Volta Search

We aim to make it easier for our users to discover Volta stations and empower them to find a charge in a way that fits their unique personal needs. Robust and supportive search features should improve the discoverability of stations – stations that are not just available, but meet a driver’s specific requirements for cost, convenience, plug type & nearby amenities.

Problem Space
Today users can access the search feature by tapping the Search Bar on the bottom of the Map screen, which becomes inaccessible once a Map Pin is clicked. This requires unnecessary interaction from the user to access the Search feature during their Map browsing experience, and has been noted in past user research sessions to be unfavorable to our users.
With the 5.19 upgrade to React Native - and upcoming features, such as Favorite Sites and Filter By - the Search function needs to be more robust and inclusive of entry points to use these new features. This will be increasingly important as our app user base scales.
Search Enhancements v1.0 should enable the Volta mobile team to safely implement these new features, and to provide users with the ability to use Search for a station seamlessly. This relates to Search Enhancements v2.0 which identifies longer term improvements to UI/UX.

Goals
Maximize user’s discoverability of charging stations based
on personal criteria.
Minimize time required to find a station.
Enable users to search from any view of the Map screen
Clarify search result categories (i.e., Favorites, Suggested, Near Me - longer term)
Provide more real-estate for Search Results
Provide space for Filter By (coming soon feature)
Key Performance Metrics
Most popular search terms (by state or network-wide)
Most popular site partners from user searches
% of users who successfully visited a charger after a search
Most popular search terms (by state or network-wide)
If users search a city, zip code, site partner, for example, then Search Enhancements 2.0 might prioritize those categories
% of users who successfully visited a charger after a search
% of searches that are cancelled
Indicates whether a user found what they were looking for
# of users who favorite a site after they search for it (after implementing Favorite Sites or Filter By)
Problem Space
No way to search for charging stations near my destinations
No way to search for charging stations that fit my criteria (ie: Open Now, Chademo available)
Current search experience requires that I know the name of my desired charging site
P0 - Search bar is not always accessible on the map screen
The relevance of search results is unclear.
Example of a frustrating search experience is looking for the shopping mall at South Norwalk, CT (Brookfield’s SoNo Collection), which was Volta’s debut of v4 charging stations.
User Flow
Deliverables
As a user, I only see search results that match my search query by title.
As a user, I can search for a place and view it on the Map.
As a user, I am offered suggested search terms as I type.
As a user, I can view a list of search results.
As a user, I can see how many chargers are available near a place.
As a user, I can see my Recent searches.
As a user, I can filter my search results by Available Now, Open At, DC Fast, or L2.
As a user, I can search for a location (city, zip code, neighborhood)
As a user, I can see Volta stations within a mapped location.
As a user, I can view details about a place.
As a user, I can view chargers nearby a place.
Implementation Details
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