ivygo
User experience research commissioned by ivygo, an electric vehicle (EV) charger booking platform, into the motivations, triggers, barriers and perceived risks for small business owners considering installing an EV charger for customer use.
Project overview
About ivygo
ivygo is an online electric vehicle (EV) charger sharing platform with the aim of connecting EV drivers seeking nearby chargers with home and business owners seeking to earn a passive income from their charger.
Project description
The client is striving to grow the network of hosts on the platform but lacks insight into the motivations and barriers of small business owners considering installing an EV charger at their business.
I was tasked with applying UX research methodology to identify what small business owners are thinking and feeling about EV charger installation so that ivygo can refine their outreach and onboarding strategies while building trust and support, and scaling up faster.
Project outcomes and results
I conducted mixed-method research to uncover key barriers and motivations for EV charger adoption among small businesses. Synthesised findings through affinity mapping to identify patterns, revealing a critical gap between perceived financial risk and demand.
I translated insights into personas, data visualisations, and actionable recommendations that equipped stakeholders with a clearer understanding of user needs and informed strategic decisions around product positioning and experience design.
The client’s response: “I love it! I really, really love it! I can’t wait to explore the decision path, that will be so helpful. I’m very excited!”
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
DONE WITH
Harness Projects in partnership with RSPCA Australia
From research planning to insight generation.
For this project I followed a five-step design thinking process.
In the research phase, this involved interviewing the stakeholder to understand the client goals and target audiences, conducting heuristic and competitor analysis, defining the goals and problems and creating user personas and scenarios.
The design phase started with sketching early concepts, developing low and high-fidelity wireframes, creating the prototype, conducting usability tests and applying the insights to iterations of the design and obtaining stakeholder feedback.
The process
Plan, recruit and develop
After conducting the stakeholder interview and defining the goals, I decided to use surveys to collect both quantitative and qualitative data and semi-structured interviews to explore the themes more deeply, gaining insight into the ‘why’ behind views, motivations and concerns.
Interview script
Curated sample of interview questions:
How much do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Offering EV charging will be an essential service for regional businesses in the next 3 years’?
Before today, how much did you think it costs (total) to buy and install a commercial EV charger?
What factors would influence your decision to get an EV charger?
What concerns would most likely prevent you from installing an EV charger?
How familiar are you with government incentives or rebates for EV charger installation?
Would grants, rebates, or subsidies influence your decision?
If EV chargers were free to install, would you want one? Why or why not?
Survey design
Survey questions were a combination of multiple choice and Likert scale questions including:
How important is sustainability to your business?
1= Very Important 5= Not at all important
How much do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Offering EV charging will be an essential service for regional businesses in the next 3 years’
1= Strongly agree 5= Strongly disagree
What factors would influence your decision to get an EV charger for your business? (Select all that apply)
- Generating additional revenue from charging fee
- Meeting customer demand or expectations
- Improving sustainability or brand image
- Attracting new customers
- Encouraging customers to stay longer
- Staying competitive with nearby businesses
- Nothing
Collect data
Data was collected via 5 remote and in-person semi-structured 30 minute interviews, and 24 surveys using Lyssna, an online market research platform.
Participants were screened to target people who:
a) are the owner or decision maker of a small or medium business in Australia
b) host customers for an hour or more
c) do not already have an EV charger installed, and
d) have onsite customer parking available for multiple cars.
Synthesise data—Affinity mapping
Affinity mapping was used to cluster qualitative interview data into structured themes and patterns.
Indicative, non-exhaustive examples below.
Solutions addressing key user needs
Rename and merge Knowledgebase with the main site
Knowledgebase is blended with main RSPCA site and renamed to “Ask and Discover”. Adoption and pet care advice is incorporated here to reduce cognitive load, streamline the journey, and improve information architecture.
Integrate an AI Answer Engine
To improve findability and engagement, I introduced an AI-assisted search tool that returns personalised, context-aware answers from the database of articles.
Revise content to meet the audience’s needs
Most users are pet owners seeking advice, so I advised a shift in content type away from academic-style articles about non-domestic animals to accessible, engaging content that provides genuine value to the target audience.
