Energy Australia
Energy bills simplified
Energy bills simplified
Paper and electronic distribution bills for 3 million + customers.
Multiple modules combined into a single template for more than 140 user cases
Energy Australia, an energy company with 3 million + customers. They noticed a persistent increment in the number of bills that were paid late in correlation with an increase on call centre activity related to energy bills complaints.
I lead the user experience team to investigate the cause of this correlation and provide a design solution.
The common topic was “energy bills”
The emerging patterns indicated a problem with the existing energy bill design:
Customers were willing to pay their bills but only if they understood what they were paying for
Objectives: let customers to show us what they would like to see on their bills so they can understand what they are paying for
We ask customers to express what they wanted to see using words, notes on their bills or simple drawings
They told us:
Final or estimated? – “Clearly tell me upfront if this is a real or estimated bill, that way I can plan for variance in the next bill”
Date and season – “show me clearly the dates the bill is for and what season is for“
Plan and benefits – “Tell me what type of plans am on, what are the benefits of that plan“
How do I compare? – “Show me how I relate to normal”
What is a kWh? – “Give me a human friendly value of how much a kWh equates to. I.e. Hairdryer for 4hrs, fridge for 86hrs, air conditioner for 13hrs, etc…“
Same time last year – “show me a rolling graph of the last 18 months so I can compare with previous time last year“
Email me the summary – “Give me all the key information via email, as that way I don’t need to go to the full bill“
Objectives: test bill prototype with customers
Interviewees were asked to respond to the same original questions we heard from customers:
How much do I have to pay and when?
Is this bill final or estimated?
What is the date and season?
What is my plan and my benefits?
What is a kWh?
How do I compare with others?
What was my consumption same time last year?
A modular approach categorised in components with combinations for all 140 potential bill types in 1 single template
We incorporated to the design everything we learnt from users and comply to all legal and technical requirements.
The paper bills where simplified from 3 to 2 pages. Saving weight and cost over million of bills sent every month.