Elblox

Tinder for green energy

Finding the perfect partner can be a challenge. For you and me, but also for companies looking for a wind or solar farm that ticks all the right boxes. But with "Green Accelerator” from Elblox, finding the perfect energy trading partner is now almost as easy as Tinder – only with a higher success rate.... and more long-term goals!

Together with Elblox, a spin-off of Axpo, we have turned a visionary sketch of a digital trading platform for carbon-free energy into reality. Contracts for green energy could never be signed so quickly and easily.

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CHALLENGE

From analog to digital

As a first mover, Elblox is shifting the search for trading partners and contract negotiations into the digital world. To turn their smart auction system and standardized power purchase agreements (PPAs) based concept into a fully working prototype, we had to find answers to the following questions:

—How to attract and convince buyers and suppliers to use a completely new digitized process?
—How to design an onboarding process to get all the information needed to verify qualified companies, run auctions and generate PPAs?
—How to design an auction process that is understandable and easy to participate in?

“PPAs are very complex. But now we have accelerated and simplified the whole process.”
Selina Langenegger, UX Researcher at Ginetta

Solution

A seamless user-centered journey

The most crucial task was to convince buyers and suppliers of the new digital solution to conclude a PPA. It was all the more important that the user journey be seamless, intuitive, and simple: from the landing page, over onboarding, to the auction process and beyond. To achieve this, we worked closely with Elblox and started user testing already with the low-fi prototype. The end result is an appealing landing page and detailed workflows that perfectly match the individual needs of buyers and suppliers.

Captivating landing page

The new landing page makes the value proposition visible and increases the confidence of buyers and suppliers. Likewise, it provides an easy entry point for auction participation. The landing page shows:

—the benefits through success stories in video format and compelling metrics.
—an active community by mapping various customer portfolios, clean energy production processes, and past and upcoming auctions.
—the operation of the trading platform by streamlining each step in a clear and consistent format.

Smart onboarding process

As it is crucial for the success of the platform and its users to onboard only qualified sellers and buyers, a lot of information and documents are required to register. We have simplified and streamlined the complex onboarding process as much as possible and developed a step-by-step journey that guides the prospective user through all the steps – intuitively, efficiently, and clearly.

Clarity and transparency at every stage

Once the onboarding process is complete and the user enters the dashboard, they can immediately view the upcoming auctions in a feed along with the results of past auctions. This creates transparency about the current market price and fosters a sense of an active community. The user is provided with the latest information at all times, before, during, and after the auctions, to keep them informed.

Conclusion

Game-changing the way for trading energy

By analyzing in detail the requirements of energy buyers and suppliers as well as the needs of the market, we were able to contribute to the successful launch of Elblox’s new trading platform. Thanks to step-by-step querying and structured processing of information, digital auctions are simple, safe, and more efficient for users. Together with Elblox, we turned their visionary idea into a viable solution and “electrified” an analog business to enter a new digital era.