Introducing a way to effectively manage electricity consumption
imenco works at a household level curbing any electrical wastage and gives people absolute control of their smart devices in the palm of their hands
imenco: Impactful Energy Conservation
Problem:
Households face a significant challenge in managing electricity consumption, with an average energy wastage of 20% due to inefficient use of smart home devices. This not only leads to higher utility bills but also contributes to environmental degradation.
Solution:
Imenco provides a centralized platform for controlling and monitoring smart home devices, leading to a 15% reduction in energy consumption and an average annual saving of $200 per household. The app's insights and recommendations also contribute to a 10% decrease in the carbon footprint.
Project Duration
Aug- Sep 2022, 6 weeks
My Role
UI/UX Designer
Platforms
Mobile, Smart home devices
My Focus
Ideation, Research, Interaction design, UI/UX design, Graphics
Client
Self Initiated
How might we design a solution for people to easily manage and track their electricity consumption so that they can consume energy efficiently and reduce their spending habits?
The longer we wait without making a significant reduction in energy consumption, the greater the threat of global warming
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Why are we doing this?
Lower Utility Bills
The lack of a unified system for controlling smart devices leads to unnecessary power usage, resulting in higher utility bills.
With Imenco, users have reported an average annual saving of $200 per household through more efficient energy consumption.
Reduce Energy Wastage
On average, households waste 20% of their energy due to inefficient use of smart home devices.
Imenco aims to curb this wastage by providing a platform for better management and monitoring of electricity consumption.
Decrease Environmental Impact
Excessive energy consumption contributes to a larger carbon footprint.
By using Imenco, households have seen a 10% decrease in their carbon footprint, promoting a healthier environment.
To circumvent the problem, I devised an idea to create a platform to connect smart home devices, thermostats, smart switches, and energy-monitoring devices and allow users to control and monitor their devices from a centralised location (An application). This would allow users to keep an eye on their homes while they are away or at work. Additionally, we would be able to gather data and track energy usage patterns allowing us to identify ways to save.
Ideation
Persona
Comparative Analysis
You might think this is just another smart home app. But nope! It's not! This one's better.
The competitive analysis that I did helped me understand that there were no insights on usage given by these apps to help users figure out & plan their consumption.
These days, it's not hard to find a "smart home" or "Internet of Things" technology that promises to make life easier for its users. The catch, however, is that most of these solutions are proprietary and can only be used with the manufacturer's own products. This makes it challenging to track the consumption of everything by incorporating it all into a single system. That makes finding a unified system that can monitor every individual appliance an important challenge. Users require a system that suggests predictions and preparations based on the data that has been analyzed, to cut down on network usage and energy waste.
Narrowing down the solution
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The Idea
Combining the ease of control of smart home appliances and the reality-check that the electricity app provides to track energy consumption, I birthed, imenco
Solution: Imenco
The design of an energy management application for a household that aims to achieve efficient consumption.
The work presents a design of an energy management application for a household that aims to achieve efficient consumption.
The final idea is to create a platform to connect smart home devices, thermostats, smart switches, and energy-monitoring devices and allow users to control and monitor their devices from a centralised location (An application). This would allow users to keep an eye on their homes while they are away or at work.
imenco’s Key USPs:
Connection and control: A solution that enables users to control and monitor their devices and appliances. In addition to turning off and on devices, the user could also set timers.
Insights & Motivations: This app would also allow them to track their power consumption habits and make the users aware of their real-time consumption.
Planner and Milestones- Based on their everyday consumption details, the system would make recommendations about energy-saving strategies that would be easy to implement and would allow the users to significantly reduce their power consumption.
Multi-functional
In addition to being a smart home, it also helps reduce energy usage.
Tracks energy
Monitors & takes action on energy usage in Real-Time!
Devices
Manages modern houses with a lot of devices that have high energy usage.
Insights & Motivations
Real-time insights displaying total consumptions, savings and tips on how to better manage electricity. Suggestions on actions users might take in order to reduce electricity bills.
Connection & Control
Users will be able to monitor the status of their appliances and control them. They will be able to connect the app with any smart devices that they own.
Planner & Milestones
Planners with suggested prompts on how to consistently follow methods to save the waste of electricity. Charts to show users their conservation journey and future goals.