Usability testing
Upon creating the optimized workflow, I needed to validate the assumptions. This involved low-fidelity in-person usability testing focused on findability of adoption and pet care information and navigating around the site to/from specific areas.
Varied understanding about initial cost of purchase and installation
4 out of 5 confirmed that government grants and subsidies could be a trigger
4 out of 5 of the interview participants cite cost as biggest concern
4 out of 5 stated they would need to see a return on investment
Synthesise data—User personas
I developed two user personas to transform the data into relatable characters in order to foster empathy, clarify the needs of the two main user groups (city and regional), help guide product and feature prioritisation, improve messaging and reduce risky assumptions.
Solutions addressing key user needs
Rename and merge Knowledgebase with the main site
Knowledgebase is blended with main RSPCA site and renamed to “Ask and Discover”. Adoption and pet care advice is incorporated here to reduce cognitive load, streamline the journey, and improve information architecture.
Integrate an AI Answer Engine
To improve findability and engagement, I introduced an AI-assisted search tool that returns personalised, context-aware answers from the database of articles.
Revise content to meet the audience’s needs
Most users are pet owners seeking advice, so I advised a shift in content type away from academic-style articles about non-domestic animals to accessible, engaging content that provides genuine value to the target audience.
Usability testing
Upon creating the optimized workflow, I needed to validate the assumptions. This involved low-fidelity in-person usability testing focused on findability of adoption and pet care information and navigating around the site to/from specific areas.
Actionable recommendations based on user insights
Solutions addressing key user needs
Rename and merge Knowledgebase with the main site
Knowledgebase is blended with main RSPCA site and renamed to “Ask and Discover”. Adoption and pet care advice is incorporated here to reduce cognitive load, streamline the journey, and improve information architecture.
Integrate an AI Answer Engine
To improve findability and engagement, I introduced an AI-assisted search tool that returns personalised, context-aware answers from the database of articles.
Revise content to meet the audience’s needs
Most users are pet owners seeking advice, so I advised a shift in content type away from academic-style articles about non-domestic animals to accessible, engaging content that provides genuine value to the target audience.
Usability testing
Upon creating the optimized workflow, I needed to validate the assumptions. This involved low-fidelity in-person usability testing focused on findability of adoption and pet care information and navigating around the site to/from specific areas.
Recommendation 1.
Hire a Business Development Manager and enlist a recruiter to source a larger set of research participants. Increasing the number and diversity of research participants in future studies would strengthen the validity of insights and ensure findings are representative across a broader user base.
Design solutions informed by user insights
Following low-fidelity usability testing, I translated user insights into high-fidelity designs that reduce overwhelm, improve engagement, and guide users to key pet care and adoption content.
I also enhanced wayfinding and discoverability through layered search features, including breadcrumbs, topic tags, metadata, and AI-driven prompts and recommendations based on content and user behaviour.
Usability testing insights/next steps
Testing using the prototype showed confusion between the ‘Scout’ (AI) and generic search method in the top navigation. Also, the category search function frustrated users as it requires interpretation of icons and a growing sub-category sets, adding to cognitive load.
Next steps would respond to these insights.
Design solutions informed by user insights
Following low-fidelity usability testing, I translated user insights into high-fidelity designs that reduce overwhelm, improve engagement, and guide users to key pet care and adoption content.
I also enhanced wayfinding and discoverability through layered search features, including breadcrumbs, topic tags, metadata, and AI-driven prompts and recommendations based on content and user behaviour.
Walkthrough of flows addressing key user experience problems.
Usability testing insights/next steps
Testing using the prototype showed confusion between the ‘Scout’ (AI) and generic search method in the top navigation. Also, the category search function frustrated users as it requires interpretation of icons and a growing sub-category sets, adding to cognitive load.
Next steps would respond to these insights.
Reflection
This project highlighted the importance of engaging decision-makers early and continuously. While I worked closely with the available stakeholder and delivered a research-backed solution, the key decision-makers, who were more resistant to change, were not directly involved, which limited buy-in and implementation.
In future projects, I would prioritise identifying and involving decision-makers earlier, or creating clearer pathways (e.g. tailored artifacts, async updates) to ensure alignment beyond the immediate stakeholder and increase the likelihood of adoption.