2 week project | Spring 2024
Objective: redesign the process of pumping gas for a specific goal, in this case, to make stopping and pumping gas a relaxing break from driving.
Gas stations are very visually busy places, with unconnected systems both process wise and visually. This leaves the opportunity for refueling to be a break from the visual stimulation of driving unfulfilled.
Scenarios
Paying
Problem: Wade has been on a road trip for 6 hours, and his eyes are practically falling out of his head. He’s on a tight schedule but also needs a break. Getting gas has to fulfill both needs.
Journey: Wade pulls into the station and is met with a single display, no confusion on where to start or extra decisions. The display consistently uses a two topic layout all the way through the fueling process, so it’s easy to zoom through the screens.
Resolution: Wade was able to get gas without having to process any excess visual information. He can rest his eyes and stretch his legs in peace.
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Fueling
Problem: Wade consistently tries to choose his gas type before picking up the nozzle, leading to momentary frustration and confusion each time.
Journey: After paying, Wade sees that the selection buttons are on the nozzle, so he picks it up and presses one, which depresses and stays down to show which he chose. He puts the nozzle into the gas tank opening and pulls the locking lever, which was freed for movement after he chose a gas type.
Resolution: the physical placement of features intuitively encourages Wade to take the steps in the right order. It also prevents any awkward two hand confusion of holding the nozzle in the air while also choosing a gas type.
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Air Refill
Problem: Wade needs to top up the air in his tires after getting gas, but to do so would take a whole new transaction, navigating out of the usual traffic pattern for the gas station, and going out from under the roof into the weather.
Journey: Wade gets his gas and is then offered to prepay for air from the nearby pump. His fueling station indicates that the pump is just at the end of the row, right next to where he is fueling. He steps over to the pump, indicates that he just paid at fueling station 2 and is then free to take the extending tube and reach it back to his tires.
Resolution: the integration of air into the fueling process allows for Wade to get in and out more quickly without having to essentially start the process of a gas station visit over for a new task.
Microinteractions
The microinteractions focused on in this project (circled in purple on the user flow) are as follows:
Payment on a single screen (Payment journey)
Gas type selection buttons (Fueling journey)
Select pump functionality (Air pump journey)
Wireframes of the process for each microinteraction
Microinteractions Animated
