Engaging with customers in crisis: Using empathetic design to create happier customers and better utility outcomes

Last week, Julia Renn, Product Design Lead at Uplight, chatted with panelists from Doer/Maker and Waypoint Energy about the changes in commercial and residential customers mindsets during times of crisis as part of AESP’s annual convention. 

The conversation touched on how people form habits and routines during “normal” times, what’s going on in our brains and bodies during crises, some behavioral trends that are emerging in our collective responses to COVID-19, and how we can stay tapped into our customers’ needs after the wealth of dialogue created by the pandemic has subsided.

By acting as a force for stability and empowering growth for those who are seeking it, showing empathy and offering comfort, delivering value instead of demanding attention, being altruistic and community-minded, and being honest about challenges and willing to pivot, utilities and implementers can ensure that they’re crafting programs and communication strategies that meet the moment.  And by creating a lasting practice of empathetic design and decision making, we can ensure that we’re truly serving our customers both during times of crisis, and also in this new normal, whatever that ends up looking like.

Here are some excerpts from the presentation:

(Don’t judge the slide designs… AESP has strict presenter requirements around font and layout that don’t necessarily reflect my preferred design style!)

Why we do what we do: Our brains in a state of crisis

Humans are creatures of habit. In stable times, our behaviors are driven by carrying out familiar activities on a routine basis. These rituals and processes enable us to get necessary things done without spending energy thinking about how to do them. They also provide a sense of comfort, control, and accomplishment.

During COVID-19, our contexts have shifted dramatically, becoming more fluid and subject to constant change. That means that old habits, rituals, and routines aren’t things that we can take for granted anymore. Within this state of flux, there is a constant need to re-assess and change behaviors to react to the environment as it shifts.

Although we are experiencing these shifts in very diverse ways depending on our personal circumstances, this situation, and other crises, impact us all on a neurological level.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory in psychology that groups human needs into 5 tiers and often represents them on a pyramid. The idea is that when each of these lower tiers is being adequately satisfied, we feel a sense of wellbeing and are able to realize self-actualization- the ability to think about what we want and the power to make it happen. But during crises like this pandemic, natural disasters, social upheaval, or even personal experiences like job loss, every level of this pyramid can come under attack.

The COVID Customer Journey

Normally, in UX, we strive to create fairly linear customer journeys, efficiently and effectively connecting our users with the end result we are driving to. In this case, our journeys are not linear. In fact, on any given day someone can ping pong back and forth between all of these stages. Additionally, we must keep in mind that members of the population are at various stages of the journey on any given day.

Stage 1: Respond

AKA the panic buying stage. Remember the run on toilet paper? People were thinking, “Do I have what I need?” and taking the steps that they can to move from confusion and panic to regain control and stability.

Stage 2: Reassess

This is our altruistic phase. People were asking, “What can I do?” There was a real collective desire to move from grief and resignation to finding hope and motivation.

Stage 3: Adjust

This is the realization that this isn’t going away, so “I will make the best of it.” At a certain point we need to move from restriction and austerity to digging deep and finding that empowerment and ingenuity. Folks are really looking for healing and restoration of their sense of self.

Stage 4: Adopt

This is a time for positive change, when people move from feeling apprehensive, depressed, yet slightly optimistic to really craving community, progress… the power to take the bull by the horns and something to make it all worthwhile. 

Stage 5: Sustaining

I added this one this fall as our second, or i guess, third wave started to hit. During this stage (similar to adopt), we’re realizing that this isn’t going anywhere, we’ve baked our sourdough, filmed our tiktok dances, hosted zoom game nights, and we’re over it. We need to move from “doing what we need to cope” to “learning a sustainable way to live with it.”

Designing with Empathy

Now, you may be thinking, “That all makes sense, but what do psychological theories and stages of coping have to do with program design and messaging?” Behavior change happens when a message reaches a customer in the right channel, at an opportune time, with language that speaks to them. And prior to COVID, many of us had optimized our marketing and communication practices to work with typical customer behaviors and patterns. When we understand, though, that those behaviors and patterns are shifting, priorities are reorienting, and our collective sense of wellbeing has been rattled, it becomes abundantly clear why utilities - typically bastions of stability and reliability - need to take a second look at what we’re communicating.

Instead of asking, “What do we need to do?” try to instead:

• Understand who your program will serve. You don’t need to create fancy personas with names, hobbies, and social media handles… Instead focus on a few key indicators that someone is a good fit for your program. 

• Ask, “What are they looking for from us?” All too often, we focus on what we need customers to do instead of thinking about how we can deliver value to them.

• Listen to their pain points, needs and goals, and motivations. Sometimes interests that seem completely disconnected from energy use can be the best catalysts for program enrollment or behavioral change.

• Make it easy for them to provide feedback, and really listen! A lot of our organizations aren’t built to pivot quickly based on customer input, but if we are centering user needs in our problem statements, roadmap rationale, success measurement, and progress reports we can create an environment where our customers effectively have a seat at the table.