The Challenge

Creating an intuitive tool for the customer.

CenterPoint Energy and TrueCost (their electric portal) wanted to re-imagine their digital journey for new and existing customers. CenterPoint Energy wanted to make shopping for an electricity plan as fast and easy as booking a flight or dinner reservation. CenterPoint Energy engaged Credera with a feature-rich electric portal capable of personalizing electric plans and prices based on user preferences and past electric usage. They wanted to transform this technology into an intuitive tool that allows users to effortlessly compare plans, choose one and enroll.

The Solution

Restructuring the user journey.

Credera partnered with CenterPoint Energy to envision, design, and implement two foundational components of the company’s larger, strategic vision – owning the residential utility experience: ​ 1) Re-imagining its digital journey for residential customers’ new gas service setup or existing gas service transfer.​

2) Creating an integrated journey for customers “moving” or “switching” – including direct ties to its retail electric provider marketplace from targeted marketing campaigns and the reimagined digital gas setup experience.

After interviewing users and watching them traverse the existing portal, we restructured the entire user journey to reduce friction and input errors while speeding up performance. Then, we designed a clickable prototype of the reimagined experience and began multiple rounds of user testing. Additionally, Credera contributed the following:

• Created detailed designs for three core procedures and more than 10 exceptions – requiring coordination with business process owners and IT system and procedure owners. ​

• Redesigned marketing entry with two “guided paths” for gas setup and electricity shopping and then accommodated transitions between the two.

• Facilitated “content wall reviews” to gather and disposition feedback from over 30 subject matter experts and project stakeholders​.

• Incorporated input from two rounds of focus group usability tests  and CenterPoint employee “play tests.”​

• Supported beta deployment and related feedback and data gathering with reporting and feature break fix analysis.

The Results

Digital journey re-imagined.

The original website concealed plan details behind multiple clicks, diminishing the overall user experience and slowing load times. Now everything is displayed and cached on the first page load and user data is preserved upon refresh.

Additional results included:

Improved Customer Experience​

A class-leading class user-interface; refined, consistent content and copy;  and a “guided path” for gas setup​.

Decreased Costs​

Minimized the cost to handle gas setup — contact center “touch” only required in exception cases (about 20% of gas setup events)​

Increased Conversion Rates​

Usability improvements, marketing intake and integration between gas and electric user experiences increased conversion rates.

Shortened Time To Value​

Touted as a “poster child” program and “moral victory” for agile delivery at CenterPoint Energy (about six months from vision/design to launch/value)