The Brief

A hot car,a slow fix

Why

In hot countries, getting into a car that has been sitting in the sun is a real pain: the air conditioning takes too long to bring the temperature down.

What

An app that lets the user control the temperature inside the car.

How

A convenient, quick way to set the car temperature from the phone, before the trip begins.

Process

From the ideato the prototype

Product UX UI proposal: mind map, persona, user journey, sketch frame, wireframes and high fidelity prototype
Mind Map

Everything the app had to do

I started by mapping the product around one core: the car's current temperature, the desired temperature, the progress between them and a forecast of when the car would be ready. Around it came connecting to the car, an hourly weather forecast, schedules for recurring trips and alerts.

Mind map: connect with your car, hourly weather forecast, core temperature controls, schedule list, add schedule and alerts
Persona
Portrait of Monica Bezerra, the persona

Monica Bezerra

Lawyer at a telecommunications company, 38

Goal
Reach the position of executive director at the company.
Challenge
Balancing work with two small children, the house, and her own body and health.
Media
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, news sites, and mother-and-baby blogs.
How we can help
Bringing the right temperature and comfort to her car journeys.
User Journey

Where the heat hurts

Following Monica through a full day showed when the app matters: every time she gets back into the car. Taking the kids to school, driving home for lunch ("Melting! There has to be a way not to go through this") and the drive back in the evening became the three moments for the app.

Monica's user journey across morning, afternoon and evening: activities, location, thoughts, feelings and opportunities for the app
Wireframes

The flow before the visuals

The wireframes laid out the first connection with the car, the schedule list and the main control screen, with the alerts that tell the user when the car is ready.

Wireframe flow: first-time connection, schedule list, temperature control and the car-ready state
High Fidelity

Two numbers,one action

The main screen puts the car's temperature next to the desired one, shows how far the transition has gone and how many minutes are left until the car is ready, with a single button to activate or turn it off. The schedules screen highlights the next trip and lets each one be switched on or off.

Control screen: car at 37°, desired 19°, 7 minutes to be ready, Activate button Control screen while cooling: 24° to 19°, 5 minutes left, Turn off button Control screen with the message: your car is ready Schedules screen: next schedule in 5h 12min and a list of trips with toggles
Activate, cooling, ready, and schedules.
Setup flow: connect your car, add a schedule and the schedule list
Connecting the car and adding a schedule.
Control and schedule screens with sky and city backgrounds
Visual explorations for the final screens.