Improving energy affordability for people experiencing vulnerability
Increasing an energy provider's community impact through an improved flagship program and design of complementary initiatives.
Impact:
Aligned the client and stakeholders around a unified vision for transformation.
Broke down silos by creating a human-centred design approach, enabling collaboration.
Developed clear, consistent ways of working to support transformation efforts.
Timeframe: 12 weeks
Services provided:
Design
Service design
Experience design
Journey mapping
Prototype testing
Capability Building
On-project training
Bespoke workshop facilitation
Deliverables:
Redesigned “Appliance Swap” Initiative: A service blueprint with illustrative supporting artefacts.
A concept for a new “Appliance Provision Program”: Concept design with key features and an operational delivery model.
Concepts for future, large-scale, community-driven initiatives: High-level concepts for further testing with customers and community networks.
Implementation strategy: A step-by-step guide to the next steps for each stream of work and key feasibility questions to answer.
Context:
Our client, a leading Australian energy retailer with over one million customers, had undertaken a review of its community impact strategy. For the previous few years, it had provided financial support to community organisations focused on reducing social disadvantage and promoting environmental sustainability. Wanting to increase its social impact the retailer pledged to significantly increase their investment and explore new ways to support local communities.
As an initial step, and in partnership with a community outreach organisation, our client launched a pilot program to assist customers struggling with high energy costs by offering complimentary replacements for their old, inefficient appliances with modern, energy-efficient upgrades. However, the pilot experienced limited customer participation, raising concerns about its potential to create impact at scale.
WAVE was engaged to assess the “Appliance Swap” program and explore ways to increase its impact and effectiveness.
Approach:
Given the pilot had not achieved the desired uptake, we began by exploring why it was not resonating with customers. Working with our client and their partner organisation, we mapped the customer journey to understand the steps required to access the offer. Using storyboards with supporting webpages and electricity bills, we tested the experience with customers and identified several key barriers. It was clear the process was too long, largely driven by compliance requirements. Additionally, the offer was framed around energy efficiency, and customers were failing to see the link between an improvement in appliance efficiency and reduced electricity bills.
It was clear we needed to develop a new approach to the program that would remove barriers to access and make it easier and more appealing for customers to engage with. Leveraging the insights gathered, we redesigned the experience by reframing the offer to focus on lowering customers' electricity bills, simplifying the process with fewer steps, and clearly communicating to customers that their old appliances would be replaced with new, and more efficient models.
Through our research, we also identified another cohort experiencing high levels of vulnerability who would benefit from being provided with a new appliance, rather than the replacement of an existing one — such as individuals with chronic medical conditions or victims of domestic violence. This led to the creation of a spin-off initiative, to be delivered through trusted community partners. This provided our client with an additional avenue towards scale while also reducing the operational burden on the business.
The improved programs would require increased investment to establish and maintain. To reduce the risk associated with this, it was important to ensure that our proposed designs aligned with the needs of customers. To validate and refine our solutions, we tested prototypes for both initiatives with a cross-section of customers experiencing vulnerability. To increase buy-in and ownership, client stakeholders observed the sessions. Through several rounds of redesign and improvement we ensured the final solutions were practical for the organisation to implement, and met the needs of both the business and its customers.
Throughout this process, we also identified the limitations of the Appliance Swap program to achieve our client’s broader goals of community impact and sustainability. This led us to explore additional large-scale, community-based initiatives that could meet these objectives. These included concepts like retrofitting community housing with solar to reduce energy bills, and creating community-owned renewable energy solutions, which provided our client with new opportunities to explore while complementing the Appliance Swap program.
To support our client to move swiftly from design to implementation, we outlined a pilot and scaling approach for each initiative. We assessed requirements to operationalise them, and prioritised key features essential for piloting. This informed a strategic roadmap that outlined clear next steps for our client to take the work forward, reducing risk and ensuring alignment with their long-term objectives.
Outcome:
Through our collaboration, we enabled our client to make a lasting impact on the communities it serves by delivering an expanded Community Impact Program. We reduced the barriers to accessing the Appliance Swap program to optimise uptake, and developed a new service for other cohorts experiencing increased vulnerability, adding to the value that could be achieved. We also identified the limitations of the Appliance Swap program and provided a strategic foundation to explore broader community-driven initiatives. We equipped our client to reduce future risks and guide the program’s growth, leaving them with a clear path towards implementation.
