We used thermodynamic expertise and human centered design approaches to develop intuitive software analytics. As a result we optimized supermarket refrigeration systems
Challenge: How do we leverage thermodynamic domain knowledge to develop additional revenue steams?
Impact: Software offering commercialized and launched across thousands of supermarkets globally (link)
Situation: Here was a global leader in environmentally friendly refrigerants with more than 30,000 installations in supermarkets globally. What could we do to create additional value for customers in terms of energy savings? Given we operated this project in a traditional chemicals business there were several challenges
- Extensive domain knowledge and expertise with thermodynamics and refrigerant systems but very little software and IoT experience within the business unit
- Need for different product development approaches vs development of new molecules not fully appreciated initially
- Return of investment profile for a software business different from a sale of bulk refrigerants. Needs a different mindset in terms of managing expectations.
Approach: An iterative software development approach coupled with understanding the core value for customers using value based user research and customer discovery tools
- The first thing we started with was interviews with key personas i.e maintenance and energy managers at the large grocery chains – the goal was to test the initial hypothesis
- We also conducted observational studies at the supermarkets and specifically understood how these systems were maintained
- Using storyboard concepts we tested our concepts on paper with customers to see how they would react to it.
- A key touchpoint is the digital dashboard with a credit score like metric which encapsulates the health of the refrigeration system. When we tested this we found it simplified complex insights for 1000s of stores for supervisors.
- My role was leading product management for this effort plus being the UX leader on this program
Impact: By means of understanding the unmet needs for supermarkets we designed and launched an offering which allows savings on valuable costs in an already low margin grocery business.
- Commercialized and adopted by Danfoss a leader in refrigeration controls within their IoT platform [link]
- New software services based revenue stream for a bulk products business
- Further establishing our credentials as a thought leader in environmentally friendly and efficient solutions
- Innovative Refrigerant System Score patented – a credit score like metric that characterizes the health of a refrigeration system
