The client had already recruited multiple agencies to research their high-level strengths and weaknesses, but that’s where they had stopped. They were sitting on a mountain of beautifully curated artifacts and unsure of where to start.
Leadership and internal subject experts were fatigued from the previous research engagements. Moral felt low and participants were wary of putting in too much time. This initially made scheduling workshops difficult.
IBM’s Garage Methodology typically involves co-creating a vision together through design thinking and research activities that reveal the true nature of the client’s opportunity. In this case, they were seeking guidance within the co-create phase.
Discovery was a bit different this time, as we were encouraged to leverage the insights other agencies had gathered. This included personas, journey maps, segmentation, and a competitive analysis. The research artifacts told a story of where the client was, but not where they were going.
The client needed direction, but before I continue the story, let me introduce the people we were designing for:
Brokers
An energy broker helps businesses and people find the best energy deals by shopping around and negotiating prices with different suppliers.
Brokers may handle pricing requests, help customers manage energy usage, and guide customers in the event of utility or billing issues.
Large C&I Customers
A large commercial and industrial customer may use a broker or source energy suppliers on their own to find the best solution for their business.
They tend to have more complex needs around energy management, contracts, regulatory compliances, and sustainability goals.
Small Business Owners
A small business owner typically handles energy decisions themselves and is more likely to utilize self-service platforms.
They have fewer resources, more predictable energy usage, and less regulatory concerns, and also seek cost-effective energy solutions.
When we began, Shell’s online B2B tools didn’t even meet baseline expectations. Customers and brokers could pay bills or request a quote online via lengthy unauthenticated forms or sign up for an automated draft. To make things more confusing, there were multiple portals to achieve what competitors provided in one uniform experience.
With this in mind, we agreed to address opportunities in the form of crawl, walk, and run. Crawl opportunities meant achieving basic customer expectations. Walk looked at nice-to-have features that made it easier for both brokers and customers to work with Shell. Run explored what it looks like to be an industry leader.
Shell had already started building for the crawl stage which they dubbed “release 1.” This read-only portal included the ability for customers to view and download billing and usage information, but there was no other way to interact with the information.
Rather than risk feature bloat or copy competitors, we ran multiple workshops and co-created portal aspirations with client stakeholders, brokers, and customers.
While my fellow designer Dan compiled workshop findings into a North Star output, I worked with stakeholders and customers to refine concept screens around needs, desires, and constraints. Below is sample of those screens.
This engagement resulted in three deliverables including wireframes, concept designs, and a North Star document for the future of Shell Energy’s Customer Gateway. As a team, we defined critical outcomes, the capabilities to enable them, and the high-level solution to bring those capabilities to life.
The IBM team lacked the internal support needed to develop a crucial strategy around data and integration. Without accurate data and seamless integration with other services, Shell risks creating an appealing but ineffective portal. I highlighted this concern during my final presentation at Shell headquarters and sincerely hope they implement the designs with robust data for maximum success.
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