BRAND
HABITAT
PROJECT
Designing a home energy assistant
SUMMARY
I helped lead the design for an energy assistant app for your home for iOS & Android
RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Design
Product Vision & Strategy Research
Prototyping
TIMELINE
2 Months
BRAND
HABITAT
PROJECT
Designing a home energy assistant
SUMMARY
I helped lead the design for an energy assistant app for your home for iOS & Android
RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Design
Product Vision & Strategy Research
Prototyping
TIMELINE
2 Months
BRAND
HABITAT
PROJECT
Designing a home energy assistant
SUMMARY
I helped lead the design for an energy assistant app for your home for iOS & Android
RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Design
Product Vision & Strategy Research
Prototyping
TIMELINE
2 Months
BACKGROUND
PIONEERING THE FUTURE OF HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Habitat is an intelligent energy-monitoring app, designed to help people better track energy use of any device, control and set up routines for their home, pay bills and receive tips for improving monthly utility costs. I was fortunate to work with a small startup to help them bring to life their vision for a new app that would supplement the physical device they had been developing.
BACKGROUND
PIONEERING THE FUTURE OF HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Habitat is an intelligent energy-monitoring app, designed to help people better track energy use of any device, control and set up routines for their home, pay bills and receive tips for improving monthly utility costs. I was fortunate to work with a small startup to help them bring to life their vision for a new app that would supplement the physical device they had been developing.
BACKGROUND
PIONEERING THE FUTURE OF HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Habitat is an intelligent energy-monitoring app, designed to help people better track energy use of any device, control and set up routines for their home, pay bills and receive tips for improving monthly utility costs. I was fortunate to work with a small startup to help them bring to life their vision for a new app that would supplement the physical device they had been developing.
CHALLENGE
REDEFINING UTILITY BILL TRANSPARENCY VIA SMART DEVICES
The team at Habitat set out to solve the problem that smart home devices only help in controlling and generating automation but don't help users understand their energy use. They wanted to better educate users about monthly spending, estimated bills, and energy usage reduction tips via their smart devices.
Main Goals:
Develop an intuitive and easy way to monitor and track home energy use.
Provide a simple way for users to manage and pay their utility bills all in one place
Help users set goals to save money and reduce energy use.
MY ROLE
I was tasked with creating a cohesive end to end experience that could be brought to investment meetings and shortly after put into development. They wanted to enhance the usability and functionality to go beyond their competitors. It was a tight deadline so I needed to get the experience right in the first four weeks.
CHALLENGE
REDEFINING UTILITY BILL TRANSPARENCY VIA SMART DEVICES
The team at Habitat set out to solve the problem that smart home devices only help in controlling and generating automation but don't help users understand their energy use. They wanted to better educate users about monthly spending, estimated bills, and energy usage reduction tips via their smart devices.
Main Goals:
Develop an intuitive and easy way to monitor and track home energy use.
Provide a simple way for users to manage and pay their utility bills all in one place
Help users set goals to save money and reduce energy use.
MY ROLE
I was tasked with creating a cohesive end to end experience that could be brought to investment meetings and shortly after put into development. They wanted to enhance the usability and functionality to go beyond their competitors. It was a tight deadline so I needed to get the experience right in the first four weeks.
CHALLENGE
REDEFINING UTILITY BILL TRANSPARENCY VIA SMART DEVICES
The team at Habitat set out to solve the problem that smart home devices only help in controlling and generating automation but don't help users understand their energy use. They wanted to better educate users about monthly spending, estimated bills, and energy usage reduction tips via their smart devices.
Main Goals:
Develop an intuitive and easy way to monitor and track home energy use.
Provide a simple way for users to manage and pay their utility bills all in one place
Help users set goals to save money and reduce energy use.
MY ROLE
I was tasked with creating a cohesive end to end experience that could be brought to investment meetings and shortly after put into development. They wanted to enhance the usability and functionality to go beyond their competitors. It was a tight deadline so I needed to get the experience right in the first four weeks.
