In our UX research, we delved into the experiences and needs of energy advisors. Our goal? Enhance our understanding of their ways of working, how it connects to what they need in a CRM system, and, at the end of the day, do our part in fighting fuel poverty in the UK. Through interviews with ten individuals deeply involved in this domain, we've unearthed several insights that are going to shape where we go from here.
<aside> 🎙️ For this phase of the project, we've had the opportunity to sit down with 5 energy advisors and 5 stakeholders from various community energy groups across England. If you're curious about what we discussed, you can find the interview scripts linked here and here.
Talking with a seasoned energy advisor: exploring how infrared cameras support energy advice sessions
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Our project revolves around the development and testing of an entry-level case notes CRM system tailored for UK energy advisors. What sets our approach apart is its collaborative nature—energy advisors actively participate in designing this tool. With a focus on enhancing efficiency and combating fuel poverty, our immediate next step entails a design sprint involving energy advisors to further refine the tool.
Our landscape analysis revealed existing tools like Fairer Warmth and Airtable, offering tailored CRM and data analysis functionalities for energy advice services. While Fairer Warmth boasts guided workflows and personalized advice journeys, Airtable stands out with its intuitive data management capabilities.
Meet Marion - a typical user we're focusing on, reflecting the real-life challenges and goals of our target audience.
Marion is a retired volunteer and dedicated community member for nearly three decades. With a background in social work, Marian's passion for helping others shines through in her role as a Green Party Councillor.
Marian thrives on interacting with people and is known for her problem-solving skills. However, despite the digital age, she still prefers the reliability of pen and paper, even though she knows digital case notes are required by funders. This means she often spends extra time transcribing her handwritten notes into digital format after each visit.
"I'm a Problem Solver I suppose and aware of all of the problems that people in my community have. So that's really what motivates me is the feeling that I can help somebody".
One of Marian's biggest challenges is staying updated on legislation, schemes, and referral organizations. She's also frustrated by the difficulty in reaching low-income households who may not actively seek assistance.
"People are so fixated on I need to pay for my food today, so that energy might not be the top priority for them.”
Marian dreams of securing stable funding to employ a team of energy advisors, rather than relying solely on volunteers. She also hopes to generate more interest from households in need of energy advice and build trust within vulnerable communities. Additionally, Marian aims for her organization to carve out its unique niche and audience in the crowded energy advice landscape.
We've taken a closer look and decided to separate the user workflow for smaller, community-led organizations from that of more established, medium-sized organizations. Why the division? It turns out they have slightly different sequences of steps and distributions of user roles.