SRP Power mobile app

Residential users of SRP’s My Account were unable to access their electric utility information with a mobile application. Users indicated that without the presence of an app, SRP felt outdated and not concerned with customer satisfaction. This issue affected all active My Account users, with stakeholders requiring a dedicated app for each account type (monthly billed electric, pay-as-you-go electric, and water).

Design a mobile-optimized experience that accommodated users who wanted to quickly accomplish main tasks as well as users who wanted access to all web features

Provide a user experience aimed at fast navigation and leveraging accessibility features. Focused on having main tasks (pay bill, report outage, check usage) be easily accessible and keeping cognitive load to a minimum.

Success would be measured by having at least 30% of active, non-solar residential My Account power accounts be signed up for the app within the first 12 months post launch.

Before the development of the SRP Power app, customers could only manage their My Account services through SRP’s website. While functional, this approach presented several limitations for users, who increasingly expected more flexibility and convenience in accessing their information. With a significant portion of the user base now expecting dedicated mobile apps from their service providers, the company recognized the need to design an intuitive, mobile-first solution that could better meet the needs of the customer and enhance user experience.

To ensure that the SRP Power app would meet user needs, the research team employed a combination of usability testing, user interviews, and surveys. These methods provided valuable insights into the current challenges users faced with the website, as well as their expectations for a mobile app experience.

Through the research team’s usability sessions and interviews, we confirmed that users wanted SRP My Account’s core features to be easily accessible at any time while navigating the app. These features are making bill payments, checking usage data, and reporting outages. Testing results also told us that other features from the website should be available as well; including adding/managing accounts (both SRP accounts and bank accounts), as well as having access to push notifications.

Based on the research findings, I wanted to be able to empathize with our user feedback and complete the following tasks:

Streamlining Forms: For the accessibility of making payments, SRP’s website had multiple steps in order to submit a payment: the payment form itself, a confirmation page, and a submission page. For the app, I removed the confirmation page altogether so that the payment process had less steps. Also, the payment form loaded default values for even quicker payment submission. With reporting outages, the website provided optional fields on the form for users who wanted to receive ongoing alerts for outages affecting their service address. For the app, these fields were removed to lessen the user’s cognitive load while completing the task.

Simplified Usage Charts: With monitoring usage data, the mobile version of the website displayed its bar chart horizontally to allow for large start and end date ranges. On the app, a maximum range was set for the user to allow for understandable data and not presenting the user with a view that could not be read. Also, the average temperature line graphs were removed from the app to keep users focused solely on how their usage data affected their bills. Over various releases, the Usage section saw a handful of updates as continued user feedback was gathered.

The hourly charts went from a radial bar chart to a standard bar chart. While stakeholders encouraged the more unique visualization of the data, user sentiment began strong but slowly waned; they felt the inconsistent look and feel of the charts felt disjointed and almost made the data seem unrelated.

The data table view of the usage data began as its own separate view from the charts, but then those views were combined into a single view. The separated views stemmed from some of the challenges associated with the development, and ultimately user feedback and general UI best practices allowed for this change to happen. Users felt the original usage page layout was crammed- while not explicitly stated, this was due to the large scale of the charts. The updated layout decreased the scale of the charts, allowing for the data to be given a clear visual hierarchy.

The Power app mockups and functional prototypes were all designed and maintained in Axure RP. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator assisted in creating custom icons and imagery for the app’s interface. Development wise, the initial release of the Power app was in Ionic, a hybrid cross-platform toolkit. Future releases iteratively introduced Jetpack Compose and SwiftUI into specific pages.

During the course of the development and design of the SRP Power app, there were some challenges that influenced the project’s outcome:

Stakeholder Influence on Design Decisions: While the research team identified key features, some stakeholders prioritized their perspective on preferred app behavior over user-centered design recommendations. One such perspective was that all content needed to be seen without the need to scroll. This ended up affecting several screens including the Dashboard and Usage pages.

Development in a Hybrid Toolkit: In order to preserve time, management decided to have the app be developed in Ionic (a hybrid code base toolkit) instead of Swift and Jetpack, which introduced limitations in platform-specific functionality and UI behaviors. It also required additional time for optimization across multiple devices and operating systems.

As the UX Designer on this project, my primary responsibility was to ensure that the SRP Power app provided an intuitive, user-friendly experience that aligned with both user needs and business goals. Throughout the design process, I worked closely with developers, the research team, and various stakeholders. My role was pivotal in translating user insights into actionable design solutions, iterating based on feedback, and ensuring that the final product delivered a seamless experience for users.

Designing Mockups & Prototypes: One of my core tasks was to create high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes that would serve as a visual and functional representation of the app. These designs were intended to provide stakeholders with a clear vision of the user interface and user flow, as well as to support usability testing. I ensured that these mockups were consistent with the company’s brand guidelines, while also focusing on usability, accessibility, and mobile-first design principles. The prototypes were used in usability tests to gauge how users interacted with the app, allowing us to iterate and refine the design in response to real-world feedback.

Example of a functional prototype used in user testing

Collaborating with Developers: Working closely with the development team, I translated design concepts into functional UI elements, ensuring that the visual designs were both technically feasible and aligned with the platform’s capabilities. I collaborated with developers to implement interactive elements like navigation menus, bill payment forms, and energy usage graphs, making sure that these features were not only visually appealing but also intuitive and easy to use. Throughout the development process, I participated in regular sprint meetings to provide design feedback, troubleshoot potential issues, and ensure design consistency across the app.

Here are some key outcomes we gathered after the launch of the app:

The release of the SRP Power app had a significant positive impact on both the business and its customers. By introducing a dedicated mobile app for My Account services, SRP addressed the growing demand for modern, user-friendly digital solutions. The app enhanced customer satisfaction by providing quick and easy access to essential features, such as bill payments, usage tracking, and outage reporting.

This improvement in user experience not only met customer expectations but also projected SRP as a forward-thinking company committed to customer care. The streamlined processes and reduced cognitive load in the app’s design led to fewer customer support inquiries, thereby optimizing operational efficiency.

Due to SRP’s decision to have My Account become supported by a third-party, any future updates to the SRP Power app would come from that vendor.