This project elaborates on my design journey in redesigning new features for the AEDC app. This was a personal project and has no affiliation with the company.

Introduction

Disclaimer: I don’t mean to undermine the works of the company but to use this medium to elaborate on how they can make more money for themselves, their investors, and have retentive happy customers.

I tried to use the AEDC app some weeks ago to buy electricity unit and on downloading the app I encountered multiple problems which made me cringe. I opted to seek what other users were facing, the nearest place to get such information was the Google App Store where people gave reviews of the app. The first review I saw was devastating. It read “This app should be deleted from the play store, it’s virtually useless. I can’t get past the “verify token” page as no code is being sent to my email, so I can't use the app. I’ve tried for days”. Not only that, but I found this review appalling and many more, which made me opt to redesign and improve the app’s UX and functionality.

Platforms: Android & IOS

Deliverables: Interaction Design, UI/UX, Wireframing, Prototyping, User Research.

Tools: Figma, Google Keep

Project Duration: 2 weeks

Industry: Electricity Distribution

About Designer: My name is Anierobi Anionwu. My role in this project as a UX/Interaction designer was to take ownership of the app’s redesign and make it usable.

Meet the Client:

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is one of the 11 power distribution companies in Nigeria and this distribution company processes an average of 6billion naira every month on postpaid and prepaid meter billings. Being a power distribution company that covers four states (Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kogi, and Nasarawa) with a total landmass of 133,000 km2. The Federal Government of Nigeria holds 40% equity, while a private investor holds 60% equity in AEDC.

Understanding the Challenge:

Every user wants to get on a product and spend less time while being able to carry out their needs, but in the case of the AEDC app, it is the reverse. The User Interface and User Experience were broken & the app doesn’t solve any problem for the user.

My Goal:

My goal was to redesign the app with less cognitive load and make payments.

User Personas:

I made calls to about 10 people, asking them what they felt was wrong with the app and what features they would love to see on the app. I got some feedback and started sketching what the app would look like.

According to the outcomes of my survey, there were several categories of users, each with their own set of needs. I was able to create two personas, which are fictional characters that reflect the data, based on the multiple insights and common patterns that emerged from the users’ comments.
By focusing on two key users, I was able to focus on their requirements and avoid becoming sidetracked when a new feature or idea came up.

I wrote down all the features. I selected the main ones the users would always want to check whenever they log in to the app, then made them available on the home screen and put the remaining features inside the menu card.

My Design Process:

I went with the Double Diamond design thinking approach because it allowed me to brainstorm on many ideas, before refining and narrowing down to the best idea.

I then jumped into designing the low-fi wireframes and the user-flow, I also wrote down the micro-copies of all the pages. After this phase, I began to design the real pages, iterating and taking off what didn’t make sense. When faced with this type of task, you will find out that understanding the intent behind what a screen should display can take time. It is common to feel like you lost sight of the intent entirely. At this point, going back to the drawing board & understanding the why’s of the project can help.

You will notice that most of the features were not fleshed out because the problem I was designing and solving was the Sign-up and Buy Unit problem. I added the features because these are pain points of users and these users would be glad to have it implemented on the real app. Especially the Request Meter feature, this feature is for people who want to move from estimated billing to prepaid or for new homeowners that need a Meter in their building. The Check Meter Status feature allows the user to know the status of the meter whether it is good or tampered with, most importantly if there's a debt on it. The Notification menu is for giving the user heads-up on occurrence in the power sector. If there's a scheduled power outage in the users' neighbourhood due to load allocation, the customer will be notified ahead of time and the meantime to restoration. The Chat with Us feature is for the user to raise complaints and get feedback almost immediately.

Problem #1:

The Onboarding screens of the app lacked visual appeal and are very boring.

I redesigned the onboarding with engaging interactions and modern designs and better UX writing that get the user to want to complete the task with ease. I also educated the user on electric billing when the app is loading, so it doesn’t seem boring to the user till they’ve accomplished their task.

Problem #2:

The user is unable to login into the app hassle-free. I encountered this problem, so did a few other people on the Google Play Store review. I got frustrated multiple times as the application kept rejecting my password, claiming it was weak even after I used all the specified characters it requested. It kept saying “Value unable of type java.lang string cannot be converted to JSON Object”. I’m as confused as you are now, but whatever this means, I believe the user shouldn’t see this. The moment a user begins to think of signing up as a chore, they are most likely to drop off. I also noticed the sign-up page doesn’t have proper spacing and effective use of hierarchy and grids.

Problem #3:

When I clicked on the “create an account” text button, I got hit with a long text disguised as a Data Protection Policy. I had to scroll down a few seconds to agree. This error could have been averted by the single micro-copy that reads “By proceeding, it means you agree to our Data Protection Policy”.

After spending a few minutes trying to log in, I finally did, and the heuristics of the design were a tad confusing. As a millennial who is conversant with payment products, I battled with what actions to take. This would be a major problem especially for the demography of people the app targeted.

On the home screen of the AEDC app, I noticed the icon footer had its various social media handles in it. This I found disturbing, because as a product designer the first thing is to prioritize what’s important for your customers. That is to say, the social media handles on the footer were not necessary.

I redesigned this with the option for the user to either Buy Unit or Fund Wallet. The user can also be updated on the latest news on electricity, as I provided a News feature that will be very helpful to the user. Most Nigerians hardly pay attention to news that doesn’t have to do with entertainment and politics.

When the user clicks on the hamburger menu on the Home page, a menu card pops up with different features like Meter Consumption History, Request Meter, Check Meter Status, Transaction History & Borrow Unit feature. These are key features every Nigerian cares about and always wants to know how they can be solved, especially the Request Meter feature. The Borrow Unit feature will boost sales, especially for most salary earners who don’t have money to do some basic needs until payday. Such users can borrow units and pay within the space of some days with the option of them linking their card details to the app. AEDC automatically debits the amount borrowed from the users’ bank.

On the payment option, I designed it in a way that would be flexible for all users. They can either pay with a funded wallet via the app or with their recharge card which is equivalent to the amount they want to purchase, or with their bank cards.

Icons, illustrations & Animations are a huge part of the visual identity since they convey ideas and notions that in some cases cannot be conveyed using words. For this app, they play a critical role to lead the users besides product and brand photographs. Illustrations got from Deledesign and the Animations from Lottiefiles.

View prototype link here

Conclusion

The process of creating the app has been both tough and gratifying. It enabled me to delve more deeply into the needs, thoughts, habits, and expectations of users. I had to step outside my comfort zone to empathize and find out the various pain points each user faced at the time of designing this app.

I’m not in any way affiliated with AEDC, I am just a Product Designer who is trying to make the digital world happier by offering the most relevant solution through a human-centered and interaction design approach!. 🤘

Thank you for reading! Hopeful you enjoyed this case study. If you have any feedback, I’d like to hear from you. Say hello at [email protected] orLinkedIn. I’m very active onTwitter.