Developing a Design Guideline for a User-Friendly Home Energy-Saving Application That Aligns with User-Centered Design (UCD) Principles

Abstract

Regarding issues with the majority of home energy-saving applications, the information is often too difficult for users to understand, and they struggle to comprehend communication via graphics or images displayed on the application’s screen. Furthermore, little is known about how users of home energy-saving applications behave. Therefore, this research aims to develop and evaluate a user-friendly design guideline for a home energy-saving application that applies four stages of User-Centered Design (UCD) processes. To identify significant issues and preliminary solutions, this research employed two rounds of co-creation activities involving nine experts and nine non-experts. Subsequently, an application prototype encompassing settings, about, home data, home assessment, and assessment summary was developed. The prototype underwent evaluation through an online questionnaire with 160 participants from four user groups, spanning expert and non-expert age groups. As a results from all four factors, the application received a mean score = 4.35 (good) from both non-experts and experts. This demonstrates that the prototype adopted with the guideline performed well in terms of User Experience, User Interface and User-Centered Design. This research provides developers and stakeholders with valuable guidelines to create applications or programs that are more efficient and user-friendly. This guideline is applicable to a wide range of sectors (eg, residential homes, workplaces, and educational institutions) and various domains (eg, Internet of Things (IoT), Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS), mobile applications, AI-Assisted in IoT-based Smart Microgrids). This would lead to the creation of applications that are easy for users to navigate and presentations that are impactful, ultimately helping to decrease energy usage and promote a more sustainable environment.