Who is E.ON Next?
E.On Next is a UK energy company providing gas and electric, with 100% renewable energy being provided to homes and businesses with their fixed tariff plans across the country. Backed by the E.On group, a well known and reliable energy provider, keeps customers feeling confident with who their provider is; Before E.On Next, they were npower, but after the acquisition of Innogy, npower then proceeded to change to E.On Nex in November 2019, and they started moving customers over in July 2020.
Visual Identity
E.On Next has a modern and fresh visual identity, it has a playful yet professional look with up to date graphics easily distinguishable to the brand and a strong vibrant colour palette with plenty of colours too.
Competitors
Octopus Energy is a UK based renewable energy supplier often rated the best, to strengthen their position in the market, they have also won numerous Which Buy awards. Founded in 2015, the company used innovative technology throughout their company such as using it to offer competitive pricing and efficient services to its users based on data analysis; what Octopus strive for is their commitment to providing 100% renewable energy whilst also investing in renewable energy projects doing their part in helping to keep climate change under control. One key factor that customers love is their approach to billing, keeping transparency and a customer-friendly approach, earning recognition for their outstanding customer service.
OVO energy, a leading UK energy supplier has been providing the country with affordable and sustainable energy solutions since 2009; providing a wide variety of tariffs including renewable energy options, this allows them to provide their customers with a wide variety of options including environmentally friendly tariffs too. OVO Energy makes customer satisfaction their priority which has overall lead to them achieving multiple awards solely based on customer satisfaction. Moving slightly away energy providing, OVO also offers a diverse range of services spanning from start home technology solutions and EV charging options.
EDF Energy is a UK energy company classed as one of the largest producers of carbon neutral energy, they are French owned by EDF standing for Électricité de France. There production network constitutes of nuclear power plants, wind and solar allowing them to saturate our grid with lots of carbon neutral energy. They also satisfy their customers by providing fixed tariffs, energy hubs and incentives for EV owners.
British Gas, a well-known provider in the UK energy market has been providing electricity and gas to their clients since 1997. They offer a wide variety of tariffs, including renewable energy options, this is done to cater to their diverse customer base, though, because of that, they may face issues with flexibility and legacy systems within their current network but despite this, British Gas still remains a main energy provider in the UK market.
Audience Research
What is it? Audience research is the research of what kinds of audiences a product or service is targeting, this can be segmented into categories or age, gender, ethnicity, class and more, these categories helping companies to narrow down who they wish to target to better understand their clients, and therefore targeting a company’s product or services to a specific criteria.
Why is it important? Audience research is important as it informs decision making as it provides data and resoning behind certain decisions made to a product or service allowing for a higher chance of it being more successful. It ehnances the user experience by pro understanding how the targeted user may interact or use the service, overall achieving a more tailored product or service. Increases engagement by created a more targeted and relevant experience. Improves ROI (Return On Investment) by putting effort and money in the areas that are statistically proven.
What are some methods? Audience research, like many other types of research is carried out in 2 main ways:
Primary Research, this is carried out by you actively finding out information yourself in the forms of surveys and autobiographies, the downsides are that it would take quite some time and could be costly to get accurate results, the upsides being its tailored to your needs.
Secondary Research, this is the complete opposite of primary as your taking already available information from things such as online surveys and statistics, the downsides to this is the information may be unreliable, outdated and might not exactly fit your needs, the upsides being its cheaper and quite quick.
User Profile
Categories
Gender – The company doesn’t target a gender.
Age – E.ON Next targets home and business owners so the app will most certainly not be targeted to people under 18. though for this specific project, the brief only targets home owners.
Ethnicity – No specific ethnicity is targeted.
Earnings – E.ON Next targets a wide range of earning groups, hence why they have multiple tariff options to cater to their wide user base.
ACORN
The ACORN (A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) model is used to segment different neighbourhoods based on factors like socioeconomic status, housing, demographics and lifestyle. This model helps business and policymakers to tailer strategies and services to specific target audiences allowing them to effectively use resources on certain areas.
