Arrival - Connect Store
Date: September 2021 to December 2022 Company: Arrival Responsibilities: User experience strategy, design team management, design direction and product management.
1. Context
The “Arrival Connect Store” will showcase mobility applications built in-house and by 3rd party developers, which will enable fleet owners and vehicle users to connect, manage and interact with Arrival vehicles.
In parallel, the integration platform (“Connect App”) will enable 3rd party developers to develop, integrate and publish their own applications for Arrival vehicles.
2. Scope & process
When I joined the Connect Store team, we started by redefining the product strategy and vision in line with the overall business and brand strategy to offer the next generation of zero emissions mobility solutions powered by the latest IoT technology and digital services: “To enable seamless interaction with the Arrival ecosystem and vehicles to unleash the next generation of mobility and fleet management technology.”
We redefined the team structure and product architecture to align to united “app as a service” approach:
- the Arrival Connect Store: to showcase mobility and EV applications, like the Apple App Store or Google Play but for Arrival vehicles.
- the integration platform to be renamed “Connect app” being one application available on the App Store (rather than a stand alone service) enabling 3rd party developers to develop and publish application for Arrival vehicles.
We then reviewed and enhanced the customer journey maps based on 3 user types and their specific user needs:
- Fleet owner to learn about Arrival eco-system, App Store and Digital Subscriptions, activate mobility apps and invite developers to integrate their own.
- Partnership manager to find out about partnership opportunities and app integration, sign up and invite developers to join Connect App.
- Developer to read about API integration and related documentation, simulate & test software application integration and publish it on Connect Store.
This was summarised into a user experience strategy presentation that was shared and validated with senior management.
The product team worked on these 2 work streams to create a list of all key features with detailed user stories and technical information for development implementations.
All existing user journeys that had been designed and prototyped were redesigned and updated using the Arrival design system and tested with external users from different companies in collaboration with the user experience research team.
All feedback and insights were gathered and implemented into our design concept. Working closely with the product managers, development and design system team, these designs were prepared for development implementation for a first public release at the end of 2023.
3. Outcome
Our digital team designed a unique digital marketplace dedicated to mobility apps for Arrival vehicles, including an application enabling the integration, simulation and publication of new apps developed by 3rd party developers ready to be launched to the public.
This product is now scheduled to be released to the public early 2024 due to a new business strategy.
