Genscape BioFuels
B2B, Energy + Construction
Genscape is the world’s largest network of patented and proprietary monitoring technologies. As the leading provider of real-time data and intelligence for commodity and energy markets, their expertise matched perfectly with (human)x’s Midwest values.
Enhanced Search Capabilities
The technology meets manufacturing brand works specifically with in-field monitors, satellite reconnaissance, artificial intelligence and maritime freight tracking to display real-time data on commodity and energy industries.
Genscape came to us for help in their Biofuels division. The company had been developing an auditing and certification process for the biofuel industry. They had created the RIN Integrity Network – a Quality Assurance Program for RIN verification.
A Renewable Identification Number (or RIN) is a serial number assigned to a batch of biofuel to track its production, use and trading, as required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Utilizing their proprietary monitoring systems, producers in Genscape’s network were relieved of the auditing and paperwork burden, allowing for more flexible pricing and RIN approval.
Dashboard
This new division led to a myriad of data points. It was our job to develop an interface and dashboards for the platform.
The goal of the RIN and QA Program was to increase efficiency and reduce costs for both producers and obligated parties. But the only way it could effectively reduce costs was if it was usable.
User-Centered Design
We started where every good UX designer starts – asking questions. And by following our User‐Centered Design (UCD) Process, we can understand what users really need and how they use the information that is being presented to them.
The user‐centered design process is an iterative cycle where every step is evaluated against the initially identified requirements of the users and reiterated until these requirements are met. The most successful results are achieved when the user is involved in every step of the design process either through direct feedback, user testing, observation or informed evaluation using previously gathered information or research. Evaluations can be based off Personas and Scenarios, Usability Testing, Accessibility Testing, Focus Groups, User Observation or User Surveys as well as additional methods.
User Experience
Our UCD process is designed to take a project from an abstract set of goals and expectations through to a concrete, completed implementation.
We worked with the Genscape team through a series of interviews and workshops to understand what they had built, what all the data points meant and how the data is collected and used. We had to learn the industry, the laws and guidelines from the EPA, and what both producers and obligated parties needed out of this dashboard and system. Finally, we interviewed multiple producers as well as buyers at ExxonMobil and BP to understand what their needs were and what priority they had for the data points.
As the process unfolded, we created working sitemaps, personas and user flows.
From there, we moved into full, detailed wireframes. Each wireframe of the overall dashboard contained what data was going to be displayed, how it was going to be displayed and how the user would interact with the data points.
We created a working prototype from the wireframes and presented those to both the Genscape team as well as our user groups of the Producers and Obligated Parties – ExxonMobil and BP. After all the feedback was collected and analyzed, final changes were made to the wireframes and we moved into the design process of the platform.
We followed a very user-centered design approach to create an experience that is both intuitive and engaging. It features a modular, grid layout, which allows information to be easily added, removed, or rearranged to fit a desktop or tablet. Modules also package data into small, digestible bites, which makes it easy for users to find, compare and contrast information.
The dashboards continued to be front of mind, harnessing the power of the Genscape program and brought all their data right to their customers’ fingertips.
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