Psychographics
(Four Cs) – Psychographics is another way of market segmentation which involves looking at the user’s characteristics, attitudes, values, interests and lifestyles; Psychographics is important as it gives information on why people behave the way they do and what motivates their decisions, this type of segmentation helps businesses and marketers to create a more personalised experience to their target audience to for example target someone better on their specific beliefs and preferences, this overall allows businesses to build stronger brand loyalty and connect with their audience on a more personal level.
E.ON Next’s User Profile
Overall, E.ON Next has a very flexible user profile only targeting towards home and business owners, though for this specific project, the brief only targets home owners.
User Personas
Emma Tealeaf
Age: 32
Location: Manchester, UK
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Property: Owns a two-bedroom terraced house
Background: Emma is a marketing professional in a tech startup. She’s financially savvy and aims to start her own consultancy. Passionate about travel, hiking, and mindfulness. Interested in property investment and sustainability.
Shawn Bedonky
Age: 45
Location: Bristol, UK
Occupation: Plumber
Property: Owns a three-bedroom semi-detached house
Background: Sawn runs his own plumbing business. Single father to a teenager. Enjoys DIY projects, coaching football, and fishing. Prioritizes family, business growth, and saving for retirement.
Contextual Research
Design research
Designed by: Anastasia Chernenko
SEP 2023 / Education app
Anastasia is an award graphic designer and illustrator based in London, UK. She uses bold and vibrant colours with strong contrasting elements and somehow makes every design feel happy, each design is sure to be remembered, though in certain parts, accessibility could be improved.
I feel like she is relevant to my client due to her unique style displaying content efficiently and effectively, each design is carried out
Designed by: Mikalai Haluza
FEB 2024 / Finance app
Mikalai Haluza is a UI/UX designer based in Sydney, Australia. He works with clients globally to create designs that are both modern yet simple through his use of colours and 3D elements. The reasoning behind me picking him as an inspiration is his commitment to consistency, best practices, and accessible design. His ability to seamlessly integrate a brand’s identity into his work is impressive, resulting in designs that not only look great but also effectively communicate the brand’s message. I feel that his work is relevant to my client because of his modern and timeless designs that are pleasing to look at and intuitive to use.
Designed by: DizArm
MAR 2024 / Travel app
DizArm is a UX/UI agency based in Ukraine. They’ve worked on many projects ranging from crypto clients to E-Commerce websites. I quite like their approach to each design, amking something that would otherwise be simple impactful and unique.
I believe they are relevant to my client because of their ability to pack lots of information into clean, stylish and modern designs all whilst keeping good accessibility standards and responsiveness across a wide range of devices.
Designed by: Pankaj & Co
AUG 2023 / Finance app
Pankaj & Co is a design agency based in Hyderabad, India. They dont have much work or information available, so I’m guessing they might be quite new, but this design specifically caught my eye, with its simple and effective approach to creating this finance app, though accessibility might not be great, the simple layout is easy to understand.
I feel like they are relevant to my client as their use of colours and cards within each page create an easy to understand design.
Semiotics
Semiotics, at its core, revolves around symbols and their role in visual communication. It’s a universal language seen everywhere, from road signs guiding our journeys to the vibrant posters on our streets. Whats unique about it is its ability to convey messages easily often overcoming language barriers. Semiotics are something that is used globally and emerged back 1670 through Henry Stubbles who discussed the interpretation of medical signs. However, its true journey into the realms of communication and media theory gained momentum in the vibrant era of the late 1960s
Semiotics are categorised into three primary groups: icons, indices, and symbols. Icons, are signs that visually resemble what they represent, like road signs for example. On the other hand, indices are signs linked to what they represent, such as smoke indicating the presence of fire. However, symbols operate uniquely; their meaning is derived from societal agreement or convention rather than inherent resemblance or connection. This aspect allows symbols to evolve and adapt in their interpretations over time.
