Marie Chuatoco

Role: UI Designer & UX Researcher. My Open Road is a going green application in an effort to cut down on CO2 emissions. During the first year of conception, the two target users of this application were drivers and bus riders. I did a usability test by asking family, friends, colleagues to perform specific tasks for key scenarios. From signing up, connecting the device to the car’s blue tooth, making short and long trips, I was able to surface user motivations and behaviors by asking them to talk through what they saw and expected as they navigated through the experience. During this test, I also found out that we should not limit the app for drivers and bus riders only, but to include various modes of transportation which now makes this app exciting and beneficial to everyone.

The stakeholders implemented my recommendation based on the user test report. We added different “modes” of travel to identify when a user is driving a car, carpooling, commuting, traveling by rail, biking, or just walking. Each mode of travel is assigned a “Social Responsibility Score” based on its energy efficiency. The technology is unique in that it ties saving energy into a positive reinforcement rewards-based marketing system. I am honored that the app also made it as a finalist at 2016 CES in Las Vegas.

Role: UX/UI Designer & Application Developer. I am developing a connected car application on MOJIO (OBD 2) using their Open Platform SDK. The scope of my work includes Product Concept, App Flow & Specification, Functional Testing, Performance Testing. Manual Testing, Beta Testing. MY App is called "RoadSmart", it makes your time on the road smoother with real-time traffic information to get you where you need to be fast, finding parking as you get near your destination, checking vehicle’s fuel level, telling you where the closest gas station is, and in case of car trouble it will locate nearby roadside assistance available in your current location. Find parking spots as you get closer to your destination. Check your vehicle’s fuel level, locate the closest gas stations based on your current location, and real-time traffic to get you where you need to be fast. It also provides nearby Roadside Assistance based on your current location.

Role: Concept, UI and UX Designer of Where Did I Park. I started the project by writing a creative brief and technical specs, then I designed a user flow and low-fidelity sketches. The paper prototypes were helpful in the early visualization of alternative design solutions, which helps provoke innovation and improvement. When the concept is final, I designed a prototype screen mock-up and submitted it to the engineer for programming. After the completion of the minimum viable product, I did UAT or User acceptance testing by passing around the phone to my friends. I conducted an interview with each of them and applied Jakob Nielsen’s heuristics evaluation. The app got featured in MASHABLE as a "Top 5 Car Locating" application.