Here are the key steps in the controller set up flow: 1. Account info - Enter contact and utility account details 2. Home analysis - Controller analyzes home energy profile 3. Set first goal - User sets initial energy reduction target 4. Smart plug inventory - Controller detects smart plug devices 5. Interface tour - Assistant guides tour of controller interface This allows the user to set up their account, understand their home's energy use, and get oriented to the controller interface in a guided onboarding process.

1. DESIGN
TOREDUCE
ENERGYUSE
INTHEHOME
Improving the Consumer-Facing Strategy
and Innovating the System User Interface
DesignManagement + InteractionDesign

2. DESIGN
TOREDUCE
ENERGYUSE
INTHEHOME
IMPROVING THE
CONSUMER-FACING
STRATEGY
DesignManagement

3. Current state
limitations of Powco
Customer-facing
Strategy
DesignManagement

4. PROBLEMS Dependence on consumer to moder-
ate home energy usage.
OUT THERE
Existing incentives are not enough to
catalyze change.
General lack of consumer awareness
of energy supply limits and POWCO
strategic goals.
DesignManagement

5. COMMUNICATION
POWCO wants to communicate a complex message.
“We want you to use less, but we are capable of providing.”
Ambiguous, ineffective service brand messaging.
Large, unmet challenges in shaping communication.
Obtusely communicated incentives and promotions.
No active feedback loops (conversations).
Lack of tailored/targetted consumer messaging.
DesignManagement

6. TECHNICAL
Power companies require the customer to do the vast
majority of the legwork
Site energy calculators are hard to use, ineffective
Until recently with the implementation of smart
meters, there was no feedback as to the user’s
energy consumption until the monthly bill arrived.
DesignManagement

7. RAISE
AWARENESS
How do customer feel
about interacting
with the power company?
Do they think it works?
Why?
Do they think
it is broken? How?
What is their experience
from the first phone call
to paying the final bill?
What would get them excited?

8. Ideas for
a proposed
solution
DesignManagement

9. RAISE
AWARENESS
Solutions
It isn’t just the service, it is how that
service makes the customer feel.
Free home energy diagnostic with
account setup for residences.
Use real numbers to shock them or
make them feel their choices really do
matter
Send energy saving tips via the web,
email, or text
DesignManagement

10. INCENTIVES
Credit Union or COOP approach
Rebates, Point/Reward Systems
Community-Based.
Challenges/Competitions/Partnerships
Tailored Incentives for
Generational/Demographic Groups.
Upgrading Older Homes/Appliances
DesignManagement

11. IN-HOME DEVICE
DesignManagement

12. CONVENIENCE
Associate new behavior with
an existing routine
Less work for customer
Easy to understand
Convenient features such as auto bill
pay, local weather,efficiency mode
DesignManagement

13. USER CENTERED
Introduce ownership
User is in control of total home
energy profile.
User can create settings and goals
around personal preferences.
Mobile app options for greater
flexibility, control
DesignManagement

14. FEEDBACK
Give user frequent feedback
about the consequences of
their actions.
Detailed energy usage
Real-time savings/loss
Understand consequences and make better choices
Introduce or increase present gains
Choice bracketing - daily vs yearly totals
Tips for saving energy
DesignManagement

15. Powco reaching out to customers
Educational institutions are
important partners.
Develop better
customer
relationships
TEAMWORK
DesignManagement

16. MARKETING
MESSAGE
Communicate specific goals
Social networking
Possible message
“Save Energy:
For your home and yourself”
DesignManagement

17. BENEFITS
For the power company
Improved customer and community
relationships
Decreased strain on existing facilities
Poised to usher in new, sustainable
technologies
DesignManagement

18. BENEFITS
For the consumer
Ownership of home energy usage
Greater savings
Sense of responsibility—home own-
ership, energy usage, conserving re-
sources
DesignManagement

19. BENEFITS
For the environment
Less energy waste
Reduce carbon footprint
Explore renewable energy sources
DesignManagement

20. Topics:
Research
Personas
Scenarios

21. RESEARCH
RESEARCHMETHODS
• In-home interviews
• Behavioral observations
• Written and photographic documentation
RESEARCHOBJECTIVES
• What we saw
• What we learned
• What it means
• What we can do

22. PERSONAS
Boomers Gen-Xers Gen-Yers
Jessica Amy
Energy
Attentive
John
Sue Jake
Energy
Passive
Cody

23. PERSONAS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
JOHN: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
“I try my best to be efficient with energy,
but there’s often a battle between saving
and keeping Sue comfortable.”
SUE: ENERGY PASSIVE
“Now that I’m home more, I usually just set
the thermostat to what I need in order to
stay comfortable.”

