E.ON Flexi System

Overview

As the world shifts toward sustainable energy (finally!), E.ON set out to explore how regular households can play an active role in energy flexibility. In other words: how can people use energy more consciously and make the most of things like solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles - without needing a PhD in energy systems?

Brief

Design a service that enables households to manage energy consumption more intelligently through modern technology - supporting flexibility and the integration of diverse energy sources.

Objectives

1. Stand out in the B2C energy flexibility space.
2. Make flexible consumption something users actually want to do.
3. Understand users’ real-world habits, questions, and hesitations.
4. Dig into global and local trends to spark ideas.
5. Build, test and refine concepts with real people (not just on sticky notes).

Phase 1: E.ON Flexi System

We started with deep research to understand how people currently think about energy and how open they are to managing it in a more flexible, tech-enabled way.

Over 30 hours of in-depth interviews gave us rich insight into motivations, mental models, and why most people would rather do literally anything else than read their energy bill.

The questions we asked

• How do you currently think about your energy usage (if at all)? Spoiler: not that much - though, to be fair, many started paying more attention when the energy crisis hit.
• What would make you want to manage it more actively?
• How do you feel about the idea of sharing control with your energy provider?
• What will change when smart meters are everywhere?

We spoke to people with different home setups - some with heat pumps, some with solar, some with both - and used visual scenarios to bring the concept of “energy flexibility” to life. Because let’s be honest: without examples, it just sounds like a gym class for your fuse box.

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What we did (Phase 1)

• 9 stakeholder interviews
• 15 interviews with customers and energy experts
• 16 initial concepts → 4 master concepts
• 12 concept testing sessions
• 4 user personas

What we learned

• People underestimate the impact of heating and water heating and blame their energy bills on things like phone chargers or the kettle.
• If they don’t see a clear payoff (like lower bills), they won’t change their habits. Understandably.
• Flexibility is linked to saving money, while renewable energy is still (wrongly) seen as expensive.
• Most people only really think about energy once a year: when the big bill arrives and ruins their afternoon.

"It’s just too complicated. They tell me how much per MWh, but I don’t want to do the math. I give up."

From insights to concepts

We ran idea workshops with E.ON to shape key service pillars and created targeted concepts for heating, EVs, solar and batteries. Every concept was rooted in real user needs and motivations. Then we tested them with actual households (not just energy nerds) to refine them further.

Impact

We designed a service that helps people understand what’s going on behind their meter and make smarter choices - without needing a translator. It saves them money, helps balance the grid and supports more renewables in the long run. Win-win-win.

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Phase 2: E.ON Rovnováha

• By late 2024, we had tested and refined the E.ON Flexi service model and customer journey.
• In early 2025, E.ON launched the first version: a small plug-in device that connects via Wi-Fi to the household inverter. It talks to your battery, sending or drawing power based on the grid’s needs.
• The customer experience was built on our original research and concept work.
• We helped shape every single step - from landing pages and welcome emails to support scripts and feedback surveys. Because as we know: bad copy ruins good tech.

What we did (Phase 2)

• 45 hours of research interviews
• 9 iterations of the prototype website
• Lots of testing, feedback and workshops

My role as a Senior UX Designer

I was involved across the board - research, ideation, prototyping, user testing and keeping the project grounded in actual human needs (not just shiny dashboards).

Research repository

Co-managed our Airtable research database to make sure insights didn’t get lost in slide decks or forgotten in meeting notes.

Research & Testing

Participated in qualitative research, user interviews, stakeholder discussions and concept validation sessions.

Facilitating ideation

Co-led workshop team around this core question:

“How can we help people actually understand their energy use - and maybe even care about it?”

We guided teams through brainstorming, synthesized ideas and turned them into testable concepts.

Trend report

I created a 50-page report on global and local energy trends - with a little help from AI to speed up research, filter the noise and surface insights faster (but the deep thinking was all mine).

Concept, UX/UI Design & User testing

Helped turn early ideas into real, testable concepts - through sketching, wireframing, UX design and lots of user testing. I also led the design of our final concept presentation, bringing the service to life and showing how it could actually look and work in people’s homes.

Final impact

E.ON Rovnováha allows households with solar and batteries to automatically balance energy use with the grid. It supports grid stability, helps people save money and moves us all a step closer to a low-carbon future.

We also supported:

• Pricing strategy
• Service naming and branding
• Website design and copy
• Conversion optimization (tracking every click like it mattered - because it did)

To ensure smooth implementation, we handed over a clear, no-nonsense presentation explaining what the service is, why it’s designed the way it is, and how each department should handle it. We wanted to avoid the classic “death by handover” situation where good ideas get watered down.

From prototype to reality (almost):

The design has been implemented and the service is now live, which is a major milestone. However, during the development phase, E.ON’s IT team made adjustments and replaced our final tested design with their own component implementation - despite the fact that we had used their official design system and component library exactly as provided.

We’re now working with them to adjust the live version back in line with our concepts. The goal is to bring the best of both worlds together: technical feasibility and a user experience that actually works.

Please note: Original Figma designs are the property of E.ON, and for now, I’m unable to share the Figma files.

What did i enjoy the most:

• The team! Working with my Q Designers crew felt like co-creating with people who read your mind (in a good way).
• E.on innovation team! Knowledgeable, kind and genuinely great to work with.
• The users - we weren’t testing with trendy early adopters, but with people aged 55-70 from small towns, often with solar and a cottage. A whole different challenge, and a rewarding one.
• The design challenge itself. How do you get people to trust a company they usually associate with bills and bureaucracy? And let it into their homes? Voluntarily? That’s what made this project exciting.