Gas Purchasing with Alexa

Amazon Pay and Alexa

 

Alexa Pay for Gas demo video

The Challenge

When Amazon’s Echo Auto device originally launched feedback was mixed due to the limited device capabilities. Alexa Auto and Amazon Pay teamed up to bring a new on the go use case to customers and demonstrate the potential of Alexa in the car.

My Role

I led research and design for the complete Pay for Gas experience as a solo designer. My responsibilities included crafting the voice experience, Alexa app updates, web marketing assets, and conducting user research in the field. Throughout the project I worked to ensure the experience met both Exxon and Amazon teams’ design requirements.

 

A high level flow of the end user’s gas purchasing experience.

 

Process

Sample pages of the feedback guide I created for beta testers. This testing proved the user experience met our launch criteria.

Pay for Gas I was the first in car payment experience on Alexa. This was an unexplored area and there were four key challenges I overcome to figure it out:

Insights. This was a new use case for Alexa and I needed insights to determine product requirements and viability. What could Alexa offer that made it the go to for purchasing gas? I empowered my team by conducting user research including a survey, user interviews, prototype testing at stations, and beta feedback.

Security. Customers are already concerned about safety due to card skimming, strangers, and possible collisions. To build confidence that Alexa was more secure I had to create a trustworthy experience from identifying the customer’s location to processing their payment.

Efficient. Customers getting gas are in a rush and have no patience for slow experiences. The voice experience had to be concise while meeting all legal, business, and security requirements.

Collaboration. This project was a partnership between Amazon Pay, Alexa Auto, Exxon Mobil, and Fiserv (Exxon’s payment service provider). To launch I had to accommodate technical requirements and design requests from all stakeholders.

 

As the solo designer on this project I was responsible for end to end customer experience including conversational design, Alexa app assets, web, email banners, and more.

Mobile app design of user experience to link a gas rewards account to Alexa to earn and redeem points.

 

Outcome

Pay for Gas launched at over 11,500 Exxon and Mobil stations and has a very loyal customer base. The experience continues to grow, especially with women and parents who have unique concerns around safety and distractions when getting gas.

“There is no fumbling for my wallet outside—it feels safer. And it does it all for you"


”As a woman who hates having to put gas in my car, this process makes me feel safer since I don't have to stand at the pump with a credit card.”