How smart data design raised revenue 2% while cutting CO2 by 3%
Creating an intuitive energy management portal that balances profitability with sustainability
During my stint as a work student, I tackled the redesign of the property data tables focusing on UX research, data visualisation, responsive design and design system set-up.
Feature
Property detail page
Team
Product Manager
UX lead
2 Developers
Context: Kugu hired me to redesign their property management portal
Kugu wanted a clear presentation of customers, properties, units and equipment for property management. They combine a web platform, IoT and AI to make building data available in real time, create digital added value and increase energy efficiency. The project is strictly under NDA and hence only few portions of the project have been explained.
The redesign I created, had a business impact
Redesign of the KUGU portal and new product features were implemented in 2022.
2%
Increased revenue in business
3%
Reduction in CO2 emissions from the building equipments
Solution: Property managers require a comprehensive summary of the energy usage data across their portfolio to effectively curb their carbon footprint.
The property table subpage gives a list of buildings in the real estate portfolio with address specific details and billing status for property managers to follow up with billers.
Properties sub page
The property table view gives a visualisation of all energy consumption of a realtor's entire inventory with address specific details and billing status of devices to follow up with billers.
Adding a new property
New properties can be added with the CTA and a modal appears to add more information.
Properties can be tracked with Object Numbers assigned to them.
Research
What we know about properties in Germany
In Germany, property owners have very little interest in saving energy or water. This has led to buildings becoming old and inefficient. Therefore unable to contribute to the sustainable reduction of CO2 emissions.
Old systems
High maintenance costs
Excessive CO2 emission
Hypothesis
By introducing KUGU portal to 1200 properties, a single customer can save 90,000€ on maintenance and reduce 4,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Kugu's hardware and software solutions can be efficient in energy savings for a property manager
When Kugu hardware is installed in buildings, it gathers all the data onto a portal for the assessment of the property manager to perform tasks that help the energy efficiency of the heating and cooling systems in the property and thus reduce CO2 emissions.
Dashboard
Overview of real estate portfolio and status
Property table
Analyse property and device status
Property details
Access to the statistics of the building
Persona
Property managers have to manage property data for multiple buildings
Different users use the portal but the property managers are the main users with super admin access to the portal.
Property detail page
User testing
Performing iterations based on user feedback
The data table was tested with real users by user shadowing and thinking aloud- that helped get feedback on the design and usability to understand their needs, tasks and first hand challenges that they faced.
Introducing tooltips
Before
Assumption: First time users can understand and remember shortened words and jargons.
After
Result: Tooltips with help text for setting the context for first-time users help them relate.
Establishing sticky columns
Objekt Nummer is important while referencing building numbers. Each row contains a building that, when clicked, leads to a property detail page that describes the nitty-gritty of the building to prepare for billing.
Before
Assumption: Users can remember the Objekt Number with the rest of the data in a horizontal scroll view.
After
Result: Pinned column ease reading for horizontal scrolls. Prevent confusion and smooth comparison of data.
Removing unnecessary columns
Objekt Nummer is important while referencing building numbers. Each row contains a building that, when clicked, leads to a property detail page that describes the nitty-gritty of the building to prepare for billing.
Before
Assumption: Users can remember the Objekt Number with the rest of the data in a horizontal scroll view.
After
Result: Pinned column ease reading for horizontal scrolls. Prevent confusion and smooth comparison of data.
Designing for responsive interfaces
Most of our users access the portal via laptops and tablets. In extreme cases mobile is also used (it was also a business requirement), hence adopting a responsive design seemed suitable.