THE APPROACH
FOCUSING ON FEATURES GOALS
Although our brief was to develop better functionality than our client's competitors, we stressed that engaging in a feature parity war was neither strategic, nor had the best interests of the app's users at heart.
To differentiate ourselves in an already mature and competitive market, we needed to define a desirable role for the app and how it would meet the needs of the scheme's users. We were thrilled by the opportunity to create something more meaningful.
THE APPROACH
FOCUSING ON FEATURES GOALS
Although our brief was to develop better functionality than our client's competitors, we stressed that engaging in a feature parity war was neither strategic, nor had the best interests of the app's users at heart.
To differentiate ourselves in an already mature and competitive market, we needed to define a desirable role for the app and how it would meet the needs of the scheme's users. We were thrilled by the opportunity to create something more meaningful.
THE APPROACH
FOCUSING ON FEATURES GOALS
Although our brief was to develop better functionality than our client's competitors, we didn't want to solely focus on providing features as it didn't follow what the main focus of the users was.
In order to differentiate ourselves in what was already a mature market, we needed to define a desirable role for the app and how it would meet the needs of the users. The team was very excited to create something that went beyond most typical experiencecs.
Stephen Anderson's UX Hierarchy of needs heavily influenced our product strategy
Stephen Anderson's UX Hierarchy of needs heavily influenced our product strategy
Stephen Anderson's UX Hierarchy of needs heavily influenced our product strategy
THE DISCOVERY
WHAT DOES ENERGY SAVVY MEAN TO YOU?
The discovery phase was a quick, high‐intensity effort that allowed us to define project milestones, audit the existing work, review the competitor landscape, understand our client's vision, and begin research into user needs, behaviours and pain points. We also kicked off a technical discovery phase to understand feasibility and constraints.
Our research revealed that understanding energy use differed drastically for different users.
After designating persona types and aligning this with our phasing strategy we were able to prioritise who we would be focusing on supporting in the early stages. The phase 1 app focused on supporting the goals of James and Alley, our primary personas.
" I feel like there should be a smarter way for my home to learn about my habits and teach me ways to reduce energy use"
Our persona hypothesis consisted of four different archetypes which we used to facilitate discussions about our users needs, desires and varying contexts of use.
Through careful analysis of our research, we identified sufficient behavioural variables to segment our user audience. These variables could be categorised into activities such as frequency of use of the scheme, skills such as energy use knowledge and confidence and motivations such as reasons for wanting to reduce consumption and energy costs. I discussed the personas with the client to develop a clear picture of who the design of the app would target in phase 1 and later in future releases.
THE DISCOVERY
WHAT DOES ENERGY SAVVY MEAN TO YOU?
The discovery phase was a quick, high‐intensity effort that allowed us to define project milestones, audit the existing work, review the competitor landscape, understand our client's vision, and begin research into user needs, behaviours and pain points. We also kicked off a technical discovery phase to understand feasibility and constraints.
Our research revealed that understanding energy use differed drastically for different users.
After designating persona types and aligning this with our phasing strategy we were able to prioritise who we would be focusing on supporting in the early stages. The phase 1 app focused on supporting the goals of James and Alley, our primary personas.
" I feel like there should be a smarter way for my home to learn about my habits and teach me ways to reduce energy use"
Our persona hypothesis consisted of four different archetypes which we used to facilitate discussions about our users needs, desires and varying contexts of use.
Through careful analysis of our research, we identified sufficient behavioural variables to segment our user audience. These variables could be categorised into activities such as frequency of use of the scheme, skills such as energy use knowledge and confidence and motivations such as reasons for wanting to reduce consumption and energy costs. I discussed the personas with the client to develop a clear picture of who the design of the app would target in phase 1 and later in future releases.
THE DISCOVERY
WHAT DOES ENERGY SAVVY MEAN TO YOU?
The discovery phase was a quick, high‐intensity effort that allowed us to define project milestones, audit the existing work, review the competitor landscape, understand our client's vision, and begin research into user needs, behaviours and pain points. We also kicked off a technical discovery phase to understand feasibility and constraints.
Our research revealed that understanding energy use differed drastically for different users.
