NergyWatts
Helping small bakery business owners save on their energy consumption
Screen based Interaction, California State University East Bay | Individual project, Semester 1
Duration: 2 weeks
Role: UX research, UI design and development of prototype
Tools: Adobe XD, Atom, Google docs, Google slides, Github
Note: The following project was done keeping in mind the constraint introduced by my professor at CalState East Bay which was designing and developing a working prototype of a mobile based application by using its affordances for a narrow audience keeping environmental sustainability in mind.
Project Overview
Understanding energy conservation is of utmost importance in the present time because it drives our present and future. Addressing this in terms of what it means for small business owners and more specifically for Bakery owners. Being aware of the consumption of the appliances they use will not only help them lower the expenses but also contribute towards sustainability. Various small business bakery owners do not realize this due to a lack of knowledge or technical support. A thorough study and collection of the statistical data of the usage of their appliances over a period of time can help determine the energy consumption and help in the identification of the individual processing units over operational modes.
To help the Bakery owners, it is important to understand the production process of the bread which is their primary product and contribute other products they might sell. Also the process of baking and cooling of the appliances they use. After understanding the bakery process and the timings used for the appliances we could create a statistic of the overall usage and further help them in being under their budget and also monitor the overall energy consumption. Major findings include that fresh bread is prepared using a series of appliances every day and for some after every 2-3 days. An application where they can record the usage and that helps them keep a check would benefit their business and also help in sustainable living.
Problem statement
Monitoring energy consumption may not be a very new thing to do but lack of knowledge and awareness can contribute to not just spending more but also the release of greenhouse gas/ carbon dioxide emissions. The manufacturing industry consumes the largest amount of energy and the baking industry which produces foods such as fresh bread, cakes, and pastries for meeting people’s daily dietary demands consumes a lot of energy from gas and electricity. Thus it only makes sense to monitor the process of the manufacture from an early stage. The Bakery owners bake products that have a similar procedure of manufacturing and often require similar appliances that help in the baking of their products. There are various studies done that determine that reporting the overall usage can help them. According to the utility bidder “How much electricity, an individual restaurant uses will obviously depend on its size, the equipment used, any energy efficiency measures that are in place and so on. It’s worth noting though that on average, a small business uses between 15,000 and 25,000 kWh of electricity per year.
To understand the use of appliances by bakery owners, it is important to understand the generic production process which helps in generating insights and about how to collect and monitor data throughout a period. Below present figure 1 shows this generic production process of bakeries and shows that the same core processes are used such as mixing, shaping, forming, baking, cooling, freezing.
Figure 1:
Tracking the energy consumption through the baking process over a period requires two different approaches to estimate the usage:
(i) conventional building loads simulation models based on physical properties of materials and specifications of equipment
(ii) measurement-based energy models which extrapolate building energy performance over an extended period. In the case of small bakery business owners who may not be able to afford sensors that help in understanding the appliance’s energy consumption properly, they need to use a monitor to help them track the hours of use on the basis of the cost per unit of any specific area they belong.
Understanding the user
The main goal of the research was to understand the needs and actions of the small bakery business owners and gain a deeper understanding of their problems and receive valuable insights for the design decisions on this project. In order to do this and understand the user better, the user interview was taken as a part of qualitative research.
Here are the two personas which represent two different scenarios.
Envisioned user experience
The application NergyWatts makes it easier for bakery owners to keep track and monitor the consumption of energy from their appliances. Small businesses have a tight budget and also wish to gain more profit by spending less. The very first stage of the user is the login/sign-up image entering details to sign up on the application and setting up their country. Then further on the home screen, their primary usage pertains to adding a device and setting up the timing for which they are using it, and switching on and switching off the appliances on the application as and when they use them. Another flow from the home is the profile where users can edit their details such as login details, switch on the night mode, and also set up a budget for the whole month in terms of billing assigned to the overall electricity being consumed. The user will also keep getting notifications for decreasing the overall usage or even switching off a device that will help save cost. The notifications will pop up after analyzing the historical data that the user inputs and on the basis of which appliance is under use and the energy it is consuming in KwH. The main expectation of the user is being able to track the data of the appliance on the basis of the hours it is used in a day. And also to get overall statistics defining their billing and usage over a period of time.
The main touch points include setting up the hours, adding the device, and recording the data by entering the consumption hours. Also, the navigation from adding a device to set up the hours is an important flow. The historical data screen gives the usage statistics daily, weekly, and monthly showing the total number of hours along with individual hours used by all the appliances.
Sketches
The design focuses on flows that are mostly connected to the home screen and will bring
back the user to the home screen. The signup page after the splash screen uses the country field and login details to create a profile specific to the electricity billing of that country. The main home screen has all that the user needs to keep a track of the energy consumption. Different appliances are present at the bakery which can be switched on and off accordingly using the application home screen. Users can navigate to the energy consumption statistics specific to each appliance and then an overall statistics of the bakery in terms of hours it was consumed. And the overall statistics show the historical data to determine whether or not the user is in good or over budget. Another flow from the home screen is adding a new device to the list which takes you to a list of devices that one can select from and then further also add a new device, not in the list. The listed devices on the home screen show overall statistics like the number of hours the appliance was used that day or that week or even monthly. Additionally, the application uses the internet and location feature to store data and update the application on mobile.
Visual design
Color pallet
Screens
Final prototype
The application uses the internet and location feature to store data and update the application on mobile. The screens with historical data and device used during a set schedule shows the data visualization of the usage. Various existing applications like ‘ECAS’, ‘EnergySaver’, and ‘Consumptions’ were referred as prior art. [Reference]
However i found most of the UI out there was difficult to understand so i came up with a clean and minimal UI design. Further, the final prototype was developed using p5.js and the video shows the flow of the application.
One can check out this application here.
Findings and looking forward
Helping live sustainable life
The application NergyWatts is made for small bakery business owners to help them reduce the overall cost on electricity billing but the appliances used in bakery such for heating and cooling contributes majorly to the emission of greenhouse gases which is in fact a great concern. Also, every small business has a probability of growing into a larger one and being part of the manufacturing industry where energy conservation becomes even more critical. Starting from an earlier stage will not only help them reduce the overall cost of billing but also be mindful of the consumption of such appliances that release harmful greenhouse gases into the environment.
Environmental perspective
We know quite well that humans contribute towards the emissions of greenhouse gases and burning fossil fuels and the bakery business requires a number of appliances pertaining to Mixing, shaping, baking, cooling, and freezing products. Thus NergyWatts specifically focuses on keeping a track of these and the number of hours it is switched on or off. It even educates the bakery owners to limit the timing or use the appliance at a timing they consume less. It has various screens like historical data statistics and individual data of the appliances used to track and manage energy. The profile section can even allow the user to set a budget and every time it crosses the budget the statistics turn to a red color. Thus it helps in energy management contribution towards environmental sustainability.