GE ROI Performance Calculator — Demonstrate the New Power Plant Solutions
GE presented our team with an intriguing task: develop a Return on Investment (ROI) calculator to demonstrate the benefits of their Asset Performance Management (APM) Software for clients in the power plant industry.
Role
Lead Designer
Industry
Power and Renewable Energy
Duration
Oct 22' — Dec 23' (2 months)
Core Responsibilities
Lead designer, product strategy, research and mapping, IXD, visual design, illustrations/icons, prototyping, QA assist
Project
Scope
In order to assist GE in demonstrating the benefits of APM, several factors need to be incorporated into the design
Challenging this, we redirected the design from complex mathematics towards on facilitating a clear and simple visual-based calculator.
Project principles
I then defined 4 goals towards this project — delivering a clear, simple and efficient calculator
Precise calculation
The system requires a precise calculation formula in the backend. The design, engineering, and mathematics teams have to work closely to ensure that we deliver the correct calculation value.
Simplicity and clarity
Users require a straightforward interface to easily input data and get results without unnecessary options or distracting visuals.
Share and download features
Users are able to share either internally or externally with coworkers or companies and be able to download the full-detail data sheet.
Consistency in design
Uniform button shapes, colours, and typography facilitate swift navigation and reduce cognitive confusion.
Mandatory and optional input fields — discussed with GE's senior analyst and engineering team
The required fields include the type of power plant, plant details (such as capacity and utilization), spark spread (representing the theoretical gross margin of a gas-fired power plant), and optionally, the plant's reliability benefit.
Goals &
Planning
Proposed solutions: Divided screen structure into two sections to help maximizing usability
In order to successfully help users navigate through the calculator while understanding the information and service GE provide, I proposed we combined a partially landing page with input fields
Hero & call-to-action buttons — Left side (fixed position)
This section offers a basic understanding of the calculator and includes primary calls-to-action, directing to contact information and report download
Input fields — Right side (scroll with parents)
This is where users enter their data, which will then be used to calculate the final results.
Design
Challenges
The challenge: How do we display 10 values together without creating cognitive load?
While deciding where to place the calculation outcomes for the best user experience, I considered factors such as the volume of information, intuitiveness, and overall user experience.
Thus, this raised several questions regarding placement:
How can users dynamically alter factors while simultaneously observing real-time updates to the results?
Without scrolling down to the bottom to see the result
How to conveniently view 10 or more information outcomes?
How to easily download a data sheet or share results via links or social media?
Proposed
Solutions
The solution: Collapsible panel, scrollable fields, and floating buttons
Collapsible panel for value display
Display only essential values when collapsed, but accommodate over 10 pieces of information when expanded.
Scrollable fields
Help fitting multiple sections into one screen
Floating buttons
Help adding extra call-to-actions as needed
Quick recap
This simple animated video was used when presenting the solutions to GE team
The components
Following are components such as input fields, dropdown menus, and value panels for the entire site. These elements are finalized and refined based on user feedback throughout the project, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience.
Results
Testing the prototype:
Helping us validate and adjust the designs with potential users and presenting the results across teams
Reflections &
Feedback
Culminated in a 14+% increase in APM tool inquiries from users in first 2 weeks and generated 200+ downloads of data sheet reports
Achievements
The GE team is highly satisfied with the calculator, which leads us to further projects involving analytical tools with them.
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