Duration: 3 weeks | My Role: UX Designer

For many homeowners, there is a lot of mystery regarding the benefits of eco friendly technology within the home. When homeowners make the switch, they want to see a return on their investment, know that it will be reliable long term, and have it conveniently integrate into their life.

With GreenHouse, we created a space for our users to discover new eco-tech and track their savings by inputting their eco friendly technology.

The Challenge

Our team wanted to understand the barriers homeowners have in integrating environmental tech in their home, and then design a solution that would overcome these hurdles.

The Outcome

A dashboard-centric app that serves as an information hub, technology tracker, and community destination for eco-conscious homeowners so they can achieve their sustainability goals.

The Impact

Homeowners have a clear and concise way to understand their green technology. There are less barriers for entry into this industry, and they can see the impact they are making on the environment.

Reach Your Goals In Sustainability with GreenHouse

Test the Prototype

Project Goals

1.

Understand the barriers that prevent users from using eco-friendly technology

2.

Design an intuitive and easy to understand interface for users to see the benefits off their ecofriendly technology

3.

Ensure a strong responsive design for users to easily view website on different platforms

4.

Ensure a strong responsive design for users to easily view website on different platforms

Research Insights

Understanding How Homeowners Interact With Green Tech

Our team conducted user interviews with homeowners who had green technology in their homes. We focused our conversations on understanding the process behind their decision to buy green, their thoughts on the efficiency of the current green products in their home, and how they would move forward in the future purchasing green technology.

Through these conversations we found that generally people wanted to be more eco-friendly in their everyday life, but felt that any resistance or change in their lifestyle prevented them from making the switch. We compiled these conversations, analyzed the data, and concluded these fourspecific insights:

Practical Concerns

Homeowners want efficient solutions that fit seamlessly into their daily life

Emotional Wants

Homeowners want to feel good about helping the environment

Convenience

Homeowners will switch over to green technology when it is convenient in their lives

Easy Access

Homeowners need a way to easily access information about green technology

Persona & Journey Map

Giving our Target Homeowners a Voice & their Journey Through The Process of Aquiring Green Technology

After understanding the concerns and frustrations of homeowners with green technology, we wanted to create a representation of their key demographic that would help keep us focused throughout the design process. When our team would face a roadblock, we would take a break and revisit our persona to help focus in on the demographic we were trying solve the issue for.

Meet Sherie - the eco-warrior

By mapping out the major painpoints of acquiring green tech, we were able to understand how a person trying to invest in green technology experiences information overload, gets confused how the technology will fit into her home, and finally become frustrated at the cost. This cycle can continue over and over again until the homeowner eventually gives up.

View her journey investing in green technology

Ideating

Design Studio

After taking the time to compile our research we entered the design phase, where we quickly brainstormed several ideas, and did two rounds of presenting and critiquing until we found common core features we felt would benefit our users.

Core Features that Make Up GreenHouse

Feature 1

Keep Track of the Green Tech Currently in your Home

In order for homeowners to see the positive changes they are making, we designed various infographics to show their current sustainability index as well as their improvement over time. Homeowners can input the items they own, and based on each items sustainability score, a total score will aggregate.

Feature 2

View and Compare Similar Products to Choose the Best Option for Your Home

To improve their sustainability score, homeowners can easily view details and compare items to choose the green tech that works best for them.

Feature 3

Easily Talk With a Professional, Who Can Answer Any Question About Green Technology

It is important in the eco-tech industryto make all transitions to new technology as seemless as possible. For many homeowners, any inconvenience breaks down any interest in green technology. We wanted to catch this group and make it easy to talk to a professional instead of endlessly scrolling Google for answers.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

WHAT WE LEARNED

Heavy Emphasis on the Benefits

We found that when it comes to technology in the home, many homeowners gravitated towards using the current appliances they could rely on. In order to break that barrier, it is important that the benefits are easy to view and present throughout the website.

Gamification Adds Delight to the Core Features

Taking inspiration from Duolingo, we wanted to add a gamification aspect to the core features to help emphasize the benefits. Many users responded positively to receiving badges as a feeling of accomplishment.

GREENHOUSE