Internship @ Electrify America
ROLE
Product Owner Intern
TEAM
Charge Point Operator Product Team
Pictured below: previews of my designs of the developer portal, transaction portal, and account management portal
Overview
Problem
Design Process
Results
Electrify America (EA) is a subsidiary company of Volkswagen Group of America that is aiming to build the largest network of electric vehicle DC fast charging stations in the United States. The responsibilities of the Charge Point Operator (CPO) Product Team at Electrify America encompass the strategic deployment and expansion of charging infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance and reliability through meticulous operation and maintenance. The team is committed to providing a seamless and user-friendly experience for EV drivers, backed by intuitive interfaces and prompt customer support. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and data analytics, the CPO Product team continually optimizes EA’s network and integrate innovative solutions and aims to make EV charging convenient, efficient, and accessible, paving the way for a cleaner, greener transportation future.
Prior to the creation of the developer portal and redesign of the account management and transaction portals, there were some issues across EA’s digital platforms. The transaction and account management portals were outdated and lacked responsive design, leading to user frustration, increased support requests, and limited self-service functionality. Additionally, due to the lack of a centralized developer portal, it was difficult for external developers and partners to discover, access, and integrate with EA’s APIs and tools. This absence hindered adoption, slowed integration timelines, and limited the company’s ability to scale its developer environment. These gaps highlighted the need for a modernized user experience and a dedicated developer platform to support growth and engagement.
The project began with a detailed discovery phase, including extensive research on well-designed portals and stakeholder interviews to align on business goals, user needs, and desired features across the developer portal and the transaction and account management portals. This was followed by an in-depth competitive analysis to identify usability gaps, technical limitations, and opportunities for innovation.
Using these insights, I created low-fidelity wireframes to explore structural improvements and gather feedback on user flows and functionality. For the new developer portal, the focus was on intuitive navigation, scalable architecture, and clear API documentation. For the transaction and account portals, improvements centered around simplifying workflows and improving self-service usability.
After multiple iterations, I developed high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes, integrating branding, accessible design patterns, and optimized mobile experiences. Once the designs were approved, I handed them off to the development team, collaborating with them to ensure smooth implementation.
Through focused research, I designed and delivered portals at a level of high quality that addressed the targeted problem areas to improve Electrify America’s overall digital ecosystem.
The launch of the developer portal led to a 60% reduction in onboarding time by centralizing access to APIs, SDKs, and a software sandbox, significantly improving the developer experience and external engagement. The redesign of the transaction and account management portals boosted employee productivity by 45% and reduced user-reported issues within just 2–3 weeks of implementation, thanks to a more intuitive interface and streamlined workflows.
In addition to design, I rigorously worked on refining the product backlog in Jira—through careful review, ranking, and editing of tickets—the Charge Point Operator Product team saw a 50% increase in sprint completion rates and a 35% drop in unresolved tickets. I also conducted comprehensive competitive analysis on queuing behavior at charging stations that informed future UX improvements, enhancing the charging experience for over 10 million customer sessions annually.
THIS WORK IS UNDER NDA.
Please contact me if you’d like to view my internship projects in detail or learn more about my experience at Electrify America.
TIMELINE
June 2024 - August 2024
TOOLS
Figma, Jira