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OVO Energy: Smart Meter Bookings for migrated customers

Overview

Brand - OVO Energy 

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OVO Energy, a leading UK energy provider, became a 'top 6' supplier following the acquisition of SSE Energy in 2020, expanding its customer base to more than 4 million. I worked for OVO from 2021 - 2022. 

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Role - Lead UX Designer 

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Problem
As Lead Designer for OVO Energy's 'Get Smart' Product team, I spearheaded the design of Smart Meter installation booking features across all OVO brands.

 

Our primary goal was to streamline the Smart Meter installation process for customers and adhere to Ofgem's booking requirements.

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SSE members, known for their limited digital engagement, traditionally conducted many tasks, including meter reads, tariff changes, and even Smart Meter bookings, without an online account. This posed a challenge as SSE members transitioned to OVO Energy's systems in 2022. OVO required members to 'self-serve' with an online account. 

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Team 

I was the UX Designer within a multidisciplinary product team. My team members were a: 
 

  • Product Lead 

  • Product Manager 

  • Content Designer (UX Writer) 

  • Agile Coach

  • Insights (Data Analyst) 

  • Brand Experience colleague 

  • and multiple Developers (Engineers) 

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​Results 

  • 9/9 WhatsApp chatbot rating. This was a novel interaction for OVO Energy.  

  • Encouraged online account activations from a historically non-tech savvy member pool. 

Examples of features I worked on as part of the

'Get Smart Product team'. My main responsibility at OVO was being the designer for the 'Get Smart' team. 

Discovery: Lightning Talk and Experience Mapping 

Our remote team, composed of colleagues across England, UK, launched the project with a Google Meet call led by our Product Lead. They presented a brief overview (Lightning Talk) of the issue we were addressing in the context of SSE to OVO customer migration:

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  • Research indicated that SSE members were likely to avoid creating an account. 58% of SSE members without a smart meter lacked an email address, preventing them from having an account on any system.

    • Previous colleagues had created a Persona to represent a sizeable portion of SSE members who are rarely engaged, price-conscious, and generally uninterested in utility management. This 'issue' was widely known by SSE Product Teams.
       

  • OVO Energy mandated that members create an account to complete tasks online, posing a risk to Smart Meter installation booking numbers, which was our team's responsibility to maintain.

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To assist the product team in identifying the pain points SSE members would encounter post-migration, I organised and facilitated an Experience Pain Point Mapping session, resulting in the identification of multiple pain points.

We did all of this during our project kick-off call! I facilitated the 

section where the team mapped pain points (opportunities). 

Define: How Might We? 

At this point, the Product Team knew about the problem space and potential issues. Myself, the Product Lead, and the Product Manager transformed the identified pain points into actionable opportunities using the "How Might We" framework.

Through a dot-voting exercise, the Product team selected the opportunities to focus on. Subsequently, we engaged in an ideation and prioritisation session to refine our approach to addressing our problem. This collaborative session was facilitated and planned by me. Screenshots from the session are provided on the right.

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We focused on the following: 
 

  1. How might we allow members to book without an online account?

  2. How might we provide the right messaging for customers to book an installation with an account online? 

  3. How might we redirect customers to Smart Meter installation booking after activating their online account?

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And then we came up with the ideas to: 
 

  1. Provide a WhatsApp bot for customers to book a Smart Meter installation. 

  2. Changing content on ovoenergy.com to encourage people to create an account and using experimentation tools to measure success. 

  3. A path (link, cross-sell, content etc) to Smart Meter Booking once a customer completes account activation. 

How might we and prioritisation workshop facilitated by me.

Define: User Story Mapping

Following the design workshop, a user story-mapping session led by the Product Manager and co-facilitated by me focused on the idea of introducing a WhatsApp bot for Smart Meter installation bookings. The remaining two ideas were prioritised for future development and added to the backlog by the Product Lead.

 

Story-mapping facilitated alignment on the creation of an Intercept Landing Page that would intercept members attempting to book a Smart Meter installation without logging into their account. This page would offer members two options to move forward:
 

  1. Log in and book the Smart Meter installation using the existing booking tool.
     

  2. Proceed to a page providing alternative booking methods, including a WhatsApp booking tool and contact center number. The page would also include persuasive content encouraging members to activate their accounts for self-serve benefits. This was done to align with a strategic objective to get as many SSE members online accounts activated on OVO Energy. 
     

