Five user insights from advanced energy monitoring

Energy management systems (EMS) should therefore put end users in the driver’s seat – and not just for their smart electric vehicle (EV) charging. They also want to control when their battery charges, where their surplus solar power is directed or how warm their house is heated. Accurate energy monitoring is essential for users to make informed decisions, whether it’s optimizing self-consumption or tracking their savings.

How do we know this? Because we take the time to better understand end users’ needs. 

At gridX, we've embraced a user-centric approach to design and development, recognizing that the key to a successful product lies in continuous learning and adaptation based on user prioritization. Creating software that truly empowers users to optimize their energy flows requires more than just a robust feature set; it demands a deep understanding of user behaviors, motivations and pain points. Only by harnessing the power of user insights and research, are we able to create home energy management systems (HEMS) that not only meet but exceed user expectations. 

Let’s dive into the user insights that drive our product enhancements to guarantee industry-leading energy management systems. 

The power of user insights in energy monitoring

Deciphering user behavior in energy management is vital for energy companies to create solutions that resonate on both a practical and emotional level. gridX Senior UX Researcher, Kathrin Gumm-Bochenek, says, “When users feel empowered by their tools – whether it’s through access to live data, insights on financial savings or smart controls – they are more likely to engage with and trust the energy assets they manage.” This is why energy monitoring and energy analytics play a crucial role in enhancing user experience.

When users feel empowered by their tools, they are more likely to engage with and trust the energy assets they manage.”

Kathrin adds, “The global shift toward cleaner, more efficient energy systems requires widespread buy-in from everyday people. By listening to their motivations – whether they prioritize cost savings or energy independence, whether they prefer to know their daily or weekly savings – energy companies can create solutions that align personal incentives with the goals of the energy transition.” Ultimately, when users can easily see the benefits of participating in the energy ecosystem, they are more likely to adopt technologies and behaviors that support a more sustainable future. With energy monitoring tools, users can visualize how much they consume and store in real-time, enabling them to make smarter energy decisions. Meanwhile, energy analytics help them understand patterns over time, providing deeper insights into efficiency improvements and cost savings opportunities.

At gridX, we see user insights as a bridge between the technical advancements we create and the real-world impact these tools have on people, businesses and the planet. Addressing user pain points, such as reducing complexity or increasing transparency, makes the energy transition smoother and more accessible. By truly understanding and meeting the needs of the end user, we’re helping to drive the energy transition forward, one smart decision at a time.

Five insights into smart energy app user behavior

We use a sophisticated product analytics toolkit, on top of extensive user research via interviews, to gather valuable insights and better understand users’ motivations. This enables us to analyze how users interact with our software, particularly via our Web app or Mobile app. By tracking clicks, hovers or navigation patterns, we gain a detailed understanding of how users engage with our product. Here are some of our key insights that all energy companies looking to empower their end customers should keep in mind:

1. Prioritize live views

Insight: The live view is the feature with the highest engagement (views and clicks) in our app.

Takeaway: Users prioritize live data on energy production and consumption, and they want quick access to this information to adjust their behavior accordingly. As such, critical live insights should be available with as few clicks as possible on the main dashboard. Real-time energy monitoring is crucial to helping users optimize their energy use.

2. Historical views remain valuable

Insight: Users regularly look at past data to provide context to their current production and consumption data. 

Takeaway: Offering both live and historical data is important to provide comparisons for users so they can see trends and the benefits of changing their behavior. Energy analytics allows users to track trends over time, making it easier to identify efficiency improvements and peak usage patterns. Historical views should therefore never be more than a click away.  

3. Ensure savings are visible

Insight: Users are not only interested in the amount of energy produced (kWh), but also the savings they generate with an EMS. Users find accumulated savings the most rewarding i.e. across weekly or monthly periods, and these also more closely reflect the way they think about spending and savings.  

Takeaway: KPIs like weekly savings should be visible on the dashboard to clearly show the amortization potential of a HEMS setup and allow users to see tangible outcomes. Energy monitoring tools that highlight these savings in real-time help reinforce positive behavioral changes.

4. Make EMS decisions transparent 

Insight: Users want to stay in control and need to gain trust by understanding the decision-making process, such as how time-of-use tariff optimization works  and its savings potential.

Takeaway: A smart energy app should provide transparency behind time of use decisions, for example by showing savings potential of shifting consumption to lower price periods. Energy analytics helps users understand how dynamic pricing and automation optimize their energy flow, ensuring they feel in control even if they don’t manually adjust their settings frequently. Even if users don’t deep dive into the topic regularly, having the feature available helps instil trust and control knowing that this is possible.

5. Simplify options 

Insight: The majority of users use just two of four available charging modes. 

Takeaway: Users don’t want to be overwhelmed by too many choices, but rather fully understand the options available, which should be simple and minimalistic. By leveraging energy analytics, companies can identify the most-used features and optimize interfaces accordingly, ensuring that complexity never hinders adoption.

The iterative process of product enhancement

At gridX, improvement is an ongoing process. We believe in an iterative approach to product development, where gathering user feedback, analyzing data, and implementing changes is a continuous cycle. With each enhancement, we measure the impact on user satisfaction and performance, ensuring that every change delivers value. Energy monitoring and energy analytics provide the data-driven foundation for these enhancements, allowing us to refine our software in response to real user behavior. Our end-to-end consulting services ensure gridX customers optimize their own product development and roll out along every stage and in every market.

Keeping users at the center of our development process strengthens the relationship between gridX, our customers and end users, ensuring our software remains cutting-edge in a competitive market.”

Closing the loop on user feedback is thus critical. “Keeping users at the center of our development process strengthens the relationship between gridX, our customers and end users, ensuring our software remains cutting-edge in a competitive market,” says gridX Product Manager for Product Analytics, Ruben Damoiseaux. “As the energy landscape continues to evolve, so will our innovative approach to product development,” he summarizes. As the energy landscape continues to evolve, energy analytics will play an even greater role in shaping user-centric solutions, helping both businesses and consumers navigate the complexities of the energy transition.

Get in touch if you want to learn how you can better understand your users’ changing needs and develop a tailored energy management solution that constantly maximizes value and minimizes complexity. Start leveraging energy monitoring and energy analytics today to optimize your rollout of future-proof technologies.