Griddy is disrupting the retail energy market with it’s proprietary platform that connects its members directly to the wholesale price of energy. The Griddy experience is delivered through powerful and intuitive mobile and web apps that provide real-time usage information including energy consumption and expenditure.

Metrics showed that our app's Usage page had the highest user engagement, but also received the most questions and issues to our Customer Support team. To combat these issues, we decided to tackle a redesign of this page that would be functional for now as well as scalable for all the future feature iterations the company had planned, something the current design would not allow for. But ultimately, the main customer problem we needed to solve was to present the data on this page in a way that could be more easily leveraged by members, allowing them to take actionable steps in their energy consumption, saving them more money, which was always the goal of Griddy.

The current design of the page, while functional, certainly had some limitations and known issues which we had gathered through various sources.

• iOS and Android app reviews revealed that the page was buggy
• “Cannot see my usage. I have been a customer for almost three months.”
• “One problem, my app doesn't show my usage.”
• Our customer support team would regularly receive calls around the usability of the graph
• Members don’t know how to read the graph
• Not understanding the data presented
• From a product perspective, the page was limited in its ability to scale with new features and initiatives the company was looking to take
• No room to add features
• Not optimized on web or mobile responsive platform
• From the development side, the team wanted to test a PWA “wrapper”, hoping to speed the development and release processes, as well as minimize device specific bugs that we had been seeing

"[With the current page] I compare the pricing to see if I am using more or less energy during peak times. I'm more interested in my consumption patters, and right now I have to do it in my mind." - Rick

The first step in tackling this redesign was to run a survey which allowed us to better understand the problem areas of the page, gain insights into how members were currently using the page, and what they perceived as most valuable. The results from this survey showed us some key findings: that member’s found very little to no value from the “equation” on the page but chose instead to look at each data point independently; members wanted “cost” to be a total cost, not only energy; the Y-axis of the graph skews the Avg. Price, making it hard to get value; and members were finding their own trends within the data presented.

With this information in mind, I synthesized the information and hypothesized on ways we could improve the experience of this page.

I ran a Crazy 8’s exercise with a cross functional team to generate as many ideas as possible from different perspectives. This exercise also allowed for early buy-in from team members and built a foundation for inter-team collaboration.

The outcome of the exercise led us to a few very actionable ideas for the experience and interface. We wanted to focus on year-over-year comparison, indicate more clearly in the UI prie spikes on an hour and daily basis, and segment time in an easier to digest way than we currently had.

• Graph legibility and including segments of time in an easier to digest way:
  • Updated Y-axis on Avg. Price graph to mitigate skewing and tell a story including visual representation of higher prices turning red on the line
  • Breakdown of data in segmented timeframes instead of infinite scroll allowing for easier trend recognition
  • Intuitive and engaging graph interaction with ability to drill down into specific time period using the callout summary
  • Separation of data points into three independent, easy to read graphs, each with their own color
• Scalabililty of the page for future product initiatives:
  • Addition of yearly data to showcase Griddy as a ‘long game’
  • Scrollable page built with room to scale for future iterations and features
• Build page using a "PWA":
  • Device agnostic navigation for use across web, iOS, and Android

"You don't have to be confused with two values. I've been here since September and I still need to relate the line to the price and bar graph to the kWh. It's much more organized in this presentation." - Ruth

In order to see how the changes of the page aligned with user expectations and needs, we ran some interviews with members and some usability tasks.

Finding information and completing tasks with the new design had a significant impact. Each task was performed faster on the updated design, and there was a 55% increase in the overall satisfaction of task completion.

We found some areas for improvement which we took into the final design such as a more relatable way to drill down into the summary details, more distinct visual differentiation of the Pending and Finalized data, and including background bars in the graph for easier readability.

"It's not only a cost saving thing but it's just using energy smarter. To be able to make wiser decisions. From what you're showing me here, this is good stuff." - Kevin

The team already had big plans for additional features of the Usage page which we started to prototype.

The initial MVP was tested with a Beta version to ~100 members across all platforms. We used the beta time to continue to improve on the experience, gather member feedback, and fix bugs before releasing to the whole Griddy community.