Colour theory
The colour wheel
Colour theory was first developed by Isaac Newton, and gave us understanding on how colours can make us feel, for example, red is a passionate colour, making us feel love, passion, anger and danger, whilst green is used to symbolise health, nature and success, and blue is used to symbolise cold, sadness and depression. The colour wheel is mainly made up of 3 main colour groups, these are primary, secondary and tertiary; along with that, there are seven main colour schemes which range from monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic, square, and rectangle; the wheel can be broken down even further to separate warm and cold colours, warm being red, orange and yellow whilst cold colours being blue, green and purple.
E.On Red
#FF4822
Mood
- Confidence
- Enthusiasm
- Warmth
- Agreeableness
Purple
#9400FF
Mood
- Luxury
- Royalty
- Power
- Ambition
Green
#1AE570
Mood
- Energised
- Balanced
- Optimistic
- Rejuvenated
Birch
#FAF6F4
Mood
- Confidence
- Enthusiasm
- Warmth
- Agreeableness
Font types
Serif – Serif fonts have small lines or strokes (known as serifs) at the ends of each character, examples of some fonts under the Serif category are: Times New Roman, Georgia and Garamond; the font is also often used for body text in print as they are easy to read and the letters are easier to differentiate making them a good font to use for accessibility.
Sans Serif – Sans Serif fonts lack serifs creating a clean and modern look, examples of fonts using the Sans Serif style are Arial, Helvetica and Calibri; they are quite popular in the digital space often being used in websites and apps due to their clean appearance and legibility on screens
Monospaced – These types of fonts have quite a formal look, with each letter taking up the same amount of horizontal space, this style of font is found in Courier and Consolas; they are a popular font for coding as it ensures easy readability due to its uniform design.
Script – This font style mimics cursive handwriting creating a decorative look, this style is found in fonts like Brush Script and Lobster and are commonly used for invitations and cards.
Display – This font type is designed for titles, headings and signage due to their bold eye catching appearance, fonts that use this style are Impact, Bebas Neue and Cooper Black.
Slab Serif – Similar to Serif, the difference being that slabs are used instead serifs often creating a sturdy and modern look, examples of fonts using this style are Rockwell and Memphis, and are often used on posters due to their bold and impactful appearance.
Handwriting – This font type mimics handwriting styles creating quite a personal look, fonts using this style are Comic Sans and Bradley Hand, this font type is often used in children’s products, and places where creating a personal touch is needed.
Chosen Font
The final font chosen is Heue Haas Grotesk Display as it is the current font for E.ON Next and I found that it keeps it looking professional and unified with the current brand as the brief didn’t mention a rebrand, solely a new app, so by keeping things the same, I was able to put my focus on the functionality of the app.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.,;()?!
Competitor apps
E.ON Next
Visible Key Features
- Tariff details
- Customer Support
- Meter readings
- Transactions
My Thoughts
- I think the overall design is pretty good, it surprisingly moves away from the orange colour but keeps it consistent with the purple hues. I don’t like the placement and spacing of some of the elements, it feels a bit inconsistent, for example the border radius on the Download Statement button feels off, and the Enable Fingerprint Unlock button feels a little to short; not everything has to be a pill button
OVO Energy
Visible Key Features
- Tariff details
- Customer support
- Meter readings
- Transactions
- EV charging info
My Thoughts
- I really like the simplicity of the app, and the use of colours is minimal but pleasing. It really comes across as green and eco friendly with the earthy tones throughout. The app keeps consistency and professionalism whilst ensuring accessibility.
Octopus
Visible Key Features
- Tariff details
- Customer Support
- Meter readings
- Transactions
My Thoughts
- I like the dark theme, and the use of colours throughout the app. The design feels quite unique and quite easy to navigate, it also keeps a good and consistent brand image whilst remaining accessible.
British Gas
Visible Key Features
- Tariff details
- Customer Support
- Meter readings
- Transactions
My Thoughts
- The app certainly fits the brand but colours feel very plain and boring, making the overall experience feel simple and straightforward. I personally feel like the app designers have tried to get straight to the point. The colours feel cold and corporate with a single colour being used throughout even though the brand uses 2 colours.
Analysis & Evaluation
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