Andreas Kruszakin-Liboska – Sparky Energy App

The challenge

Municipality Delft is planning to become natural gas-free by 2050 at the latest. The question is, how do we persuade homeowners to transition from natural gas to electric heating?

The Solution

We responded to this challenge by creating an app that couples with a smart meter, to help homeowners understand their personal gas usage patterns. In the accompanying travelling community hub, neighbourhoods can discuss and share their experiences in the transition. Sparky aims to ease homeowners into the transition to gas-free energy through encouragement, education, and support.

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My role

For the Project Smart Society course, I worked on a project from start to finish, my main responsibilites were designing visual language of the intitative branding as well as working on the community flow with rewards and personal progression screens. It was my frist time using SCRUM for product development, but I quickly got used to it and learned the strenghts from that approach in my work. It allowed me to quickly move from iteration to iteration with constant feedback loop.

User research

In our first sprint of the project, we investigated the problem of heat transition in Delft, where most buildings use natural gas for heating and cooking. We wanted to understand the challenges and opportunities of switching to sustainable heat sources, such as solar, wind, or geothermal energy. We conducted a literature review, a survey, and semi-structured interviews with homeowners that we visited in Multatulibuurt to gather data on the current situation, the national policy, the neighbourhood plans, the costs and benefits, and the public opinion of the gas phase-out. We found that there is a lack of awareness and affordability among homeowners, and that the renovation rate of existing buildings is too slow to meet the 2030 goals. We also found that there is a mixed support for the gas phase-out, with some people favouring it for environmental and safety reasons, and others opposing it for economic and practical reasons.

the process

Our project process started with user research, where we learned about the homeowners' worries and lack of communication with the local authorities regarding the heat transition. Based on this, we created three concepts for our client to choose from: a mobile hub that explains the transition and the incentives, a smart meter that lets you monitor your energy usage and compare it with your neighbourhood, and a combination of both. We chose the last concept and prototyped and refined it repeatedly during Sprint 2 and Sprint 3. The project ended successfully with final testing, client approval, and EXPO, where we presented our vision and live prototype to the audience.

the Prototype

Our prototype consisted of two parts: an app and a listening wall. The app had various features, such as setting up your smart meter, checking your usage, comparing your household and neighbourhood with others, and accessing a community tab where you can find out and join the next pop-up event to exchange tips and experiences about the transition. The listening wall had prerecorded voice messages from homeowners who had successfully switched to green energy, and an interactive map of Delft with a quiz to test and improve your knowledge in a fun and engaging way.

Credits

PRODUCT OWNER

Louise Roose

SCRUM MASTER

Thijmen de Valk

UI DESIGN

Andrei Avram & Andreas Kruszakin-Liboska

UX RESEARCH

Jin Chang & Malu Kooijman

DATA ANALYST

Ketlin Rhebok

RESEARCH REPORT

Andrea Duarte

Sparky Energy App