During the time I was working with TeenSafe, we expanded our product line from the original TeenSafe Monitoring platform, to also include a new app called TeenSafe Control. This new app allowed parents to control the apps their children could download onto their smartphone, as well as limit the time their children would be able to access their downloaded apps. The growth of smartphones has been exponential, with children now getting their first smartphone at the age of 10. Parents were constantly looking to have the ability to shut off certain apps for use cases such as school, study time, or quality family time.

Based on previous research, competitive analysis of other tools out there, and understanding of our target audience, Product and Design worked together to come up with various concepts for the Control app including variations of full app blocking function vs. individual app blocking and scheduling features. We found ourselves at a stalemate with our Board of Directors about which direction to go regarding these features as well as some other major decisions such as pricing and naming. We took the opportunity to turn to our community of parents to help in the decision-making process.

During our user research we wanted to answer a few fundamental questions:

• How and when might a parent use the Pause button?
• Would they look to 'Pause' the whole device completely or block only individual apps?
• Which direction of UI do parents prefer?

We tried to match our testing demographics as closely as possible to our actual user base by breaking the testers into ~60/40 women to men, with a median age of 40; and an average of two children per parent, with an average age of 11. While the testers were not from our current customer base due to a potential of bias from using our current product offerings already, it was very important we matched our demographics to our target market to get the best sense of their thoughts and feelings around this product.

The main feature we were testing was our proprietary “Pause” button. With a single tap parents could ‘pause’ all apps on their children’s smartphones except the phone app (in case of emergencies). Otherwise the child would lose the ability to access all other app from the phone for a period of time set by the parent with this Pause button

We were thrilled to see the initial reaction from parents as very positive with quotes such as: “Love this ability”; “This would definitely come in handy.”; and “Get this app out now! I would definitely use and pay for something like this.”

100% of the parents we interviewed were interested in or would use the Pause button functionality. Additionally, we found that 95% of parents interviewed would like the ability to use both the Pause button functionality as well as the ability to individually block apps on their child’s device. This was a surprise to us and helped us pivot our release strategy of the app. Also, 65% of parents mentioned unprompted wanting a scheduling feature, another great insight for our roadmap.

There had been some back and forth internally within the company about the look and feel of the Pause button. Our stakeholders had an image of the Pause button in their head as very direct and would be mostly used for ‘punishment’ of the child. This was a disparate image of what previous market research and user interviews had informed product and design, but a prime example of when user testing and getting information straight from the source is important. We developed two versions of the Pause button for testing our hypotheses.

In an even split of parents seeing Version A or Version B first, we asked the parents how they felt regarding the two versions of the Pause button, as well as how they might use a feature like this within their own family. While punishment was one of the main reasons mentioned for using this feature, along with bedtime and school/study time, the result was overwhelmingly one sided, with Version A being seen as “angry”, “a bigger deal”, or like an “emergency”; while Version B was felt to be “non-threatening”, “softer”, and “calmer and more modern.”

While the use cases aligned with some of the initial hypotheses we had, the feelings parents had associated with the two different UI led them to feel very different psychologically when thinking about using this feature.

The test helped validate certain assumptions and move forward with a visual direction of the app that better aligned with the feelings of parents and made them feel psychologically safe while using our app. This saved time and energy across the company in both development but also marketing and launching the product.

Beyond that, the test helped us clearly see what features were wanted and needed next by parents, leading us to a clear roadmap. After the initial launch of the Pause button app, we quickly released individual app blocking and then a scheduling feature.

Kuna is a complete home security system built into an outdoor light fixture which came to market after exceeding initial Indiegogo funding goals by over 400%. Kuna's line of products allow homeowners to see and talk to visitors from anywhere with an integrated app and camera system, providing protection for both their homes and families.

Kuna came to Fake Crow looking for a website redesign to reduce bounce rate and increase conversions for their e-commerce experience. We did an initial assessment of the site to determine potential pain points, and decided to run short, iterative experiments on the site to test assumptions. These tests helped us determine our KPIs and steer us in the right direction for larger design changes later on.

The main problems we saw and worked on solving were:

1. No clear CTA. Neither button above the fold in the original design contrasts with the background enough to grab the customer's attention.
2. The video background doesn't clearly indicate to users what the product is or what its function is.
3. The tagline that was visible above the fold did little to convey the product description or company's value proposition.

