Woohee





Clean Energy Hour

My RoleStrategy, copywriting, UX design

Team
Jaeyeon Hwang / Art Director
Uijin Yang / UI Designer
Myeongyun Hong / 3D Designer
Duration2 months

Recognition
Cannes Future Lions As a Cannes Future Lions brief, Volvo challenged us to find a new and innovative solutions to prove the brand as pioneer of the protection of people and planet.

Clean Energy Hour is a digital platform where drivers can charge their EVs with renewable energy based on time instead of fossil fuels.





Overview

Problem

In 2023, global electric vehicle (EV) sales increased 35% from 2022, reaching nearly 14 million new cars. This brought the total number of electric cars on the road to 40 million.

Yet, most of the drivers are unaware of the actual impact of EVs - people still use fossil fuels to charge EVs.



Outcome

A navigation system that notifies drivers of charging station and time where they can use the renewable energy instead of fossil fuel.

Main ideas include:
  • Navigation system alerting users to charging stations with the highest availability of renewable energy at a given time
  • Out-of-home billboard informing people of cleanest energy hour



Final Design







Research

Market Analysis

According to ACEA, electronic vehicles including hybrid and plug-in hybrid took up 44.1% of new cars in 2022.

In fact, a record 1.2 million EVs were sold in the U.S. in 2023, which led to the 7.6% EV share of the total U.S. vehicle market.





User Research

Secondary research was conducted to understand the current status of EV market and drivers’ motivation of purchasing EVs. I have found:

  • The main motivation for people to buy an electric car is because they help the environment (YouGov, 2020). 
  • Over 57% respondents of Plugin America indicated it is “very important” or “vital” that the electricity used to power EVs comes from renewable energy source.




Problem Identification

While the main motivation for people to buy an EV is to help the environment, users are unaware of where the most of electricity comes from - fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. It means there is still emission involved, which reduces the potential impact users can create.





Design Process

Ideation

However, EVs can be charged using power from renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, hydro, and tidal.

We found out some electricity suppliers offer less expensive and more sustainable electricity at specific times of the day. Cleaner time is different based on the location since each state generates electricity with different renewable energy.





User Journey Map

Without requiring drivers to take an extra step to participate in Clean Energy Hour, we added a simple suggestion step when they make charging decisions - drivers get notified of available location and time for renewable energy charging.



Usability Testing

We tested whether Clean Energy Hour seamlessly integrates into the existing Volvo user journey, ensuring that it does not disrupt but rather enhances user interaction.

Method
  • 5 users who own Volvo cars
  • 2 weeks of usability testing

Key Results and Findings
  • 92% Task Completion Rate -> Users navigated Clean Energy Hour without major friction
  • 8.5 seconds Time-on-Task on Average -> Consistent with existing Volvo interactions
  • Low Cognitive Load -> Users instinctively understood the flow, reinforcind that the design aligns with Volvo’s ecosystem




Iteration

Based on feedbacks from participants of usability testing, I have iterated wireframes and developed them into high-fidelity wireframes.

Design decision made through usability testing:
  • Maximize the size of button
  • Suggest multiple charging stations instead of one
  • Update users with energy savings on Volvo app






Solution

Key Idea 1


Clean Energy Hour Navigation
Find nearby charging stations with renewable energy with one click. Check out energy savings on Volvo app.








Key Idea 2


Care by Volvo Promotion
Subscribe with special plan to Care by Volvo, a car subscription service probided by Volvo. Get encouraged to use the Clean Energy Hour navigation system.




Key Idea 3


Out-of-Home Billboard Billboards suggest the clean energy hour based on the location.





Outcome

Results

Fortunately, this project won the Cannes Future Lions!




Key Takeaways

While this project is based on a digital campaign, it had taught me a lot about building a better user experience:

  • Stay with users’ mental model, do not try to change their behavior entirely.
  • I experienced unfamiliar device UI - navigation tablet. Especially for a driver, it was crucial to design minimal and intuitive to ensure the user safety.

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