Company: Publicis Sapient | Client: Ontario Energy Board | Role: Experience Design
Background
Peak was an energy conservation initiative and pilot commissioned by the Ontario Energy Board. Their goal was to shift energy usage from on-peak times to off-peak periods using variable rates to reduce stress on the overall power grid, to save Oshawa residents money on their energy bills and to increase knowledge around the subject matter by incorporating energy conservation strategies.
We focused on behaviour change as a key principal. We designed an experience which would adapt to the motivations of users, like if they are environmentally focused we can speak to them in a language they understand and provide them with relevant content.
Process
Our process began with stakeholder interviews, persona identification and ideation sessions for generating product features that would eventually become the app. Our team was multi-disciplinary, pairing with visual design, content strategy, art direction, data science and full-stack development.
The first phases were separated into app architecture, in mapping out the structure of the experience, competitive analysis to ramp up in the subject matter of energy and commodities - we also partnered with energy experts to help build our knowledge set. We built an interaction framework to give the app consistency with reusable components with variations rather than one-off solutions.
Closing thoughts
As a UX designer ideating, structuring an architecture, wireframing screens and working closely with development, data science and content was a great opportunity to learn an end-to-end product journey where we were able to consider the customer first.
Being able to incorporate data science to impact behaviour change for OEB was very exciting and learning how to leverage multi-disciplinary talents was a huge takeaway for me and felt rewarding knowing we had data to back up our decisions moving forward with the pilot.
