OFF-THE-GRID RETROFIT
Case Study
What is it about: A tabletop board game where players aim to deploy strategies to go off the energy grid while tackling the housing crisis and managing the costs of living. It was co-designed in workshops by participants.
My roles: UX Researcher & Workshop facilitator | Strategic Designer | Product Designer
ROADMAP
15 weeks
Discovery
Secondary research and blog posts analysis
Approaching the project from a human-centred design perspective, I initiated by conducting secondary research to understand the current state of the energy crisis. After analyzing over 40 blog posts by University of Limerick students, detailing their actions against climate change, I identified specific profiles for interviewees. This human-centred approach guided my strategy for addressing the direction of the project.
Interviews & data analysis
Participants with diverse profiles were recruited for the interviews, and interview durations ranged from 15 to 45 minutes based on availability. I tailored questions to explore activities and accuracy related to identified personas. Finally, data analysis highlighted the core factors influencing energy consumption and production systems by discerning patterns in their responses.
Strategy
Personas
The personas identified in this study are shaped by participants’ awareness of the topic and its reflection on their energy consumption and production systems. Although the traditional definition of a prosumer may differ, in this case, the prosumer persona is defined by specific parameters within this study. This persona actively utilizes technology for energy optimization, storage, or production, offering a nuanced perspective on the intersection of awareness, consumption and production in the context of the study.
User taxonomy
With the prosumer persona identified as the key driver in the energy transition, the study concentrated on delineating its taxonomy to uncover the essential characteristics and actions required to embody the role of a prosumer.
Insights
Within thepool of insights gathered, the experiened prosumers pointed notableconcerns associated with their journeys. These included challenges they faced, the returns on their sustainable practices, useful information, and their roles within both households contexts and broader community groups.
Ideation
The ideation process originated from user concerns and collaborative input, resulting in three exploration lines.
Recognizing the synergy of energy and economy, the first line proposed a bond model for clean energy access. The second line focused on user-friendly DIY hardware, while the third, centred on education, materialized into a practical board game. Chosen for its accessibility and educational value, the board game serves as a tool for users to actively participate in and prepare for the challenges of the clean energy transition.
Execution & Feedback
Initiating with a low-fidelity prototype the project unfolded through workshops where participants actively shaped the game´sstructure and mechanics.The first session introduced foundational concepts and collaborative card completition, shaping initial game rules. Refinement followed in a second workshop with board game enthusiasts, incorporationg their insights. The prototype was then redesigned based on valuable feedback for playtesting ina third workshop open tothe general public, ensuring and iterative and participant-driven development process.
