Electrify America Queue Feature

How might a digital queue feature reduce friction, confusion, and anxiety at public EV charging stations?

Electrify America Queue Feature

The Problem

California is banning gas vehicle sales in 2035, but public charging infrastructure hasn't kept pace. At Electrify America (EA) stations, I found consistent frustrating patterns:

  • 😡 Drivers waited 1 to 4 hours with no system to manage the line and no way to step away without losing their place.

I had to scope carefully. Many problems were infrastructure-level and outside any designer's reach. My question became: what can I solve with design alone, working within the existing Electrify America app?

The Solution

I designed a digital queueing feature for the app, built to feel native to the existing interface.

This is what a user first sees when they arrive at an EA station, I added an icon.
This is what a user first sees when they arrive at an EA station, I added an icon.

This is a 2026 protoype in Figma Make

RoleUX designer and researcher
Timeline3 Week Sprint
Tech Stack
  • • Figma
  • • FigJam
  • • Figma Make (2026 revisit)
The TeamSolo (researcher and designer)

Testing results

32On site testers
80%increase in retention rate
0conflicts observed

Design Process & Strategy

1

On-site research and interviews

Field interviews EA v Tesla:

I audio-recorded interviews with 16 users over 2 days, split evenly between an EA station and a Tesla competitor station. I used a 20-question open-ended script focused on values, motivations, and daily routines.

Understand EA as a company & competitive analysis:

I reviewed EA's mission statement, Reddit forums, and the existing app to understand design decisions already in place, before proposing any changes.

2

Scoping and ideation

Physical vs. digital:

I evaluated two directions: a physical ticketing system on site and a digital in-app queue. A prioritization matrix in FigJam helped me assess each on impact and effort.

Inline image
Decision:

The digital queue was the clear choice. High impact, low effort, no hardware dependencies, and compatible with EA's existing geolocation infrastructure.

3

Wireframes, design & iconography

Custom iconography:

I designed queue icons for the mockup from scratch, matching EA's existing visual style and using an industry-standard icon type for lines and queues.

image of icons
Familiar design & flow:

Wireframe was designed to look and feel familiar to users of the app with slight color changes and placement to enhance accessibility.

My wireframe of the first queuing screen
My wireframe of the first queuing screen
original EA swipe to charge screen
EA's current swipe to charge screen
4

On-site usability testing

In person testing & user flow:

Rather than building a full Figma prototype first, I tested the user flow concept on site. I asked station users to role-play the queuing scenario, which let me validate critical edge cases, like leaving the queue for a bathroom break, before committing to screen design.

This is the user flow I role played with.
This is the user flow I role played with.
first step
Step 1-4: user arrives within 50 ft and can join queue
step 2 loader icon
Step 5: User sees loader screen while app puts them in line.
Step 5 -7
Step 5 -7 User sees place in line and waits for their turn to arrive. User may pause queue to take a bathroom break
Step 8
Step 8: User's turn arrives and user is prompted to plug into a charger to continue
User plugged in
Step 9: Now that the user is plugged in they can swipe to start charging.
Last step
Step 10: After another loading screen and charging is official started the user is automatically taken out of the queue.
Participants:

32 usability testing participants took part, including previous interviewees.

5

Results and next steps

Outcomes:

All 32 participants reported feeling less anxious and more satisfied.

  • Zero conflicts were observed during testing.
Lasting Community Impact:

Even after the study ended, users continued to spontaneously form a physical queue, confirming the underlying need.

Next steps:

Iterations would include accessibility review of text color and font size, geolocation integration in the queue screen, testing queue positioning within the broader user flow, and a full developer handoff.

*2026 update -> I made a prototype with figma make. (Not perfect)

See it in action

Figma Make Prototype