Ideation
Design a mobile app to help homeowners make informed decisions about purchasing energy-efficient home appliances by comparing costs, long-term savings, and energy consumption.
Features
Compare specifications across brands and retailers
Cost Estimation and Savings Calculator to illustrate consumption and savings
Personalized recommendations based on home-specific data
Favourites list
Virtual house to enable users to combine appliances and visualize collective energy impact
Platform/Device
iOS and Android, for accessibility both at home and on the go
Interaction and Interface Design
Progressive disclosure to simplify UI, revealing advanced features as needed
Minimalist design with gestures (swiping, tapping) for usability
Dropdowns, checkboxes, interactive graphs to help users compare and visualize energy consumption
Users should be able to research and compare home appliances based on customizable factors (eg. energy efficiency, longevity, cost savings, reviews) to help users evaluate options through organised information, visuals, and personalised recommendations.
Apply Filters: Add filters to narrow down appliance options
View Results: Rank appliances by the chosen filters
Compare Options: Compare appliances side-by-side, focusing on customisation factors.
Users should be able to manage online and offline brochures to help them navigate the overwhelming number of choices and make better financial decisions
Scan offline brochures: Manage both online and offline brochures, scan offline ones
Create a wishlist: Simplify choices into a “wishlist” for easy comparison and informed financial decisions
Users should be able to easily calculate their energy costs and compare savings to make better purchasing decisions
View energy efficiency labels: Interpret and explain label details to assess energy savings
Use Savings Calculator: Input electricity rates to estimate energy costs and savings over time, and compare between products
To help homeowners make informed appliance purchases, we created two key personas based on our survey and interview insights:
Primary Persona: New Homeowners
Focus: Need help making informed appliance choices for a new home.
Needs: Simplified decision-making, cost-saving insights, and energy-efficient options.
Secondary Persona: Existing Homeowners
Focus: Looking to replace or upgrade appliances.
Needs: Comparative information, long-term savings, and easy access to energy efficiency data.
These personas guide our design, ensuring the app simplifies decision-making and provides tailored insights for both groups.
[ THE PROBLEM ]
Interaction and Interface Design
Progressive disclosure to simplify UI, revealing advanced features as needed
Minimalist design with gestures (swiping, tapping) for usability
Dropdowns, checkboxes, interactive graphs to help users compare and visualize energy consumption
The user task flows illustrate how Personas navigate the app to achieve their goals. Each flow breaks down key tasks, highlights system responses, and addresses potential challenges, ensuring users have easy access to all necessary information.
Scenario 1: Quick Feature Comparison of Appliances
Goal: Alicia wants to explore energy-efficient appliances for her home by comparing key factors such as energy savings, cost, and child-friendly features to make informed decisions about her purchase
Task Flow Key Points:
Alicia searches for appliances using filters like energy efficiency and child-safe features.
Alicia reviews consolidated information about her selected appliance, including energy efficiency levels, long-term savings estimate and user reviews to further refine her choices.
The app allows her to save options to a wishlist and download a detailed comparison for later review.
Error Handling:
If the list of appliances fails to load, an error message will be shown to prompt Alicia to check her network connection and retry
If an item is already on the wishlist, the app will notify Alicia with an alert indicating the item is already saved
User Tasks Flow 1: Quick Feature Comparison of Appliances
Scenario 2: Managing Online and Physical Brochures
Goal: Alicia wants to organise and compare physical brochures she collected from various stores with online research, ensuring that she has a comprehensive overview of products to make an informed decision
Task Flow Key Points:
Alicia scans physical brochures, and the app extracts and combines the brochure details with online data for comparison.
The app highlights discrepancies between the brochure and online data, such as differences in energy ratings or prices.
Alicia reviews the comparisons and checks for promotions or discounts available.
The app generates a well-organised comparison, helping Alicia make an informed purchasing decision.
Error Handling:
If a brochure scan fails to match any products, the app suggests similar appliances or allows Alicia to manually input missing details
If the app detects incomplete or unclear brochure details during scanning, it prompts Alicia to rescan the brochure
If rescan continues to fail, Alicia can manually input the missing or unclear details to ensure an accurate comparison
User Tasks Flow 2: Managing Online and Physical Brochures
Scenario 3: Comparing Costs Using Savings Calculator
Goal: Adeline wants to purchase energy-efficient appliances to replace old, inefficient ones while understanding how much she can save in the long run by using the app’s savings calculator.
Task Flow Key Points:
Adeline searches for energy-efficient appliances and uses the savings calculator to estimate long-term savings.
Adeline can view an explanation of the energy label, and how it is relevant to her energy bills
The app compares the new appliance with her current one, showing expected energy consumption and cost reductions.
Error Handling:
If Adeline inputs an incorrect or unrealistic electricity rate, the app provides a default rate from Singapore Power (SP)
If the list of appliances fails to load, an error message will be shown to prompt Adeline to check her network connection and retry
If an appliance has missing information, the app will prompt Adeline to report the issue
User Task Flow 3: Comparing Costs Using Savings Calculator
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