• 
• Say hi!
• Let's connect.
• Download my CV

Back to home page

Accelerating Transformation Through UX Delivery

A global HVAC and water heater manufacturer sought to transform its business model by leveraging smart, connected devices to evolve from a traditional hardware company into a software- and data-driven service organization. Prior research had mapped opportunities across several critical stakeholder groups including utility partners, installers/service providers, and end consumers, but little tangible output had been delivered. Executives were frustrated, momentum was fading, and the client’s CIO made clear that the team would need to show meaningful progress immediately.

As Creative Director and Experience Lead, I oversaw the design team, set the creative and product vision, and served as the connective tissue across strategy, product, engineering, and physical hardware teams. My mandate was simple: bring clarity, unity, and velocity to a stalled transformation — and do it FAST.

The Challenge

The engagement inherited significant headwinds. Despite months of strategy and research work, the client had no prototypes, no experience direction, and no demonstration of how connected data could meaningfully drive value for stakeholder personas.

Internally, alignment was weak across digital product teams, physical product engineering, and strategy groups. Externally, the client’s executives were suffering from death by a million slides and were beginning to question whether a connected-device transformation was achievable.

Operationally, the timeline was unforgiving. The CIO expected a demo within weeks, not months, and that demo needed to convincingly demonstrate the potential of the entire ecosystem — from utility dashboards to installer workflows to consumer mobile experiences.

The challenge was not just about designing interfaces. It was about restoring confidence, unifying fractured workstreams, and proving that the business could deliver on its vision.

Approach & Strategy

Our approach combined an initial rapid-response sprint with a disciplined production cadence designed to scale.

The team moved swiftly to injest and output designs, resulting in the production of over 400 screens within the first 2 months of project work.

Rapid alignment and intake

The team began by quickly synthesizing all existing research, strategy decks, and persona work. This allowed us to identify key “signature moments” across the utility, installer, and consumer journeys. The moments where connected insights could have dramatic impact.

Designing to rebuild trust

We focused the first sprint on producing a functional prototype for the utility persona. A dashboard demonstrating real-time device performance, outage patterns, and opportunities for load management. The goal was not perfection but evidence. We knew the client needed to see that the strategy could translate into working software.

Establishing a scalable design foundation

In parallel, we developed a component library and design system rooted in the client’s brand, enabling rapid expansion across interfaces. This positioned the team to move from a handful of screens to hundreds without sacrificing cohesion or quality.

Deep cross-functional partnership

We collaborated directly with digital product owners, physical engineering teams, and the client’s strategy groups to ensure the designs reflected actual device capabilities, technical constraints, and the business outcomes the company hoped to deliver.

This mix of speed, structure, and transparency laid the groundwork for scaled delivery.

Execution

Moving swiftly to construct a prototype got the client away from overexposure to slides and helped them to see the tangible outcomes from the strategic decisions made earlier in the engagement.

The first prototype — built in days, not weeks — was presented in Figma to pull the client out of PowerPoint and into a tangible digital product environment. The impact was immediate with executives finally seeing their vision come to life. The CIO approved continued design work on the spot.

From there, the team moved into a rapid production cycle. Within three months, we expanded from an initial two-screen demo to more than 400 screens across mobile, tablet, and desktop interfaces. Features covered:

• Utility partner dashboards
• Installer job workflows and diagnostics
• Consumer mobile controls for device performance and energy usage
• Device fault detection and predictive maintenance signals
• Cross-persona data relationships visualized through a shared design system

To validate direction and de-risk decisions, we conducted dozens of market validation sessions with real utility staff, installers, and consumers. Their feedback informed iterative improvements and shaped the sequencing of features.

Completed designs were handed off to engineering in an agile cadence, with ongoing collaboration across product, design, and third-party vendors to ensure alignment with the broader digital ecosystem.

Throughout the engagement, I presented direction and prototypes to client executives — including the CIO — helping rebuild trust, secure additional funding, and keep cross-functional teams aligned around a unified product strategy.

Outcomes & Impact

The connected-device experience successfully launched as a multi-platform pilot with key utility partners, marking the client’s first tangible step toward becoming a service- and data-driven business.

The design team’s ability to translate strategy into high-quality product experiences:

• Restored executive confidence in the transformation
• Established a reusable design system that now anchors new product extensions
• Accelerated time-to-market by grounding engineering in validated screens and flows
• Generated a roadmap for future enhancements as new personas and value streams were identified

The product continues to evolve and expand today, grounded in the foundational work delivered by the team during this engagement.

Redesigning the Digital Family Office Experience