MakeMyHouseGreen is a data-driven B2C solar company that offers bespoke solar installation to homes and businesses across the country.
The company have recently launched mobile-first web app that calculates forecasted performance of solar panels which is compared to actual performance in a daily analysis, providing transparency and peace of mind to customers.
Sprint:
On-going
Deliverables:
Increase revenue and subscription rate to web app
Team:
Myself, Product Manager, Developer
My roles:
User Research
UX Design
UI Design
Design Systems
Situation
This app provides a data service for our customers after their solar system has been successfully installed. Users can see daily energy generation, with a clear indicator of whether that performance is good or below expectation. Poor performance alerts the users to possible issues with the solar panels such as fallen leaves blocking sunlight or technical failure.  
The app had been launched for six months, with only a handful of users subscribing beyond the free two week trial. Subscription is priced at £5/month to cover the cost of solar radiance data we need to buy to calculate projected performance.

Our goal is to increase revenue and subscription rate.
User Profile
Customers can be summarised in the persona of David.
Demographic:
  • Age: 45-55
  • Sex: Male (80%)
  • Household income: £75k+
Goals priority:
  • Reduce energy bills
  • Future proof home
  • Help the environment

“I like to see the numbers to make sure it all adds up”

Research
User forums are conducted every 4-6 weeks in groups of 3-5 users to get in-depth insights from the end users.
The key insights found were:
  • The price of £5/month seemed too much, i.e. perceived value was lower than our price.
  • Although data is provided daily, users said that they stopped checking as frequently after the first few weeks when they saw performance is consistently good. So they weren't getting the value from the service.
  • Users want to be in control of their system
  • Users don’t like having to use two apps in relation to their solar panel set up. Our app only provides performance data as a comparison to predicted data. The manufacturers app shows a more in depth performance data and also gives the user control over the battery settings so that the user can decide when to charge and discharge the battery.
Our Response
Perceived value needed to be more closely aligned to the cost of the service. This can be done in two ways:
Pain point: Users don’t like having to use two apps
It will be a challenge for our tech team, but it is feasible to build in controls for the battery system within our app, negating the need for users to frequently use the manufacturer's app.
Pain point: Users stopped checking as frequently after consistently good performance is reported
The users have been given the basic data but not given any actions to make off the back of it.
We can provide recommendations based on our performance predictions and weather forecasts for the users to know when is best to charge their battery, use large household appliances and sell electricity  back to the grid.
Even better, we can give the option to automate optimised battery settings, meaning they can still get value from the service even if they aren't checking the app daily.
Pain point: Users want to be in control of their system
By providing both manual and automated battery settings, the user is can have full control over their system, or if they choose, to hand over the reins to our technology.

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