Sabrina Staniewska
Case Study Volta
Charging, without the guesswork.
Role
Researcher & Designer
What
Mobile App design
Team
Solo
Sector
Transport
Strategic Impact
Volta reframes Swiss public EV charging around trust, not just coverage.
About the Volta project
A solo, end-to-end UX/UI project — research, concept, interface design, prototyping, and brand identity — completed during the UX/UI Summer Camp at FHNW (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz), Basel.
Research into the Swiss charging market surfaced a problem most competitors don't solve: drivers don't just need more chargers listed, they need to believe a charger will actually work, cost what it says, and not require a third app. I owned the project end to end — market research, persona and problem definition, value proposition, product scope, full screen design in Figma, and the brand identity — as a solo project.
Context
Public EV charging in Switzerland is fragmented, and drivers can't fully trust it. Most Swiss residents rent their homes, so a private wallbox isn't a decision they can make alone — it needs landlord buy-in first, and often isn't possible at all. That pushes a large share of EV drivers onto public charging by default.
No single operator covers the country, so drivers typically run two to three apps (evpass, Swisscharge, MOVE, GOFAST, Green Motion, Ionity) to feel covered. And an "available" label on a map isn't the same as a charger that actually works.
Existing apps like Chargemap, Z-Volt, and TCS eCharge solve for coverage, not for trust or price clarity. Meanwhile the market is consolidating: utilities are vertically integrating into charging networks, and Shell's 2025 acquisition of evpass signalled that consolidation is accelerating — without yet solving the fragmentation drivers feel.
The Primary Challenge
How might we help EV drivers in Switzerland find, trust, and use public charging stations — without needing multiple apps or crossing their fingers that it'll actually work?
Research:
The Numbers Behind the Problem
~14,000
Public charging points in Switzerland (Q1 2026)
~85%
Charging sessions succeed on the first try — 1 in 7 don't
2x
Price difference for the same 50 kWh charge (CHF 23–46)
76%
Roaming surcharge when paying on another network
Value Proposition
Volta is the one app Swiss EV drivers need to find, trust, pay for, and track their charging.
Brand
Personas
Nina Herzog, 34
Marketing Manager, Basel
VW ID.3
Context
Rents her apartment, no home charger by circumstance, not choice; depends entirely on public charging on weekday evenings and weekends.
Pain Points
Has arrived at a station to find it occupied or broken more than once, juggles three apps because no single operator covers her area, and has been caught out by how differently the same charge is priced across networks.
Needs
Clear plug-type filtering, a real confidence signal instead of a bare "available" label, and one consistent view of price.
Marco Bühler, 52
Sales Representative , Basel
Škoda Enyaq
Context
Drives frequently between cities. An experienced EV driver who still finds cross-network trip planning stressful, since no operator covers the whole country.
Pain Points
Cross-network trip planning remains stressful despite experience.
Needs
Fast-charger-first filtering along his route, a one-tap start using a saved vehicle and payment profile, automatic spend tracking for expense reporting, and notifications rather than having to babysit the app between meetings.
Chosen screens
00:10:30 min
How much time do you have for charging?
35%
35%
Your Car
Tesla Model 3
Nearest
Cheapest
Kunstmuseum
4.7
Tesla Supercharger
4 min, 2.9 km
250 kWh
from 23.40 CHF
Basel Theater
4.5
IWB
5 min, 3.5 km
150 kWh
from 26.32 CHF
Wettstein
4.4
IONITY, with membership
15 min, 3.8 km
250 kWh
from 31.67 CHF
Customiser
Your Car
Tesla Model 3
Wettstein
4.7
IONITY
15 min, 3.8 km
Apply my IONITY subscription
Best Charging
Alternatives at the station
Plug
TYPE 2 AC
Max Power
150 kW
Finish time
14:32
Duration
+3 min
Total Amount
15.49 CHF
Navigate me
Charging costs
The Volta app
Designed against nine real failure states — denied location, incompatible plug types, stale pricing data — before a single high-fidelity screen was built.
Takeaways
Volta shows end-to-end ownership — research, concept, UI design, and brand identity built solo on a compressed timeline. Every stat and problem statement traces directly to a persona need or a value-proposition reframe, and two distinct personas shaped genuinely different feature priorities within one coherent scope, not just a longer feature list. The result is advanced Figma craft — variables, component variants, smart-animate prototyping — used in service of a product decision, not as a technique showcase