24. PERSONAS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
JOHN: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
• John pays the bills
• Average payment plan
• Hang dries laundry to save
• Maintains HVAC air filter
• Fireplace user in winter
• Wants long term results

25. PERSONAS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
SUE: ENERGY PASSIVE
• Doesn’t pay attention to the bills or cost of energy
• Often leaves lights on
• Sets thermostat for comfort; feels she deserves it at her age
• Thinks CFL’s look strange and are too expensive

26. PERSONAS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
“We’re not planning on relocating,
so it’s worth it to invest in our home.”
• Empty nesters; spends weekends at lake
• Well insulated house with newer windows
• Have landscaping lights on a timer
• Thermostat:72 in summer and 68 in winter
• Used gov’t rebates for Energy Star appliances

27. PERSONAS
GEN-X: JESSICA&CODY
JESSICA: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
“I can hear our on-demand hot water
heater click on. It reminds me that we have
some control over our efficiency practices.”
CODY: ENERGY PASSIVE
“Jessica gives me a hard time about the
utility bills. I’m working on it, but our
technology is pretty important to us. We
don’t do well with turning off or unpluging
desktop computers.”

28. PERSONAS
GEN-X: JESSICA&CODY
JESSICA: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
• Attempts to teach their son, Ben, by constantly reinforcing
household rules to turn things off when finished
• Pays close attention to the utility bills
• Often attributes increases to the cost to actual cost of delivery,
rather than their usage

29. PERSONAS
GEN-X: JESSICA&CODY
CODY: ENERGY PASSIVE
• Active and likes to spend time outdoors
• Usually the one to take their dog for walks
• Tries to shut down lights and fans but sometimes forgets
• Doesn’t pay much attention to the thermostat — wants comfort

30. PERSONAS
GEN-X: AMY&JAKE
“We schedule our thermostat to be most comfortable
between 5-9pm, the rest of the time it is about efficiency.”
• Have a 3 year old son; 1 dog
• Live in a 3 bed/2 bath suburban home
• Florescent bulbs everywhere
• Keep a big basket of blankets in the living room in the winter.
• Back door has a draft, they roll a towel up in front of back door
to keep the heat inside.
• They adjust thermostat for dog in summer

31. PERSONAS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
AMY: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
“Those boys will only recycle if I basically
do it for them and make it easy to drop
things in. I swear they wouldn’t even get the
bills paid if I wasn’t here.”
JAKE: ENERGY PASSIVE
“I really want to save energy, benefit the
environment, and my bank account, but
sometimes it just doesn’t fit my schedule.”

32. PERSONAS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
AMY: ENERGY ATTENTIVE
• Responsible for keeping track of all bills
• Collects money from all the roommates
• She sets up and empties recycling containers for the home
• Pays the most attention to the electricity used in their home

33. PERSONAS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
JAKE: ENERGY PASSIVE
• TV and gaming systems always on
• Keeps an old small refrigerator in his bedroom for sodas/beer
• Habitually opens window in his room when the heat is on
• His room seems to be warmer than the rest of the house

34. PERSONAS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
“It’s difficult to control the electricity usage
when roommates are always leaving things on.”
• Lights often left on unintentionally
• Either A/C or heat is always on
• Multiple gaming systems stacked up by the television
• Not everyone understands how to use prorammable thermostat
• Live close to campus and frequently have guests coming and going
• Cost of utilities and all household bills are split 3 ways

35. SCENARIOS
Boomers Gen-Xers Gen-Yers
Jessica Amy
Energy
Attentive
John
Sue Jake
Energy
Passive
Cody

36. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
After having their Smart Meter and new
thermostat installed, John and Sue find
out they could be saving money by
programming their thermostat and paying
closer attention to their energy usage.
However, they are out of town a lot and
don't have much time to worry about
their thermostat.

37. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
John turns on the thermostat
for the first time and goes
through the set-up wizard,
and alert settings (including
the monthly bill limit).

38. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
John turns on the thermostat
for the first time and goes
through the set-up wizard,
and alert settings (including
the monthly bill limit).

39. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
After he's finished entering
the settings, John starts the
programming feature.

40. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
He finds out that he can
create specific settings for
home, away, and vacation
modes.
Sue is especially excited
about the vacation mode,
because every time they go
out of town, John sets the
thermostat for extreme
temperatures and she can't
keep her plants alive.

41. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
A week later, John notices
the status bar on the home
screen is yellow.

42. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
He presses a button on the
status bar and a pop-up
shows that his current
usage pattern will cause him
to exceed his monthly bill TIP!
Get back on track
limit; the pop-up says that he by turning the
AC SETTING
can get back on track by up 2 degrees.
turning the AC setting up
2 degrees, with a button to
press to approve thermostat
change.

43. SCENARIOS
BOOMERS: JOHN&SUE
He presses OK, and the
status bar goes back to
green. He notices the AC set
temperature has changed
from 70 to 72 degrees.

44. SCENARIOS
GEN-X: JESSICA&CODY
Jessica and Cody schedule their
thermostat to be most comfortable
between 5-9pm, the rest of the time
it is about efficiency.
Their programmable thermostat helps
Keep the temperature ranges constant and
prevents them from forgetting to adjust
when needed.

45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KRyjNOkjMA&list=PL93019A1526FC1BE6&index=57&feature=plpp_video

46. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
Jake and Amy are college students living in
an old drafty house.
Amy comes home from her evening
waitressing job, sits down at the kitchen
table and counts her tips. After she
discovers that she barely has enough
money to buy groceries for herself for the
week, she tries to take her mind off of
things by opening the mail.
”The electric bill is $149! What are those
boys doing in this house? What can I do?"

47. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
She goes to the thermostat
and sees the status bar is
red.

48. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
She then presses the
Charts/Graphs icon to look
for clues about what is
causing the bill to be high.

49. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
She sees the week
comparison and notices
energy use is much higher 60
50
than last week. 40
30
20
10
0

50. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
She rolls over to the year
comparison and sees
energy use is also much 300
250
higher than last year; 200
150
she realizes she had energy 100
conscious roommates last 50
0
year and attributes this to the
higher bill.

51. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
Then she goes to the
program mode and sees the
weekday mode has been
turned off and only weekend
is on, when the thermostat is
set much more comfortably
for lots of company.

52. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
She immediately turns
weekday mode back on.

53. SCENARIOS
GEN-Y: AMY&JAKE
When she finishes,
the home screen shows
a yellow status bar.
She notices that the set
temperature for heat has
automatically adjusted
from 70 to 68.

54. HOME
ENERGY
CONTROL
SYSTEM
LAWRENCE
TEAM
Marcus Gardner, Adriana Guzmán, Amy Mihalevich,
Satoshi Inoue, Meredith Tack, Darren Kennedy, Gianfranco Villagomez

55. DISCOVERY
InteractionDesign

56. “I have a couple of Energy Star rated appliances,
but I don’t really know why they are good. I like the
idea of being efficient, but honestly, I just wanted
the rebates.”

57. “We love Christmas lights, and
I think they don’t use a lot of
electricity, so we leave them on
all day.”
“We set the goal to change the
temperature on the thermostat by
November 1st and the same for
June 1st, but sometimes it is so
difficult...”
“Yeah, we use those light
bulbs but you know I don’t like
the color..”
They agree on almost everthing related to the
energy. They use a programmable thermostat that
is on from 6:00 and 8:00p.m. Summer is 68 and in
winter it is 75.
InteractionDesign

58. HOME People make an effort to look good in front
of others.
INTERVIEWS: Most wanted to conserve energy but didn’t
WHATWE know that much about what to do.
LEARNED Homeowners often think of efficiency in
terms of big projects, rather than daily
practices.
Thermostat control can be an area of
frustration among members of a
household.
People do not have a very clear
understanding of how their energy bill is
calculated.
Most people are more interested in saving
money, than they are in being green.

59. USE CASES
As a (user/role) I want (goal/desire) so that (benefit).
John Jessica Amy
InteractionDesign

60. FEEDBACK LOOP
EVIDENCE
Data must be measured, captured and stored.
RELEVANCE
Information delivered to individual in an emotionally
relevant context.
CONSEQUENCE
The information must illuminate one or more paths ahead.
ACTION
Recalibrate behavior, make a choice, act, and evaluate.