The team collectively believed this solution would maintain stable Smart Meter booking numbers during and after the migration process, catering to both regular members and those hesitant to create an account. Also, this worked as a vision to help the team stay focused as we moved into the development phase. It helped the Insights colleagues think about the data that can help us measure success. 

User story-mapping session 

Develop: Desk Research, Sketching and Wireframing 

In the absence of user testing, I adopted a rapid expert design approach, adhering to established design principles like those outlined on lawsofux.com. This was a 'lean' approach. 

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Desk Research

To empathise with users, I applied Jakob's Law, which states that users prefer familiar interfaces. Additionally, I employed analogical problem-solving, conceptualising the first page as a log-in experience and the second page as a Contact Us page.
 

I then reviewed existing login and contact page experiences to inform my designs. For login pages, I focused on household brands, as marketing research indicated SSE members' preference for such brands. For the contact page and account creation encouragement, I examined competitors and previous SSE website designs. I learned the following: 
 

Login Pages:

  • Clear separation of user actions is essential.

  • Short labels facilitate navigation.

  • Account creation options should be readily accessible. And we didn't really discuss this during our story-mapping session. 

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Contact Pages:

  • Certain options receive greater emphasis, suggesting businesses' preferred contact methods.

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Account Creation Encouragement:

  • Bullet-pointed content with concise and engaging messaging is effective.

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Sketching

Informed by my learning, I created initial design sketches using pen and paper, followed by further iterations in Miro. The Product Lead and Product Manager granted me the freedom to explore design solutions that best aligned with member needs.

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Wireframing (Figma hi-fidelity designs) 

I made concrete designs using Figma, leveraging OVO's design system, 'Nebula,' to ensure consistency. Two UI versions were created, I went forward with the design aligning with OVO's branding used in the Smart Meter installation booking journey, ensuring a seamless user experience.
 

At this stage, the Content Designer collaborated by reviewing my designs and creating a 'Copy doc' to help me populate the designs with relevant content.

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Given the absence of WhatsApp functionality in the business at the time, the design process proceeded without incorporating WhatsApp as an option. The Product Lead and Manager addressed this aspect by securing the allocation of a dedicated contact center team to handle Smart Meter installation bookings via WhatsApp.​

Sketching and wireframing process. 

Delivery: Design Critique and Prototyping

Following the completion of the conceptual design, the Content Designer and I engaged in continuous design reviews via synchronous and asynchronous channels. To further strengthen our process, peer reviews were conducted with fellow Designers from both Content and UX. Involving additional colleagues provided fresh perspectives and identified potential areas for improvement.

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UI enhancements included:

  • Having a single call-to-action button on the alternative bookings page.

  • Optimising information hierarchy for improved comprehension.

  • Elevating links for enhanced accessibility.

  • Horizontally aligning WhatsApp and Call options (cards) to ensure above-the-fold visibility on most desktops.

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Content enhancements included:

  • Concise content tailored to the business's goal of securing prompt bookings. We used the rule of three. 

  • Elimination of unnecessary content to maintain a task-oriented focus.

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Throughout the design review process, the Brand Experience team utilised Figma comments to provide guidance on typography and alignment principles mainly.

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Upon reaching a satisfactory standard, the design was handed over to the Development team for implementation.

How our designs changed over time...

Result and reflections 

The project proved to be a resounding success for both the team and the business:

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  • The intercept did not disrupt the user experience, with most users continuing to log in as intended.

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  • A significant 45% of users who visited the alternative booking methods page proceeded to the account activation journey.

    • While data limitations prevent definitive confirmation of account completion, this high engagement rate indicates a positive response. It shows our positive content and UI convince people to activate. 
       

  • Smart Meter booking numbers remained stable during the migration of members from SSE to OVO.
     

  • The hybrid automated/agent chat WhatsApp booking channel, a first for OVO Energy, received an average rating of 9/9 from members, demonstrating a high level of satisfaction with this novel interaction.

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Reflections

This strategic project marked my first opportunity to engage an entire Product Team, fostering a collaborative environment focused on enhancing our customers' utility experience. The project's success instilled greater confidence in my abilities, allowing me to tackle more complex journeys in my future endeavors. We effectively addressed the business need for increased account activations while simultaneously satisfying the user's desire to book without an account as much as possible and pushed constraints by going beyond our websites for solutions. 

The Page is still live today with some tweaks (November 2023)

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