EDF | Digital Smart Meter guide

Working on the EDF project...

EDF Energy is a prominent British energy firm that supplies gas and electricity to households and enterprises throughout the United Kingdom, serving a customer base exceeding 5.7 million accounts.

EDF aimed to minimise the volume of inquiries directed to their Call Centre regarding Smart Meter In-Home Display (IHD) setup and related problems. Call centre operatives would talk customers through the steps to resolve their issues, however this takes time and is costly for the company. They sought a self-service solution for customers that surpassed the capabilities of their current FAQs page in terms of user engagement.

The solution involved illustrating the potential cost efficiencies achievable by digitising offline processes through the creation of a digital smart meter guide. This guide empowers customers to self-serve, catering to those who seek immediate assistance at their convenience. One of the requirements was to swiftly develop a user-friendly tool for immediate deployment.

What the project objectives were...

Develop a digital smart guide that empowers customers to self-serve, catering to individuals seeking immediate assistance at their convenience. Recommend a cost-effective and scalable Minimum Viable Product (MVP) strategy to support the business case. This involves crafting a troubleshooter located outside of EDF's website, expediting the time to market and streamline integration with EDF’s IT systems until the business case is validated. To develop detailed, high-fidelity wireframes and design for an online guide as a single-page web application.

Research piece...

I conducted stakeholder interviews and developed a decision tree to gain insights into user objectives and the choices they make. EDF supplied scripts utilised by their Call Centre representatives to assist customers in troubleshooting their IHD over the phone. These scripts needed to be translated and transformed into a decision tree format, which would serve as the foundation for constructing the online guide.

The process involved refining the troubleshooting information and advice, originally tailored to the tools and resources accessible to Call Centre representatives, into concise, actionable steps that customers could independently follow when using the online self-service platform. This decision tree effectively mapped out decision points and their corresponding outcomes, ensuring that users can effortlessly achieve their goals or complete tasks when utilising the IHD (In-Home Display).

The UX process begins...

It was essential to not only convey the layout and structure of the single-page application but also to incorporate user interface elements, interactions, and visual styling that closely resemble the final product. The high-fidelity wireframes provided a clear and comprehensive representation of how users would interact with the online guide. By creating high-fidelity wireframes, I aimed to bridge the gap between concept and execution, providing a detailed blueprint for the development team to follow. This approach ensured that the final online guide would meet user needs, align with the brand's identity, and deliver a seamless and visually appealing experience.

I had also coordinated remote user testing sessions with the created prototype to capture valuable user feedback and continue the iterative design process.

The exciting part...

The UI design efforts were centred around creating an intuitive and visually appealing digital smart guide. We carefully considered the user experience, focusing on crafting a user interface that enabled customers to easily navigate the Digital Smart meter and access the information they needed at their convenience. The UI design incorporated a clean and modern visual style, making the guide visually engaging and user-friendly.

I paid special attention to the placement of interactive elements, ensuring a seamless flow throughout the self-service process. This UI design strategy not only supported the objective of empowering customers but also facilitated a smooth transition between different phases of the guide, ultimately enhancing the overall user experience and aligning with the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach.

The final result...

In the first five weeks, the solution demonstrated highly encouraging results, engaging over 3,500 users with the guide. Among these users, an impressive 59% effectively resolved their issues upon completing the form. On average, users achieved resolutions in just 3.5 minutes. Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 78% of those who completed the form indicating their intention to use the guide again.