After designating persona types and aligning this with our phasing strategy we were able to prioritise who we would be focusing on supporting in the early stages. The phase 1 app focused on supporting the goals of James and Alley, our primary personas.
" I feel like there should be a smarter way for my home to learn about my habits and teach me ways to reduce energy use"
Our persona hypothesis consisted of four different archetypes which we used to facilitate discussions about our users needs, desires and varying contexts of use. Through careful analysis of our research, we identified sufficient behavioural variables to segment our user audience. These variables could be categorised into activities such as frequency of use of the scheme, skills such as energy use knowledge and confidence and motivations such as reasons for wanting to reduce consumption and energy costs. I discussed the personas with the client to develop a clear picture of who the design of the app would target in phase 1 and later in future releases.
THE USERS
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM SPACE
Tight timing meant that we needed to be efficient conducting user research and collecting feedback. Luckily, the scheme's popularity provided us with ample participants. We conducted a range of interviews with stakeholders, co‐workers and friends; looked to the twittersphere to gauge what people were saying; and utilised official reports to understand users motivations for participating in the scheme.
These varied research techniques helped to quickly gain insights into the needs of our users and gave us a concrete understanding of the environment and workflows.
THE USERS
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM SPACE
Tight timing meant that we needed to be efficient conducting user research and collecting feedback. Luckily, the scheme's popularity provided us with ample participants. We conducted a range of interviews with stakeholders, co‐workers and friends; looked to the twittersphere to gauge what people were saying; and utilised official reports to understand users motivations for participating in the scheme.
These varied research techniques helped to quickly gain insights into the needs of our users and gave us a concrete understanding of the environment and workflows.
THE USERS
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM SPACE
Tight timing meant that we needed to be efficient conducting user research and collecting feedback. Luckily, the type of app's popularity provided us with ample participants. We conducted a range of interviews with stakeholders, co‐workers, and friends; looked to the Twitter-sphere to gauge what people were saying; and utilized official reports to understand users' motivations for participating in the scheme. These varied research techniques helped to quickly gain insights into the needs of our users and gave us a concrete understanding of the environment and workflows.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
KEY PAIN POINTS
To synthesize the data I collected from the interviews and competitive analysis, I used affinity mapping to frame out 4 common themes that were occurring.
Time Consuming
Smart home devices take a long time to detect all the home appliances and often result in incorrect data and wrong estimation of bills.
One size doesn’t fit all
Users prefer to be in charge and speed up the detection process by educating manually and providing human data.
Lack of customer engagement longterm
Users expect a smart home ecosystem to develop intelligent pattern recognition and to engage with its users overtime.
Lack of in app payment options
They expressed the preference for bill reminders and straightforward, online payment to keep track of monthly bills all in one place.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
KEY PAIN POINTS
To synthesize the data I collected from the interviews and competitive analysis, I used affinity mapping to frame out 4 common themes that were occurring.
Time Consuming
Smart home devices take a long time to detect all the home appliances and often result in incorrect data and wrong estimation of bills.
One size doesn’t fit all
Users prefer to be in charge and speed up the detection process by educating manually and providing human data.
Lack of customer engagement longterm
Users expect a smart home ecosystem to develop intelligent pattern recognition and to engage with its users overtime.
Lack of in app payment options
They expressed the preference for bill reminders and straightforward, online payment to keep track of monthly bills all in one place.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
KEY PAIN POINTS
Research Insights
To synthesize the data I collected from the interviews and competitive analysis, I used affinity mapping to frame out 4 common themes that were occurring.
Time Consuming
Smart home devices take a long time to detect all the home appliances and often result in incorrect data and wrong estimation of bills.
One size doesn’t fit all
Users prefer to be in charge and speed up the detection process by educating manually and providing human data.
Lack of customer engagement longterm
Users expect a smart home ecosystem to develop intelligent pattern recognition and to engage with its users overtime.
Integrated payment system
They expressed the preference for bill reminders and straightforward, online payment to keep track of monthly bills all in one place.
