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Excited to meet new people and connect about Product Design, UX Design, Design Systems, ethical design, community building, dance, or even quitting your job and traveling around the world.
San Francisco, California
+1 415 917 6828
Empower came to us to create the digital interface for a first-to-market solar home energy management system which automates home energy usage to provide added value for solar residences.
SEE FINAL DESIGNSThrough extensive research and iterative design sprints, we came up with a minimal viable product for the client to begin testing in field. I lead a team of eight designers through all phases of the project. My background in project management placed me in a unique position in helping us keeping us keep within a tight timeline.
In anticipation of the upcoming pitch to investors, our team was urged to move quickly from research through to hi-fi design handoff. As a first step, we collaborated with our client to design a research sprint including the following:
As the project developed, we strategized to focus on the main dashboard which would be the main source of data and actionable
In order to gather an accurate picture of user behavior and incentives driving energy consumption adjustments, we conducted customer discovery interviews with ten participants. We identified four reoccurring insights that would inform our design process.
Empower's sensors can collect a variety of environmental data. The data most relevant to the user's needs to display on the dashboard is:
In order to create a effective Minimum Viable Product for our client, we added a few constraints to reduce the scope:
After considering the insights gained from research and engineering constraints, we decided to design the product in a grided dashboard layout. Each feature represented as a card on the grid. After running through a series of iterations, we were able to clarify information conveyed on the dashboard and create a clear information architecture.
Using the results from our usability testing, we iterated on a high-fidelity mockup, keeping the pain points users experienced, brand guidelines, and the user behaviors from the personas at the forefront. We also built out the remainder of the application, the tools behind the main dashboard which included setting user preferences, creating/editing events, profile, default schedule, and notifications settings.
During the lo-fi design process, our team worked with the client to develop the brand identity for Empower. Empower's main brand characteristics were: MINIMALIST, ENVIRONMENTAL, and POWERFUL. These characteristics are what drove the overall look and feel of the interface.
Because we built the dashboard in cards, I was able to design a preliminary mobile version using the same components. Competitors like Nest and Ecobee had mobile apps that made temperature control and energy monitoring even easier with a smartphone, and this was a major factor in convenience for users.
Overall, the client was pleased with our designs. Weekly check-ins made it easier for the client to see what direction we were headed in and if anything needed to change. Having stakeholders contribute and review work weekly helped us efficiently create a powerful and simple interface for users to interact with, while staying consistent with the brand guidelines.
Empower plans to begin implementation towards the end of 2018, and will aim to roll out its solar energy management system to its first few US states by 2019.
Through working on this project, I learned that I am good at leading and allowing designers to own aspects of the design, while still creating coherency throughout the design. I also really enjoyed designing for a product that is based on data, even if the users didn't necessarily interact with it in that manner. This meant the information needed to be designed a visual yet simple way.
Lastly, I learned the importance of advocating for the user. There were several instances where the client wanted more and more information to be placed on the dashboard. Through user testing, the feedback we received was the information was overwhelming, so we had to help educate the client towards "less is more". This helped me to learn and grow significantly as a designer, and led to a great final product.