61. SYSTEM IDEATION
The device will become the missing link for the user
to understand and be in control of the energy
consumption in their home. The Controller is the
user’s interface for a complete smart home system.
Home Owner The Controller
Smart Plug
Home Energy Company
InteractionDesign

62. FLOW
_Pricing _Color _Notification
Controller Set Up Wizard
1 2 Feedback Feedback Icons
Account Info Major Minor Lighting Heating/
Controller Home Appliances Appliances Display AC
Display Display Display
Home Analysis
View Stats View Stats View Stats View Stats
Indoors
Temp Control Control Control Control
Set First Goal Outside
Display Plugs Plugs Lights Temp
Scheduled
Smart Plug Inventory Temp Up & Down
Control Heat / AC/ Fan/ Off
Interface Tour Graphical Display
Weather
View Forecast
Graphical Display The user interface includes a set up
Date/Time
Go to Scheduler wizard (1), global controls (shown
vertical), feedback displays (shown
Toggle to “Home
Quick Away
Now” horizontal), and only one level deep
for each area of the interface.
Go to all home
Energy
stats
Stats
Graphical
Goals Feedback Display
Go to set or edit
Goal
InteractionDesign

63. PAPER PROTOTYPING
InteractionDesign

64. PAPER
PROTOTYPES:
WHATWE
LEARNED
If we don’t put up some
parameters, this device could
be anything. Time to simplify!
People don’t want to stand at
the wall for very long.
Several people wanted a
supporting mobile app.
We need a very shallow
interface.
People are interested in
exploring interfaces that look
nice. Not everything needs to
be face up.

65. CONCEPTS
InteractionDesign

66. SCHEDULER
NOVEMBER 2012
Learn behaviors
30 31 1 2 3 4 5 Provide tips
Quick away options
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Flag milestones
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 1 2 3
InteractionDesign

67. SCHEDULER
DECEMBER
27 28 29 30 1 2 3
oF
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
60 o
OUTSIDE
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1:00 P.M.
DEC
13
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Away Away
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Away
Goal: $60 // You have spent $42 so far
InteractionDesign

68. COMMUNITY CHALLENGES
Community percentage
Challenge your neighbors
Compete for titles
Social gaming
Sponsored challenges
Power in numbers
InteractionDesign

69. SMART PLUG
InteractionDesign

70. PLUG CONTROL
Living room
oF
Ben’s room
Garage
60 o
OUTSIDE
7:00 P.M.
DEC
15 Away
$2.30
xx Kw/h
Goal: $60 // You have spent $xx so far
InteractionDesign

71. SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT
InteractionDesign

72. FORM DEVELOPMENT
InteractionDesign

73. FORM DEVELOPMENT
InteractionDesign

74. FORM DEVELOPMENT
InteractionDesign

75. HOME ENERGY CONTROLLER
CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytH0q88BoJ8&list=PL93019A1526FC1BE6&index=59&feature=plpp_video
InteractionDesign

76. HOME ENERGY CONTROLLER
CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytH0q88BoJ8&feature=bf_next&list=PL93019A1526FC1BE6&lf=plpp_video&index=55
InteractionDesign

77. HOME ENERGY CONTROLLER
InteractionDesign

78. SET UP WIZARD
10:00 a.m
10:00 a.m
DEC
DEC
05 05
72
WELCOME
According to our system
your average bill is $95
Tell us your goal Tell us your goal
Account number o
$ $
10:00 a.m
10:00 a.m
DEC
05 $1.00
oF oF
$1.50 F
WELCOME
60 o
OUTSIDE 60 o
OUTSIDE
10:00 a.m 1:00 P.M.
DEC DEC $1.50
Your daily energy consumption should be $2.24
Now, you are ready for the challenge 05 Away
13 Away
$2.30 $0.50 $0.25
Goal: $60 // You have spent $xx so far Goal: $60 // You have spent $xx so far
InteractionDesign

79. FEEDBACK LOOP

80. FEEDBACK LOOP
DECEMBER
27 28 29 30
4 5 6 7
1 2 3
11 12 13 14
8 9 10
18 19 20 21
15 16 17
25 26 27 28
Away 22 23 24
Away
29 30 31

81. DESIGN
TOREDUCE
ENERGYUSE
INTHEHOME
Improving the Consumer-Facing Strategy
and Innovating the System User Interface
DesignManagement + InteractionDesign