COMPETITORS
EVALUATING THE LANDSCAPE
After conducting the user interviews, I focused on an analysis of other apps that provided similar solutions for monitoring energy use through smart home devices, to explore the current solution space users can utilize. It was helpful to understand some of the problems that were occurring with each product and how we might provide solutions within my design.
COMPETITORS
EVALUATING THE LANDSCAPE
After conducting the user interviews, I focused on an analysis of other apps that provided similar solutions for monitoring energy use through smart home devices, to explore the current solution space users can utilize. It was helpful to understand some of the problems that were occurring with each product and how we might provide solutions within my design.
COMPETITORS
EVALUATING THE LANDSCAPE
After conducting the user interviews, I focused on an analysis of other apps that provided similar solutions for monitoring energy use through smart home devices, to explore the current solution space users can utilize. It was helpful to understand some of the problems that were occurring with each product and how we might provide solutions within my design.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS
I synthesized the research insights into opportunity areas in the form of user needs and distilled those into two HMW questions that correlated to my research insights.
How might we help users better track and monitor their energy usage within their home?
How might we increase long-term engagement with an energy monitoring app ?
Most smart home devices are installed permanently in the home - still often they have a hard time engaging their users in the long run. With IoT products becoming more service centred creating a sustainable interaction with the user is a significant challenge for design, since revenues are depending on users drawing continuous value from a service instead of just an initial purchase.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS
I synthesized the research insights into opportunity areas in the form of user needs and distilled those into two HMW questions that correlated to my research insights.
How might we help users better track and monitor their energy usage within their home?
How might we increase long-term engagement with an energy monitoring app ?
Most smart home devices are installed permanently in the home - still often they have a hard time engaging their users in the long run. With IoT products becoming more service centred creating a sustainable interaction with the user is a significant challenge for design, since revenues are depending on users drawing continuous value from a service instead of just an initial purchase.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS
I synthesized the research insights into opportunity areas in the form of user needs and distilled those into two HMW questions that correlated to my research insights.
How might we help users better track and monitor their energy usage within their home?
How might we increase long-term engagement with an energy monitoring app?
Most smart home devices are installed permanently in the home - still often they have a hard time engaging their users in the long run. With IoT products becoming more service centred creating a sustainable interaction with the user is a significant challenge for design, since revenues are depending on users drawing continuous value from a service instead of just an initial purchase.
THE FRAMEWORK
CREATING A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH USERS OVER TIME
We wanted to further explore how the app could deliver an engaging experience over time. To find out which products people have been using for a long time and why those are so well integrated into their lives we conducted more user interviews. Are there universal qualities across those different products and contexts that encourage engagement and can be applied to my concept?
We asked people about what digital products they have been interacting with for at least a year or even multiple years.
INSIGHTS
A “long-term product“ does not have to be used every day, there can be less frequent routines for usage including up and down times. But after all, every one of those products manages to keep in touch without annoying the user.
Some aspects of engaging products that I wanted to consider for my solution:
THE FRAMEWORK
CREATING A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH USERS OVER TIME
We wanted to further explore how the app could deliver an engaging experience over time. To find out which products people have been using for a long time and why those are so well integrated into their lives we conducted more user interviews. Are there universal qualities across those different products and contexts that encourage engagement and can be applied to my concept?
We asked people about what digital products they have been interacting with for at least a year or even multiple years.
INSIGHTS
A “long-term product“ does not have to be used every day, there can be less frequent routines for usage including up and down times. But after all, every one of those products manages to keep in touch without annoying the user.
Some aspects of engaging products that I wanted to consider for my solution:
THE FRAMEWORK
CREATING A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH USERS OVER TIME
We wanted to further explore how the app could deliver an engaging experience over time. To find out which products people have been using for a long time and why those are so well integrated into their lives we conducted more user interviews. Are there universal qualities across those different products and contexts that encourage engagement and can be applied to my concept?
We asked people about what digital products they have been interacting with for at least a year or even multiple years.
INSIGHTS
A “long-term product“ does not have to be used every day, there can be less frequent routines for usage including up and down times. But after all, every one of those products manages to keep in touch without annoying the user.