Our hypothesis to solving these problems:

1. Adding a clear navigation with contrasting "Buy Now" CTA would encourage users to click through, resulting in higher conversions.
2. By using a different video above the fold of a man coming to the door of a home and interacting with the Kuna app, that was originally lower on the site, would better convey Kuna's offering and product to customers and decrease bounce rate.
3. Refine the above the fold tagline to better describe the product would also decrease the bounce rate.

We built a light weight AB test using Google Analytics to test the minimal design changes and new messaging. Running for a period of three weeks, we were able to gather quantitative data around our key metrics of bounce rate and conversion rate. Within the first few ways, the results were clear and the test design had already decreased bounce rate by 15% compared to the control.

By the end of the three weeks the experiment ran, bounce rate had improved by 31%, conversion rates increased by 66%, and sales increased by 89%.

During the same time as coming up with our initial hypothesis, we ran a 6-question survey with existing Kuna customers to understand their key motivations for purchasing. We found that the main concern was for safety and surveillance of their home while they were away. The second key finding was that Kuna owners described the product as "an outdoor light fixture with a camera". This information helped to refine the product descriptions which we brought into the main banner.

Armed with the results of the AB test, we were ready to tackle a larger redesign of the home page and product pages. We came up with new assumptions to solve and test for:

1. Tagline and imagery needed to resonate with target users and convey key benefits of the product.
2. Product imagery was hidden too far down the page and there were no CTA's to drive specific product conversion.
3. There was a lack of trust from prospective customers because the product was so new to the market.

A fresh round of solutions:

1. From the survey we knew the primary concern of customers was safety and surveillance, so we came up with the tagline "Prevent break-ins before they happen" to address this concern. Additional imagery and benefits were added more clearly further down the page.
2. We would test a large banner image that showcased the product itself and add secondary CTA's for each of the individual products.
3. A testimonial slider was added onto the page that featured photos of real customers with a short testimonial and an image of their Kuna light on their home.

With this new round of changes, we wanted to look at the whole end-to-end shopping experience, not just the landing page. Therefore, we took some of our findings and expanded them to the checkout process, making it easy to navigate and hiccup-free.
Here we really focused on making sure prospective customers understood the product line without being confused by too many options. We also made sure that the pricing was clear and easy to find. The individual store pages were designed with a consistent look and functionality to the homepage design. We knew intent on these pages were higher so we were not looking to reinvent the wheel, but simply keep a consistent, trustworthy checkout process.

After four months, the newly designed homepage and simplified shopping experience helped increase Kuna’s monthly revenue by 265%.

Monger is unique buying club with an innovative business model allowing consumers to purchase items at wholesale price and apply the product margins directly to their student loan debts.

We used Monger's business goals to define their target market and create a series of personas to steer us during the process of building out landing pages and the e-commerce site.

By conducting one-on-one interviews with over 20 participants we learned how to better align the description of the business with target user's understanding of certain terms, allowing us to build trust with the consumers by using relatable language.

Individual product pages were tackled next. After testing the initial site to define consumer pain points, we redesigned the page and tested again. The usability test of the redesigned product page showed that over 90% of participants could complete the task of purchasing a product successfully, leading to a much higher conversion rate.

The final step was reorganizing the site architecture and product categories for an easier searching process by consumers.

After finalizing the information architecture, we built out the remainder of the online shopping platform and landing page experience.

Yello was an app that allowed users to share their favorite places and to make the discovery of new ones more efficient, personal, and connected. At its most basic level, Yello was an app for posting photos of locations that you would recommend to others. You could follow other users, like their posts, and repost photos to your own feed. If you were familiar with the social media explained with donuts meme, Yello wanted to be: “This is my favorite donut.”

To facilitate successful product iterations and improvements, I created wireframes, prototypes, and flow charts to align the product and development teams. I helped transform Yello from concept through App Store launch by defining the UX/UI strategy for the MVP rollout and iterations beyond. During this time I was also the acting product manager, planning sprints and managing backlogs.

As the app feature expanded, I was responsible for maintaining and understanding the overall application architecture and feature offering.

To cultivate a consistent brand identity across all facets of the company, I created infographics, brand collateral, and a variety of marketing materials.