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In the heart of South Australia, iO Energy emerged with a mission: to make renewable energy accessible and affordable for every household and business. Amidst rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, they envisioned a platform that not only provided energy but also empowered users with insights to optimise their consumption.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Miro
Trello
Zoom
Slack
Traditional Pen & Paper
Timeline
6 Weeks
TLDR;
iO Energy wanted to make renewable energy simpler and smarter for everyday Australians.
Through user research and rapid design sprints, we reimagined their dashboard — turning complex data into clear, personalised insights. The result? An intuitive platform that empowers customers to track, save, and take charge of their energy use
SO, WHO ARE THEY?
Meet Olivia, a tech-savvy homeowner in Adelaide, passionate about reducing her carbon footprint and energy bills. Despite her best efforts, she often found herself overwhelmed by complex energy dashboards and unclear consumption data, leaving her uncertain about their actual impact and savings.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Australian energy consumers, who are cost and environmentally conscious, are unaware of how they can optimise energy usage to reduce their cost and carbon footprint as they lack relevant data or personalised insights to make smarter decisions.
iO Energy asked us to redesign their dashboard to help users like Olivia easily understand their energy use and take action with confidence.
AND, WHAT DID YOU DO?
RESEARCH
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
To better under iO Energy and users like Olivia, we ran our own research - from analysing competitors to crafting targeted surveys and conducting 1-on-1 interviews paired with usability tests.
OUR INSIGHTS
Competitor research revealed key opportunities: rewarding users with savings incentives, enabling dashboard personalisation, simplifying data visualisation, and offering smart, actionable tips through tools like live chat or assistants.
Our survey showed most users were aged 20-40 - digitally savvy, energy conscious group.
71%
regularly reviewed energy bills
Most users review their previous billing period
44%
checked their current usages
Few users track their usage - most find the data confusing or unclear.
"I prefer to use an energy provider that is offsetting my usage and is carbon neutral rather than a big corporation that don't use renewables"
"It would be great to have notifications when you are exceeding your solar usage also getting notifications on when you are late with your bill"
Through usability testing, we found users had trouble navigating, locating bills, and understanding charts. They valued simplicity, clearer data, and a more intuitive layout.
HMM, WHY DOES IT MATTER?
ANALYSIS
We synthesised our research using affinity and empathy maps to uncover common behaviours. Most users were already trying to reduce energy use - often by adjusting appliance use, installing solar panels, or choosing efficient products.
EMPATHY MAP
AFFINITY MAP
So, users like Olivia were already trying to reduce energy use - often by adjusting appliance use, installing solar panels, or choosing efficient products.
HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE ISSUE?
CONCEPTUALISE
We created How Might We statements and used an ideation workshop to explore solutions for Olivia's needs. Using an MVP chart and storyboards, we mapped key features and design goals to guide our next steps.
AND ASKING THE QUESTIONS ...
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How might we inform users of the benefits of better plans?
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How might we educate users on how to save costs and their reduce carbon footprint?
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How might we present data that is easy to understand and relevant to the user?
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How might we personalise the customer portal experience for users?
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How might we encourage efficient energy consumption through improve usage habits?
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How might we reinforce good user behaviour through incentives?
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How might we ensure the dashboard experience is predictable to the user?
MVP
CRAZY 8S
We indicated that the easy wins for this would:
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Basics (billing and usage)
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Notifications
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Current and recommended plan
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Cost and usage saving tips
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Quick switch between accounts
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Billing comparison
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Lifestyle quiz
Improving the basics | Tag appliances |
Tips & advice panel | Usage challenge
Bill comparison | Lifestyle quiz | Graph toggle
BLUEPRINT
Guided by our MVPs and Olivia's needs, we mapped out the user flow and site architecture across 4 key areas: Dashboard, Billing, Usage, and Renewables. This structure became the foundation for a mid-fidelity wireframe focused on clarity and function - ensuring we could navigate with ease and test the experience early, even before visuals were applied.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
USER FLOW
Using our flow and IA as a foundation, we designed a mid-fidelity wireframe tailored to Olivia's goals - clarity, ease of use, and quick access to key inform. Built in greyscale, it focused on functionality over visuals to support early usability testing within tight timeframes.
SO, WHAT'S THE OUTCOME?
BUILD
We tested our greyscale wireframes with 3 users to validate functionality and explore feature improvements aligned with Olivia's needs. After gathering feedback, we iterated on layout and usability - then ran a second round of testing, this time focusing on UI and visual design enhancements.
STYLE GUIDE
To ensure consistency, we applied iO Energy's exisiting style guide - aligned with their website and branding - throughout our prototype.
✨ FINAL DESIGN ✨
Bringing together everything from research to iteration, we delivered a solution that met user needs and aligned with the stakeholder's goals - clear, actionable, and easy for Olivia to navigate.
OUTCOME
The final design was well received by the stakeholders and aligned with their roadmap. By meeting our design goals, we improve usability and supported behaviour-change incentives - giving users like Olivia a clearer, more empowering experience.
Looking back, we saw two key areas for improvement:
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With more time, additional usability testing could have deepened our design refinements.
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accessibility could be strengthened by aligning with WCAG 2.1 to better support users with disabilities, ensuring everyone - like Olivia and beyond - can navigate with ease.