEV drivers do not evaluate charging stations based on proximity alone. They need to know if a station is compatible, operational, available, and affordable before committing to a stop.
While PlugShare already had many of the signals drivers relied on, those signals competed for attention. PlugScore, charger status, compatibility, pricing, check-ins, ads, reviews, and station details all affected the decision, but the page hierarchy was cluttered.
In particular, the Location Detail View (LDV) buried core signals under visual noise, ad placements that competed with station details, and pricing information that was difficult to parse quickly. There was also no clear mobile entry point for the new native transaction system, Pay with PlugShare, or for fast check-ins.
Constraints
The work happened during a short three-month engagement and broader modernization effort. As PlugShare’s first dedicated designer, I was not only redesigning screens, but also helping establish the product and visual direction for where the mobile experience could go next.
The project sat across two parallel tracks: one supporting the existing app and Swift migration, and the other exploring my future-state concept for a more modern PlugShare experience. That concept extended beyond app layout alone. It also raised questions around hierarchy, visual language, iconography, interaction patterns, and how a future brand refresh could make the product feel more current and confidence-driven.
PlugShare did not publicly launch this as an official “2.0” product. This concept represented the broader direction I was shaping before the engagement ended: a cleaner, more reliable, and more modern station experience that could evolve beyond incremental updates while staying grounded in what could realistically ship.
We had to balance utility, monetization, community contribution loops, and EV-specific technical details across both tracks:
- Swift Migration: Near-term screens had to be highly feasible and shippable within the engineering team’s legacy codebase migration and timeline.
- Monetization: Ad support was a major business constraint. Ads had to remain present and visible without blocking critical charging workflows.
- Data Loops: PlugScore depends heavily on crowdsourced check-ins, so check-in friction directly affects the quality of station trust signals.
- Visual Direction: As the first designer, I had to create patterns that could improve the current product while also pointing toward a more cohesive future experience.
Product Direction & Decisions
The immediate priority was supporting the app’s migration to Swift and maintaining compatibility with newer iOS versions. The PM and I agreed to focus on transitional screens first, and I designed around that near-term need. Alongside the migration work, I proposed extending the visual refresh beyond individual screens to explore a more cohesive identity for the app and brand.
Working with the PM, I translated parts of that broader direction into changes the team could adopt within the existing product. One recommendation was to replace highly detailed technical plug drawings with a consistent connector-icon system. This connected the immediate modernization work to a clearer visual language, while keeping the proposed brand refresh distinct from the mobile designs moving into production.
- Design around station confidence, not proximity.
Drivers were not just looking for the nearest charger. They needed to quickly judge whether a location had available stations, showed clear pricing, reflected recent community activity, and felt reliable enough before committing to the stop. - Turn dense station data into clearer evaluation zones.
The LDV had to support multiple charging networks, pricing models, plug types, reviews, and live status without becoming one long technical page. The product direction shifted toward clearer information areas that matched how drivers evaluate a stop. - Make technical EV details easier to scan on mobile.
Connector types, charger speed, restrictions, and availability had to be legible in high-density contexts like filters and station detail pages. The goal was to make technical information recognizable without making the interface feel like a spec sheet. - Protect the decision flow while supporting business needs.
Payment, pricing, check-ins, ads, and reviews all mattered, but they could not compete equally for attention. The hierarchy needed to keep high-intent driver actions close to the decision point while giving monetization and secondary content a more appropriate place. - Use modernization as a bridge toward a stronger product identity.
Because the work was not limited to isolated screens, I approached the redesign as a foundation for a more cohesive PlugShare experience. The goal was to create reusable patterns, clearer iconography, and a more contemporary mobile language that could support a future brand refresh without forcing a premature rebrand.
Solution
The solution focused on the moments where drivers move from browsing chargers to choosing one. I redesigned the discovery and station detail experience so key signals like compatibility, availability, pricing, trust, and payment actions were easier to find and act on:
- Network-Adaptive Detail Tabs:
Restructured the LDV around Details, Station, Pricing, and Reviews, giving drivers a clearer way to move through core station information without digging through one long, overloaded page. - Modernized Map Filters:
Reworked the filter experience with clearer grouping, toggle-based controls, and more scannable options for charger type, power, amenities, pricing, and station attributes. - Unified Connector Icon System:
Replaced detailed legacy plug illustrations with simplified outline icons for connector types like CCS/SAE, CHAdeMO, J-1772, and wall outlets. The goal was faster recognition in dense mobile filter menus. - Hero Header & Alert Banners:
Created a stronger station summary with photo context, prominent PlugScore treatment, and warnings for broken or unavailable hardware. - Live Plug Occupancy Modules:
Designed plug modules that paired connector type, power output, and live availability counts so drivers could quickly understand what was usable. - Pricing, Payment & Check-In Entry Points:
Made pricing, Pay with PlugShare, and status-reporting actions easier to find within the mobile flow, especially for drivers already evaluating or arriving at a station. - Community Check-ins & Photo Gallery:
Improved the check-in feed and media gallery so drivers could validate station quality through recent community activity, photos, and charging outcomes. - Visual System Foundation:
Began shaping a more cohesive product language through reusable mobile patterns, simplified iconography, clearer hierarchy, and more consistent visual treatment across key driver workflows. This gave the modernization effort a stronger foundation than one-off screen improvements.
Impact
My redesigns for the home screen, station detail pages, filters, settings, and connector icons were adopted and shipped. The broader brand refresh remained a proposed direction, separate from those production updates.
In parallel, the redesign exploration helped define my proposed future-state direction for the PlugShare experience: a cleaner, more confidence-driven station flow centered on compatibility, availability, pricing, trust, faster driver actions, and a more modern visual language.
No post-launch quantitative metrics were provided. The primary outcome was translating existing user research and business goals into shippable mobile components while also establishing a stronger product and visual direction for where PlugShare could go next.
Reflection
This was a compact but high-leverage design contribution inside a larger modernization effort. As PlugShare’s first dedicated designer, the value was not just producing screens quickly, but helping clarify how the product could evolve across UX, hierarchy, iconography, interaction patterns, and visual direction.
If I had more time, I would have run usability testing on the redesigned pricing card to measure driver comprehension, monitored whether the sticky bottom check-in entry point increased check-in participation, and explored how the future-state visual direction could extend into a broader brand refresh.
