Energy IQ for business
Client
Genesis
Year
2021-2024
Energy IQ for business is a platform that assists large organizations in comprehending their energy usage and managing carbon emissions. By employing the right accounting solution, companies can precisely keep track of their emissions data and obtain the necessary information to begin reducing usage, changing technology, and, in the long term, eliminating a portion of their carbon emissions.
Role
Solo UX/UI designer in this project
Process
Empathise
〰️
Define
〰️
Ideate
〰️
Test
〰️
Design
〰️
Empathise 〰️ Define 〰️ Ideate 〰️ Test 〰️ Design 〰️
The customer problem was a lack of user-friendly tools to effectively manage and understand their energy usage. This limitation hindered their ability to make informed decisions about their energy consumption and behaviour. Additionally, the absence of a self-serve approach required significant assistance from the customer-facing team, reducing their capacity to focus on building and maintaining relationships. The opportunity sought to address these challenges by providing an intuitive platform for customers, fostering sustainable energy management, and enabling the customer-facing team to dedicate more time to personalized care.
Empathise
Understand of Customer and their needs
Define
Business Values
Customer Values
Ideate
Problem Statement
Ideation sesions
Design & Test
Low fidelity design
Usability testing
Evaluate & Share back the findings
High fidelity design
Final sign off
Develop and Lauch
and then repeating testing
Make it stand out
-
![]()
Decision Makers
A strategic decision-maker focused on balancing value, cost, and service. Sets direction, defines success, and relies on expert input to make high-impact decisions that support business goals.
-
![]()
Internal energy Influencers
Responsible for meeting the energy needs of the business while ensuring resources are used efficiently. Focused on reliability, cost and long-term sustainability in operations.
-
![]()
Daily operation Contacts
Focused on keeping business operations running smoothly, without disruption and staying ahead of market changes or internal developments that could impact performance.
-
![]()
External energy Experts
Advises on energy-related decisions and often manages billing and payments. Aims to deliver value and build trust within the organisation to support long-term relationships.
Companies we worked with:
Just enough research
Desktop research
〰️
Competitive analysis
〰️
Dairy studies
〰️
Customer interviews
〰️
Contextual Inquiry
〰️
Card Sorting
〰️
Workshops
〰️
Desktop research 〰️ Competitive analysis 〰️ Dairy studies 〰️ Customer interviews 〰️ Contextual Inquiry 〰️ Card Sorting 〰️ Workshops 〰️
To connect business and customer needs for Genesis and gain a deeper understanding of our business customers I organise research sessions at least twice in year. I used methodologies like Card sorting, discovery workshops, dairy studies, contextual inquiries, expert interviews and IDIs.
RESEARCH GOAL IS TO :
Decide if and how we can build and later improve Energy IQ for business
Identify new features we should implement in future
Understand and discover the market/ customer current state (new pain points )
Get feedback from our customers on our prototyped features
40+
Customers interviewed
7
Rounds of user testing
Challenge 1: Size and Structure
The Genesis Large Business division serves customers of different sizes across manufacturing, retail, and retirement sectors. We cater to varying account types, whether it's a single large account or multiple sites with different account structures, ensuring personalized service for each customer.
Solution: I’ve decided to focus on the customers with usage over 200kWh per year
Challenge 2: Customer Access
Accessing large business customers proved challenging, as traditional research panels were inadequate, and key information often remained confidential.
Solution: The key was leveraging strong connections with the sales team and customers. I’ve established a "Business Experts Panel" eager to assist with research.
Design customer-centric platform
Colaborative ideation
〰️
Low -fidelity wireframes
〰️
Prototyping
〰️
Figma
〰️
Usability testing
〰️
Accessibility audit
〰️
Information architecture
〰️
Colaborative ideation 〰️ Low -fidelity wireframes 〰️ Prototyping 〰️ Figma 〰️ Usability testing 〰️ Accessibility audit 〰️ Information architecture 〰️
My objective is to design products that enable large businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and support New Zealand’s transition to a carbon‑neutral future. I am committed to creating solutions that are both appealing and user‑friendly for enterprise users. To ensure effectiveness, I collaborate across departments to identify optimal design solutions and resolve concerns before moving into high‑fidelity and development phases. Establishing a solid foundation at the start of design projects is essential to ensure teams address the right challenges and deliver meaningful, impactful outcomes.
Energy IQ for Business is a platform designed to cater to the evolving needs of our customers. To set up my Success metrics I used Google’s HEART framework. To ensure that we are meeting their requirements, I regularly organize usability testing sessions (quantitative and qualitative) to validate new ideas and target platform improvements.
*For the case study, all customer data provided is imaginary
I consistently communicate research findings across the organization to promote good UX practices and explain my design choices. Presently, I am collaborating with Partners in Performance Agency on customer segmentation and serving as a proponent for customer insights.
Thinking about future
The energy market in New Zealand is always shifting, and we knew we couldn't rely on assumptions.
I took the lead in talking to customers, digging into their needs, and spotting the gaps that weren’t being met. By combining those insights with market trends, we uncovered product opportunities that felt both exciting and relevant.
This work helped shape where Genesis could go next—and how the company could stay ahead by building products that customers actualy need
Tools
