Genesis Energy aims to provide customers with more meaningful value, beyond the transaction of paying a monthly bill.
We partnered with the digital team on a complete redesign of their app, EnergyIQ. Starting with deep audience research and strategy definition, we used this to drive the user experience design and creative execution.
The result is a visually stunning experience with actionable insights and personalisation at its centre. Customer engagement via the app has increased year-on-year since launch, helping to reduce churn in a highly competitive industry.
When the weather gets colder, people tend to use more heating, stay inside, and take longer showers. Coupled with historical personal usage data, Genesis could already predict with startling accuracy, how much a household’s power spend would likely increase or decrease each day.
Despite predicted spend being a useful feature in theory, we discovered why the current implementation had lower than expected engagement.
Original ‘predicted spend’ tile that appeared in the app:
Key insights from user testing
We took these insights, reframed the data, and also made the effect of weather on the home (and therefore its power usage) visually connected.
Along with the under-utilised predicted spend data, Genesis also had a huge tips centre, filled with ways to save power by making simple changes.
Users found the tips nice but struggled to gauge their impact, such as how much power a shorter shower would actually save.
We took these insights and combined the weather prediction data and tips into an cohesive journey. Users were inspired by seeing an estimate of the money they could save on their upcoming bill, and said with this addition, they’d be much more likely to try out the tips in their home. Unfortunately, the actionable tips feature has not been launched due to competing app priorities. We hope Genesis will be able to include it at a later date.
Before our involvement, Genesis categorised audiences into demographic-based segments such as ‘older people’ and ‘young families.’ This segmentation method was not actionable, as it generalised the diverse needs of individuals who happen to share the same demographic.
For instance, within the older audience, there are both tech-savvy individuals and those wary of technology. It is therefore very difficult to create a feature in any app tailored specifically for ‘older people’. Based on our research, we defined four new behaviour-based customer segments for the digital channel:
Genesis were particularly concerned with the ‘Passive’ users, who were a large group. These users wanted very little engagement with their power supplier -they were simply too busy. Unfortunately, a lack of engagement often leads to churn.
Delving deeper, we learned that all audiences could align on one thing: saving money. If Genesis could show insights to help users reduce spend without having to think too hard, research showed that even passive users may be willing to engage.
Ghost Partners helped us better understand our customer needs and provide actionable recommendations. As we moved into delivery, their highly skilled team provided robust, yet innovative, approaches as we collaboratively explored solutions and ultimately delivered a revitalised EnergyIQ.
Darren Tsang
Senior Manager (Platform Owner), Genesis Energy
Interestingly, features in the previous version of the app had also offered ways to help customers save money on their power.
If only they used them!
Our research showed that the low engagement was likely due to cognitive overload, and lack of perceived actionability. Large amounts of text and details meant users would need to spend time understanding the key insights. Many, especially the high risk regretters and passive users (~57% of the total energy market), were simply too busy to bother.
Previous version of EnergyIQ for comparison:
To ensure we catered to each user’s desired level of engagement at any point in time, we introduced the ‘bite-snack-meal’ framework to the app:
A clear strategic objective coupled with in-depth audience research allowed us to work with Genesis in choosing a creative direction that catered to both the business and the user.
By representing where the usage actually happens (i.e. in the home) and visualising additional items users own such as EV's, solar panels and gas tanks, users feel an inherent sense of connection to their power usage.
Ghost brought clever thinking to the project and pushed us creatively. They maintained strong understanding of us as a client and worked brilliantly with the assembled team. They are a true partner.
Benjamin Paul
Senior Product Owner, Genesis Energy
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