Who's in Charge of Charging Experience: Heuristic Evaluation Criteria for Addressing Design Issues in Electric Vehicle Charging

Abstract

As the population of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow, managing and enhancing the Electric Vehicle Charging Experience (eCX) has become an inevitable challenge. However, the research community has not given comprehensive attention to the eCX, often neglecting interactions between key components: EVs, chargers, and mobile apps. This research addresses the gap by identifying heuristic evaluation criteria to measure the problems of existing EV chargers for effective management. The charging process was analyzed hierarchically to establish criteria, and its relevance to previously established heuristics was evaluated. Domain experts then verified 27 criteria in 7 tasks, whether these can effectively identify issues affecting eCX through ratings and discussions. As a result of quantitative analysis of the ratings and qualitative examination of the discussions, formulated criteria can offer comprehensive and valuable insights spanning various eCX components and tasks. This research can guide designers in enhancing the eCX for current and prospective users.