Some aspects of engaging products that I wanted to consider for my solution:
Users needs mapped throughout different phases of the app, throughout time
Users needs mapped throughout different phases of the app, throughout time
Users needs mapped throughout different phases of the app, throughout time
THE FRAMEWORK
SETTING THE DESIGN DIRECTION
I started sketching and storyboarding many different UI ideas, interactions methods, and functional data visualisation. I started broad and then narrowed down and evolved into something more tangeable. This helped to define the different task flows that would be used by users. A high level design language begin to emerge and the apps anatomy started to come together. .
THE FRAMEWORK
SETTING THE DESIGN DIRECTION
I started sketching and storyboarding many different UI ideas, interactions methods, and functional data visualisation. I started broad and then narrowed down and evolved into something more tangeable. This helped to define the different task flows that would be used by users. A high level design language begin to emerge and the apps anatomy started to come together. .
THE FRAMEWORK
SETTING THE DESIGN DIRECTION
I started sketching and storyboarding many different UI ideas, interactions methods, and functional data visualisation. I started broad and then narrowed down and evolved into something more tangeable. This helped to define the different task flows that would be used by users. A high level design language begin to emerge and the apps anatomy started to come together. .
Early sketches exploring different task flows across the app. Because of time pressure, I worked rapidly often jumpoing from sketch to prototyping.
Early sketches exploring different task flows across the app. Because of time pressure, I worked rapidly often jumpoing from sketch to prototyping.
Early sketches exploring different task flows across the app. Because of time pressure, I worked rapidly often jumping from sketch to prototyping.
THE FRAMEWORK
ON TRACK AND IN SYNC
Once I got approval from the client on the functionality and content of the app, I started mapping the content of the app and the information architecture. I used Jesse James Visual Vocabulary to help organise and keep the content synced with the rest of the team
THE FRAMEWORK
ON TRACK AND IN SYNC
Once I got approval from the client on the functionality and content of the app, I started mapping the content of the app and the information architecture. I used Jesse James Visual Vocabulary to help organise and keep the content synced with the rest of the team
THE FRAMEWORK
ON TRACK AND IN SYNC
Once I got approval from the client on the functionality and content of the app, I started mapping the content of the app and the information architecture. I used Jesse James Visual Vocabulary to help organise and keep the content synced with the rest of the team
On the left: User Onboarding Flow. On the right: Main User Pages
On the left: User Onboarding Flow. On the right: Main User Pages
On the left: User Onboarding Flow. On the right: Main User Pages
THE DESIGN
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Over a few weeks, I was able to design, test, and validate different design ideas and focus on different user flows. I worked closely with the team to we ensure that the the final solution met the needs of the brief and exceeded expectations.
THE DESIGN
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Over a few weeks, I was able to design, test, and validate different design ideas and focus on different user flows. I worked closely with the team to we ensure that the the final solution met the needs of the brief and exceeded expectations.
THE DESIGN
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Over a few weeks, I was able to design, test, and validate different design ideas and focus on different user flows. I worked closely with the team to we ensure that the the final solution met the needs of the brief and exceeded expectations.
FINAL DESIGN
MEET HABITAT
The final concept aims to provide users with the ability to track energy usage, control devices from home and on the go, set goals and keep up to date with utility payments. Unfortunately the app was never fully developed due to funding issues.
As a second phase we would laterThe assistant was designed to help continually grow the app through subtle notifications that draw users back in and teach them new things through the app.
FINAL DESIGN
MEET HABITAT
The final concept aims to provide users with the ability to track energy usage, control devices from home and on the go, set goals and keep up to date with utility payments. Unfortunately the app was never fully developed due to funding issues.
As a second phase we would laterThe assistant was designed to help continually grow the app through subtle notifications that draw users back in and teach them new things through the app.
FINAL DESIGN
MEET HABITAT
The final concept aims to provide users with the ability to track energy usage, control devices from home and on the go, set goals and keep up to date with utility payments. Unfortunately the app was never fully developed due to funding issues.
As a second phase we would laterThe assistant was designed to help continually grow the app through subtle notifications that draw users back in and teach them new things through the app.
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