Designing energy feedback for a local social network

Abstract

Engaged households are needed for the future ‘smart grids’ to function, but it is difficult to engage residents in their household electricity consumption. Building on earlier research suggesting that a local social network could provide a suitable context for energy feedback, this paper examines how feedback presented in a social network should be designed in order to be better understood by the residents and encourage long-term engagement. A review of the literature on design principles and cases where they had been implemented identified 24 principles. A prototype feedback design adapted for a local social network was made, based on design principles deemed suitable for the screens designed. End-user feedback on the prototype was collected through a stakeholder consultation workshop. In the workshop discussions, 17 identified principles were mentioned and there was support for 15 of these, one was both supported and contested and two were contested. Based on comments and suggestions from end-users, a revised version of the feedback prototype was made for implementation in a pilot study in Sweden and Portugal.