ECOWATT
A smart energy management app that tracks real-time electricity use by appliance, calculates costs based on time-of-use rates, and delivers simple, personalized tips to lower your bills and carbon footprint.
Project Type: Mobile App Design
Role: Product Owner
Date: January 2025 to April 2025
Project Context
Developed as my senior capstone for the Interactive Media Management program at Centennial College, EcoWatt is created to help Ontario homeowners and renters understand confusing time-of-use electricity rates and save money. I led user interviews to uncover pain points, sketched flows and wireframes, built interactive Figma prototypes and ran usability tests to refine the experience before createing the final Figma prototype.
Problem Statement
How might we help financially and environmentally conscious users in Ontario reduce their energy consumption, understand electricity pricing and receive recommendations on the best time to use home appliances, so that they can easily lower their energy bills and reduce their personal carbon footprint with the help of a digital energy management platform.
Solution
EcoWatt is a smart energy management app that helps users understand how much electricity their home appliances consume and what it costs to run them. Using a unique image scanning feature, the app identifies the details of the appliance and shows multiple time-based energy cost of home appliances based on Ontario’s time of use pricing. With just three steps, users can make smarter decisions about when to use their appliances to save money and energy. The app also offers personalized tips based on energy usage and habits. Also, the app supports smart plug and smart device integration for deeper insights. EcoWatt simplifies energy tracking, encourages better habits, and helps users lower their electricity bills while supporting a sustainable lifestyle.
My Role
-
User Researcher: Conducted interviews and surveys with homeowners and renters to uncover pain points around energy costs.
-
Persona & Information Architect: Developed detailed personas, user journey maps and an optimized information architecture to support clear task flows.
-
Interaction Designer: Created low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes and built interactive prototypes in Figma, mapping every screen and interaction.
-
Usability Tester: Facilitated remote testing sessions, analyzed task completion and feedback and iterated on layouts, terminology and micro-interactions.
Tools Used
-
Figma: Built components, set up variables, and created the interactive high-fidelity prototype.
-
FigJam: Brainstorming, Low fidelity wireframes
-
Google Forms: Deployed and analyzed the Empathize-phase survey to gather user insights.
-
Adobe Illustrator: Designed the EcoWatt logo and polished visual assets.
Design Process
1. Empathize
-
Goal: Understand how Toronto renters/homeowners track and pay for electricity.
-
Method: Online survey (25 responses)
-
Key Findings:
-
76% found the EcoWatt concept clear.
-
71% get surprise bill spikes and lack appliance-level data.
-
Everyone wants real-time cost breakdowns, off-peak alerts, and an easy to use tool.
-
-
Outcome: These insights guided our first feature set for prototyping.
2. Define
-
Key Insights:
-
Users need clear, real-time cost data and simple tips—survey and interview feedback showed surprises at billing time and no easy way to see appliance-level usage.
-
Many currently track energy use with spreadsheets or timers, which is tedious and easy to forget.
-
Several users also want to see their carbon-footprint impact alongside dollar savings for extra motivation.
-
Personas
Nadesh
"I'm always looking for ways to save money. If I knew how to shift my electricity use to off-peak hours, it could greatly reduce my energy bills!"
Demographics
-
Occupation: Photographer
-
Location: Scarborough
-
Tech Savviness: Basic tech skills
-
Household Size: 5 members
Background
Nadesh is a freelance photographer who is very budget-conscious. He rents a home in Scarborough and is constantly looking for ways to reduce his expenses. He is aware that electricity prices vary at different times of the day but doesn't have a clear understanding of how much he could save by shifting his usage. He has a family to support and wants to ensure he is making smart financial decisions.
Goals/Needs
-
Clear Pricing Information: Nadesh needs easy-to-understand information about Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity pricing.
-
Cost Savings: Nadesh needs to see how much he can save by shifting his electricity usage.
-
Practical Recommendations: Nadesh needs recommendations that fit his lifestyle and don’t require significant changes.
-
Automated Tools: Nadesh appreciates tools that automate energy management, such as smart thermostats.
