Severn Trend Water, UK

Proactive Metering

A scale trial of smart metering to establish its longer-term viability

Portfolio > Severn Trend Water, UK

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Overview

Your task is to quickly evaluate the current solution being developed for Leading Water Metering, provide UX recommendations, and create revised designs based on those recommendations for approximately 4 screens. Your designs should be aligned with the UX recommendations and improve upon the current solution. This will require a thorough understanding of the Leading Water Metering project and its requirements, as well as expertise in UX design and the ability to create high-quality designs in a short amount of time

Process

Discover

Ideation

Design

Re-Design

Dev Handoff

Product Demo

Tools

Adobe XD

InVision

Photoshop

Zeplin

Project Duration

10 Weeks

The Challenge

This project is an escalation case, where the client was not satisfied with the solutions provided by the previous team. As the new UX designer on the project, I have been given additional responsibility and am expected to take extra care in delivering a high-quality solution. The secondary challenge is to complete the project within a tight timeframe of two weeks. This will require a high level of efficiency and skill on my part, as well as the ability to quickly understand the client's needs and provide a solution that meets their expectations. I must also be prepared to address any issues or challenges that may arise during the project and ensure that the final solution is satisfactory to the client.

The Solution

After gathering and analyzing requirements, we have provided UX recommendations in the form of high-level wireframes, which were developed and shared with the client as an Adobe XD share link. These wireframes included improvements to the UX and additional features such as a login and user dashboard. The goal of these recommendations is to enhance the overall user experience and provide additional functionality that will benefit the client's users

Role

UX/VD Consultant

Research

Client Questions

Key stakeholder question for Proactive Metering Project

User related

2. login/register

Kickoff

I began by having a meeting to go over the project plan and familiarise myself with the product. Because there was no proper design system in place, I had to refer to multiple documents in order to arrive at a solution. There were a lot of files to review, including work that had already been done for the Proactive Metering project, as well as notes provided by the client. After thoroughly analysing and understanding the problem statement, I was able to move forward with the project.

Secondary Research

I conducted user research on the existing product and understood the user engagement. I found that the current process for creating plans for new admins was overwhelming, and that completing a task was complicated. Additionally, the existing Proactive Metering design did not follow usability and accessibility standards, and users found the product confusing and difficult to use for its intended purpose. As a result, there is a need to improve the design and user experience in order to better meet the needs of users.

Working as team

"In order to ensure that our expectations were aligned, we regularly held team meetings. We all had similar concerns about the continuation of the initial design work, which made it easier for us to ideate solutions together. One challenge we faced was working in different time zones, but we were able to overcome this by making sure to overlap with the UK time zone for meetings. I took the initiative to reach out to stakeholders and make sure that the right questions were asked at the right time in order to move the project forward

Ideation

As a user, I want to...

High priority

Midium priority

Low priority

User stories

It was important to understand what exactly users will want to accomplish when using the Mobile App. I created user stories which gave the team a clear vision on what our goals for this design must accomplish. They were organized from high, medium to low priority.

Wireframes

Based off the initial project's materials and research we created wireframes.

Design

Severn Trent internal brand guidelines

Severn Trent has created guidelines to help us understand what makes them special and how to express that in our brand. The guidelines cover their beliefs, brand positioning, visual and verbal identity, and how to use their core brand elements. They encourage us to be creative and playful in our designs, but ask that we use these guidelines as a guide to ensure that everyone has a consistent and amazing Severn Trent experience. By following these guidelines, we can help to reinforce the unique identity of Severn Trent and create a cohesive brand across all our designs

USE OF IMAGERY

Visual Design

The existing screens were not visually appealing or engaging for the user. Although our initial task was just to work on the visual designs, we proposed to also improve the UX in order to create a better overall design for the user. Our proposal was well-received by the client, and we were able to create more effective and engaging designs by considering both the visual and UX elements of the design. By taking a holistic approach to the design, we were able to deliver a solution that was more likely to meet the needs and preferences of the user.

Dev Handoff

As part of my deliverables for this project, I handled solution conceptualisation, wire framing, and visual design. I also created a login and dashboard screen outside of the original scope of the project. We conducted formative testing with actual users to gather feedback and refine the designs. To ensure that the development team had a clear understanding of the visual design, I created a UI specification. Once the site was developed, I also performed a review and made necessary updates to address any areas that needed improvement. Overall, I was able to provide a comprehensive solution that met the needs of the client and their users

Visual Design

1. Solution Conceptualisation

2. Wireframing

3. Visual Design

4. Usability Testing (Formative)

5. UI Specificaion

6. UI Review

“Many thanks for your professional approach on this piece of work, the final product you delivered is a world apart from the GUI it replaced which has made for a very happy end customer.”

Russ Parker
Project Manager / Scrum Master

Severn Trend Water, UK.

Reflection

Due to the tight deadline for this project, I had to learn how to expedite my work and deliver high-quality results quickly. I communicated with multiple stakeholders and managed the time zone difference to ensure that we were able to move the project forward. I collaborated closely with the client by asking questions and clarifying any information that was needed by the team. I also learned a lot about design from my team members, and we worked together to create a productive and organized working environment. Although we didn't have time for extensive usability testing, I emphasized the importance of formative testing with actual users, which proved to be very helpful in improving the dashboard. This approach helped us to earn the trust of the client and gain additional projects in the future.