Shifting from a Product-Centric to a User-Centric Approach
Savee, a SaaS platform dedicated to monitoring energy expenses for businesses and municipalities, underwent a major transformation through an ambitious project combining discovery, UX, and UI. Initially high-performing but lacking a clear vision, it now understands its users better, anticipates their needs, and adapts to the fast-changing market.
Client

Savee

Durée
4 months
Rôle
Product Designer

The Essential Tool for Energy Managers

Advizeo is a leading expert in building energy efficiency. With their Savee platform, they turn businesses' and municipalities' energy-saving efforts into tangible results, allowing them to take control of their buildings’ energy consumption. Savee is the ultimate tool for energy managers within these organizations, helping them identify savings opportunities, coordinate action plans, and track their impact daily.

By 2023, Savee was a solid product but lacked a strong, distinctive promise in a still-maturing market. The challenge was to establish a unique and compelling positioning to ensure the company's long-term success.

Market Opportunities & A Crucial Moment to Engage with Users

Savee’s users are energy managers in large corporations. Designed and developed by engineers with a product-first mindset, it was a powerful tool but complex to use.

Savee was at a pivotal stage—many of its early clients were nearing the final year of their contracts. The goal was to deliver maximum value to encourage them to renew, potentially adding new services. The stakes were high!

Additionally, with new regulations requiring companies to report on their energy savings and users’ evolving needs, multiple opportunities were emerging. The challenge was to act fast.

A 3 steps design process

Discovery Phase

During this phase, we organized workshops to help Savee better understand its users and identify market opportunities and risks.

  • Defining strategic objectives
  • Establishing KPIs
  • Understanding the market, competition, and key challenges
  • Creating detailed user personas

Roadmap Planning

The goal was to reorganize the platform’s content to optimize navigation. After identifying key functionalities, we prioritized them and planned their development through sprints.

  • Product architecture workshop
  • Feature definition
  • Prioritization workshop
  • Card sorting exercises

Design

I focused primarily on designing wireframes for a complex action flow that allowed users to configure alert thresholds for energy losses. This flow also included setting operating hours and building opening periods.
Among wireframing, art direction, and the design system, the most demanding part of this project for me was developing the Design System.

  • Wireframe creation
  • Exploring a new artistic direction
  • Applying the new design language to mockups
  • Building a Design System

A Minimal but Functional & Clear Design System for Team Autonomy

With complex features, different levels of access rights, and a strong focus on data processing, I collaborated with my team of designers and Savee’s engineers to tackle numerous challenges and create user-friendly experiences.

One of the biggest challenges I personally faced in this large-scale project was developing Savee’s Design System. This crucial asset for any product team needed to remain minimal, efficient, and crystal clear to ensure coherence and smooth future updates.

A New Positioning & Greater Clarity in Product Vision

At the end of the project, the platform was completely transformed. Users now have a powerful, seamless tool that anticipates their present and future needs—an indispensable resource they wouldn’t want to part with.

For Savee, a clear new positioning now guides product decisions and broader company strategies. This renewed vision has given the team clarity and optimal efficiency in their daily work.