Frustrations/Pain-Points
-
Lack of Time: Nadesh is busy with work and family responsibilities and doesn’t have time to research electricity pricing.
-
Complexity: The details of Time-of-Use pricing can be confusing.
-
Upfront Costs: Nadesh is hesitant to invest in smart home devices due to their upfront cost.
-
Discomfort with Technology: Nadesh is not very tech-savvy and prefers simple, intuitive interfaces.
Sreelakshmi
"I care deeply about our planet, but honestly don't know where to start when it comes to saving energy at home."
Demographics
-
Occupation: Social Worker
-
Location: Downtown Toronto
-
Tech Savviness: Comfortable with smartphone apps
-
Household Size: 4 members
Background
Sreelakshmi is passionate about encironmental sustainability but feels overwhelmed by the complexicity of the issue. She recycles and tries to buy eco-friendly products and takes public transit. She understands the importance of reducing carbon emissions but has never connected her household appliances to smart devices. She lives in a rented apartment and dosen't feel like she has the authority to make significant changes.
Goals/Needs
-
Easy-to-Understand Information: She wants simplified explanations of how electricity consumption affects the environment.
-
Actionable Steps: Sreelakshmi needs concrete, easy-to-implement steps for reducing her energy footprint.
-
Motivation and Validation: She needs to see the direct impact of her actions (e.g., carbon emissions reduced).
-
Community and Connection: She appreciates feeling part of a larger movement and sharing tips with others.
Frustrations/Pain-Points
-
Information Overload: Sreelakshmi is overwhelmed by the amount of information on climate change and doesn’t know where to focus her efforts.
-
Lack of Clear Guidance: She doesn’t know which appliances consume the most energy or how to optimize her usage.
-
Rental Limitations: Sreelakshmi feels limited in what she can do because she rents her apartment.
-
Time Constraints: Sreelakshmi works long hours and struggles to find time for energy-saving measures.
User Journey Map
Nadesh
Occupation: Photographer
Location: Scarborough
Tech Savviness: Basic tech skills
Household Size: 5 members
Background
Nadesh is a budget-conscious freelance photographer who rents a home in Scarborough. He’s aware that electricity prices fluctuate throughout the day, but the details confuse him. With a family to support, he is always on the lookout for ways to reduce expenses, yet he finds technical information and smart home device integration overwhelming and costly.
Scenario
Nadesh has noticed that his energy bills are consistently high. Despite knowing that shifting his electricity usage to off-peak hours could save him money, he finds the information on Time of Use pricing confusing and the available solutions too complex. He begins researching online to find a simpler, more practical way to manage his energy consumption without significant lifestyle changes or hefty upfront costs.
User Steps
Awareness
Research
Consideration
Intention & Decision
Goal
Recognize the need for a simpler energy management solution.
Gather information on managing energy consumption and reducing bills.
Evaluate potential solutions that can simplify energy management.
Decides to try a new solution to manage energy use more effectively.
Actions
Nadesh reviews his monthly energy bill and feels stressed by unpredictability of cost.
He overhears colleagues discussing energy saving tips.
Nadesh searches online for “save money on electricity”
He visits his utility provider’s website and reads about the electricity price and tips.
Nadesh comes across EcoWatt in an environmental blog and reads about its promise to simplify energy tracking and cost saving.
He compares EcoWatt to other solution, focusing on ease-of-use and clarity.
Nadesh reads reviews and testimonials about EcoWatt, noting the clear language and practical recommendations.
He visits EcoWatt website to learn more about features and free trial offer.
😍
🧐
Emotions
😣
😤
Thoughts
“There must be a way to figure out when electricity is cheaper.”
“These information is too complicated and I just need something straightforward.”
“EcoWatt seems to break down the complexity. I might be able to actually understand my energy usage.”
“This might be exactly what I need to finally get a grip on my energy bills without all the confusing tech talk.”
Pain points
Confusing electricity pricing details and lack of clear guidance.
