TotalEnergies / Digital Factory
Revamping a power plant monitoring SaaS to increase kWh tracked per operator by 23%
Problem
Operators couldn't complete a diagnosis without leaving the app. For almost every incident, they had to manually connect to each plant's automation system to retrieve the data they needed. With a renewable energy portfolio that had quadrupled in 3 years, the small team couldn't keep up.
Target audience
9 control center operators supervising hundreds of multi-energy assets (solar, wind, hydro) at TotalEnergies. They work in shifts, monitoring plant performance and handling incidents in real time.
Team
- Sole Product Designer in a Scrum squad
- 1 PO, 3 full-stack developers, 2 data engineers
- Joined after the previous designer left, with no documentation
Key results
- Increased energy tracked per operator by +23% kWh in 12 months by bringing diagnostic data inline so operators stopped leaving the app mid-incident
- Made the dashboard fully responsive from 14" to 40", after which 6 of 9 operators adopted laptops as their default monitor
How I solved this problem
1. Mapped how the product impacts users and business with a Lean UX Canvas
I started by running a Lean UX Canvas workshop with the PO and PM to understand the product's value proposition: how each feature was supposed to drive user outcomes (faster diagnosis, fewer manual connections) and business outcomes (reduce production losses, increase remote incident resolution). This gave me a clear picture of what the product should deliver before going to the field.
2. Tested the value proposition with real users and found it wasn't delivering
I observed operators in their control center and ran usability tests in production with 5 of the 9 users. The goal: does the app actually deliver on the business outcomes we mapped in step 1?
Operators had to leave the app for almost every diagnosis.
11 out of 15 diagnostics required connecting to the plant's automation system to get additional information. The alert page had the right concept but didn't surface enough data for a complete diagnosis.
The app wasn't designed for how users actually work.
4 out of 9 operators used 14-inch laptop screens, not the 40-inch monitors the app was designed for. Scrolling was constant, and key information was hidden below the fold.
Other findings from the 5 user tests:
- 5/5 users handled alarms in order of prioritized losses
- 13/15 diagnostics had correct root cause identification
- 4/5 users ignored weather data because they couldn't correlate irradiance with power output
- 5/5 users needed to check the logbook page separately to compare ongoing events with current alarms
- 3/5 users said not processing all plants every morning was a real time saver vs. their previous tool
3. Ran a Design Studio workshop to align the team on solutions
I facilitated a collaborative sketching workshop with the full squad. Each member proposed a layout addressing the two core problems: incomplete diagnosis data and poor responsiveness.
We converged on three design directions:
- Bring all diagnostic data into the alert cards so operators never need to leave the app
- Add weather/production correlation charts so operators can match irradiance and wind levels with power output directly
- Redesign the layout to be fully responsive from 14" laptops to 40" monitors
4. Built and tested a first prototype to validate the new design
I designed a first iteration focused on displaying the most relevant diagnostic information above the fold. Key changes:
- Grouped equipment alarms with their parent PTR alarms (shutter system)
- Separated diagnosis and event creation into two distinct pages
- Added a two-column logbook preview to show ongoing tickets
Tested with users: 60% of diagnostics could now be completed without leaving the app. But the shutter system went unnoticed (0 users found it), and the logbook needed more space.
5. Shipped the second iteration to production and measured results
Based on test feedback, I iterated on the design:
- Made the layout fully responsive with optimized views for both 14" and 40" screens
- Replaced the shutter with a simpler alarm card that groups all CTAs together
- Added a weather chart comparing irradiance/wind with production curves
- Increased font size automatically above 24" screen width
After shipping, 2 more operators switched to laptop screens by choice (6/9 total). Users correctly attributed weather-related alarms for the first time. Zero usability issues in follow-up testing with 4 users.
What we delivered
A connected, responsive dashboard for in-app diagnosis, delivering +23% kWh per operator in 12 months.
- Fully responsive from 14" to 40": 6 of 9 operators switched to laptop as default monitor
- Connected to the industrial network for real-time plant data
- Majority of diagnostic data inline, reducing manual connections to plant systems
- Weather/production correlation charts for root cause identification
