Redesigning SplitEV's MVP, an EV charging startup

Making onboarding, booking, dashboards, and vehicle management intuitive and ready for launch

Industry

Climate Tech

Skills

UI Design

Prototyping

Rapid Testing (RITE)

Product Strategy

Handoff

Team

Abi Odugbesan (Founder)

Carolyn Tung (UX Designer)

Rey Benoit (Fractional UX Manager)

Sean Pak (UX Researcher)

Engineering

Sean Pak (UX Researcher)

Engineering

Timeline

Dec 2024 - Present

MY ROLE

Context

SplitEV is a Techstars-backed startup making EV charging accessible by letting hosts generate income from private chargers and letting drivers book safe, reliable, and nearby chargers. As the company refined its business model and began preparing for real driver and host pilots, the founder brought me on as a fractional product design partner to establish the core product experience from the ground up.

IMPACT

Outcomes (Shipping 2026)

We transformed fragmented, confusing user flows into a clear, reliable experience for both drivers and hosts.

What we achieved:

We transformed fragmented, confusing user flows into a clear, reliable experience for both drivers and hosts.

What we achieved:

1. Fixed the core usability issues

2. Designed a clearer, more predictable experience

3. Set up SplitEV to retrofit new business model and community-based point system

1. Fixed the core usability issues

2. Designed a clearer, more predictable experience

3. Set up SplitEV to retrofit new business model and community-based point system

1. Fixed the core usability issues

2. Designed a clearer, more predictable experience

3. Set up SplitEV to retrofit new business model and community-based point system

PROBLEM

Early flows were incomplete and full of friction

✶

Drivers couldn’t reliably book chargers

✶

Hosts couldn’t understand earnings or charger status

✶

Key user flows were broken or circular

✶

Onboarding took too long and users dropped before they found value

"There’s a lot of info here so it’ll take a while for me to make a decision."

"Is the charger fit for my Tesla?"

"I’d like a validation process for a host and driver, like Airbnb or Uber.”

"I want to see how SplitEV compares to other charging stations like at the grocery store."

STRATEGY

Crafting a premium, industry standard experience for early users

Our goal was to unify the product into a coherent system that real users could test and that engineering could actually build. We used Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) to uncover friction early, iterate fast, and validate improvements. Over 12 months, through dozens of iterations, we rebuilt SplitEV’s core experience into a launch-ready MVP.

This case study covers how we transformed five critical flows: 1) Host/Driver Onboarding, 2) Booking & Navigation, 3) Host Dashboard, 4) Driver Dashboard, and 5) Vehicle Management.

FINAL DESIGN

Impact

Onboarding

Problem

Onboarding was 200% longer than the industry average and was predicted to lead to high drop-off rates.

Impact

✶

Defined role-specific onboarding flows

✶

Progressive disclosure reduced cognitive overload, decreasing time on task

✶

Completion rates increased meaningfully

✶

Users consistently reached activation on the first attempt

-58%

onboarding friction

24 -> 10 screens

119 -> 53 form elements

Booking & Navigation

Problem

This user flow was incomplete and failed to surface key information needed to select a fitting station.

"What kind of charger it is very important."

"I need to know how fast it charges."

Impact

By reducing friction in the Driver flow, we reinforced the high-retention charging loop that drives SplitEV’s subscription revenue.

Driver Dashboard

Problem

Drivers had no way to understand their charging behavior, plan usage, or savings. This led to uncertainty about the value of their subscription.

"I don't know if this is a good deal or not."

"I need to compare pricing online."

Impact

By giving Drivers a transparent, data-rich dashboard, we turned SplitEV’s subscription model into a visible value loop that keeps Drivers charging.

Vehicle Management

Problem

The original system mixed plan details, subscription details, and vehicle details into one confusing flow. Core actions like adding a vehicle, starting a charge, or checking health indicators were buried in decorative UI.

"I don’t know what’s included in my plan.”

“This looks cool, but I don’t know what to do from here.”

Impact

By simplifying the vehicle experience and clarifying plan logic, we turned a busy, decorative interface into a reliable control center Drivers can use with confidence.

Host Dashboard

Problem

Hosts had no way to see earnings, manage bookings, track station performance, or handle payouts. RITE testing showed confusion, distrust, and failed to meet user expectations.

"An Airbnb would have all the answers here.”

Impact

By transforming fragmented host tools into a unified, insight-driven dashboard, we gave hosts the operational clarity and financial confidence needed to successfully run their chargers on SplitEV.

Key Takeaways

Since we didn't have a product manager to think about long-term vision and scalability, it was important that I prioritize tasks for sprints rather than mindlessly accepting Phase 2+ backlog requests. I needed to think in terms of systems to envision how retrofitting new features would interact with the current infrastructure and cascade down in order to save time and development costs. This way, I was able to shape the direction of the MVP so that we would have a successful and sustainable launch.