Context

Astara Connect is a platform for linking connected vehicles (hardware or OEM Cloud) with mobility services (EV chargers, parking, etc.). It facilitates the management and understanding of data for drivers, fleet managers, or companies in real time.

Where and when do you need to charge my EV? How was your fleet’s behavior? How can you automate my fleet alerts in my system? Based on the ingested data, the product was designed to answer these questions and many more, where We were previously normalized and simplified for their consumption via API or the Platform.

Experience

The process has driven us from starting at B4Motion in 2021 with an outcome focused on B2B clients to growing for B2B and B2B2C clients once it’s acquired by Astara (2022). Throughout 2023 and 2024, we adapted our operation to a large corporation and completed the redesign of the entire platform, considering the needs of the transition to a scalable product.

⬇ Astara Connect Platform after redesign.

The complex situation of the automotive sector worldwide, regulatory changes, and non-standardized data models created an ecosystem that required fast iterations and adaptation to underlying needs. This dynamic environment also fostered enriched cross-functional conversations, both internally and with external stakeholders, allowing for diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving to drive more effective and innovative solutions.

Outcomes

The experience gained at Astara Connect has provided me with invaluable experience and the path forward. By working directly with raw data, refining it, testing it to make observations and improvements, and then iterating. I have managed a complete process, allowing me to control the expected outcomes and be pleased with my work.

Handling large amounts of data, normalizing it, and designing developer-friendly API services has been an enriching process that has significantly contributed to my professional growth.

Responsibilities

• Research and Inspiration: regular follow-ups and customer conversations to gather insights, refine the experience of our customers.
• Product Evolution: Apply experience in developing and proposing enhancements to product features, UX, and design integrity through previous components visualization with StoryBook or Beta environments.
• Design Execution: Develop early-stage concepts, create wireframes and user flows for specific features, and maintain consistency with the existing design system.
• Engineering support: Provide specifications and guidance to engineering teams, including detailed expectations for API responses, data structures, and interactions.
• Product Collaboration & Communication: Work with product managers and business developers to shape roadmap features while ensuring design integration in cross-functional discussions.
• Product Ownership and Initiative: Led a feature from concept to launch by identifying user needs, creating tasks, and help prioritizing it in the roadmap.
• Leadership and Mentorship: Guided developers and team members by providing design direction, offering constructive feedback, and ensuring alignment across teams to achieve product goals.

Team

• Jorge Correa - CPO
• Juan Pablo López - Lead Product Manager
• Daniel Lombraña - CTO
• Enrique Esteban - Full Stack Developer
• Cristina de la Torre - Backend Developer
• Manuel Ralph Uhlig - Lead Data Scientist
• Tarek Al Shammas - Data Scientist
• Elena González Teijón - Marketing and Busines Development
• Eduardo Losada - Head of Business Development