Overly technical explanation and lack of actionable steps.
Hesitation due to complexity and fear of investing time or money in a solution that might not work.
Lingering doubts about usability and integration with his current lifecycle.
Opportunities
Introduce clear and digestible content that explains Time of Use pricing simply.
Provide simplified and actionable insights through clear visuals and practical recommendations.
Highlight simple onboarding and free trial to lower barriers and build trust.
Reinforce the message of simplicity, free trial, and cost saving potential in marketing materials and website content.
3. Ideate
In this phase, I brainstormed and priotitized the main core feature to address the defined user needs and solve the problem.
I explored various ways EcoWatt could help users save energy and focused on the Appliance Scanner as the core feature. I used FigJam to sketch the complete flow—scanning an appliance, displaying its cost, and recommending the best upcoming run time—so I could validate the concept quickly before moving on to high-fidelity design.
Brainstorming
In FigJam, I listed feature ideas—appliance scanner, usage dashboard, off-peak alerts, recommendation cards, carbon tracker—to explore how EcoWatt could help users save energy and money.
MVP Focus
I decided to zero in on the Appliance Scanner as the core prototype feature:
-
Scan any home appliance.
-
Display its cost per hour using live Time of Use (TOU) rates.
-
Recommend the best time to use the appliance to save money.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
I sketched the screen flows on paper to visualize the sequence of interactions and refine the user journey before moving into digital prototypes.
4. Prototype
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
I turned paper sketches into greyscale Figma layouts, focusing on screen structure, content placement, and the scanner flow. This allowed me to test usability and refine interactions before adding final visual styling.
High-Fidelity Wireframes
I translated my paper wireframes into detailed Figma screens, refining the visual style, typography, and color palette to align with EcoWatt’s brand.
Desktop Landing Page
A responsive desktop landing page with a hero section showcasing EcoWatt’s key value proposition, a clear feature highlight section and a prominent download call-to-action page designed to inform visitors about the product and drive app downloads.
5. Usability Testing & Iteration
I tested the high-fidelity prototype with ten Toronto homeowners and renters, asking them to scan a PlayStation to view its cost and best run time. While all completed the core flow, many first clicked the analytics tab instead of “Scan an appliance,” and labels like “Enter Manually” and “Does it look right?” caused hesitations. I’ve revised the terminologies for clarity and added stronger prompts around verification. I will run one final usability round to confirm these updates before handing off the finished design.
Learnings & Outcomes
-
Successful Prototype: The Appliance Scanner flow achieved a 100% task completion rate in the final usability round, proving its clarity and ease of use.
-
Savings Potential: Simulations showed users could save up to 10 times on their electricity bills by following the run-time recommendations and running appliances during off-peak hours.
-
Design Insights:
-
Clear, intuitive labels and prompts are critical—early confusion over wording led to stronger UX writing.
-
Upfront FigJam planning and wireframing ensured a smooth Figma build with minimal rework.
-
Rapid peer testing uncovered hidden UX gaps, reinforcing the value of iterative feedback.
-
Future Improvements & Next Steps
-
Complete Prototype Features
Finish designing and integrating the remaining core features—smart device integrations, energy and cost saving reports and energy saving tips—so the prototype reflects the full EcoWatt vision. -
Dark/Light Mode Toggle
Add a theme switch to let users flip between dark and light interfaces, improving comfort and accessibility in different lighting environments. -
Full Desktop Experience
Expand the desktop prototype beyond the landing, feature-explanation and download pages to include the complete scanner flow, results and tips—mirroring the mobile experience for cross-platform consistency. -
Final Usability Validation
Run another round of testing on the updated prototype to confirm the new features and desktop flows meet user needs before handing off to development.
Conclusion
EcoWatt showcases how user-focused research and careful prototyping can turn complex energy data into a simple, actionable experience. By centering on the Appliance Scanner, we validated a core feature that can help users save around 10–15 % on their bills. With the remaining features, theme toggle, and desktop flow in place, EcoWatt is ready for a final round of validation and development handoff.