How can we communicate to the user that their investment in a solar-powered vehicle is working? As a central digital touchpoint, the In-Vehicle-Infotainment (IVI) is one of the few ways we can restate the value of owning a solar powered car, and that it's making a difference.

With the Cell Status screen of the Solar Charging app, the challenge was two-fold: to display the array of solar cells, and to have a way to check cell status for issues, shade or bird poop.

By this stage, we had established through user and market research that an effective way to present complex data was in the style of a 'health app', that is to say, with few variables relationships per screen, and with simple yet powerful graphics that users can understand intutively.

Based on these insights, we set out to explore options as wireframes, where we tried to balance two feelings "Wow, this is high tech stuff" and "I get it, it's working!" To that end, we used a soft yellow hue that varies in transparency based on the solar input per cell. Three wireframe options were explored and tested with users: All Solar Cells, Gradient, and Sections.

To get some quick answers, we added the images to the mock-up vehicle we had in the production floor and invited the whole company to sit in it. Although not everyone, did we got some answers, with most users prefering the medium-weight technical aspect of the section view. This also made the customer support team happy as identifying issues per section makes maintenance easier.