Designing a P2P Energy Marketplace 🔋



Envisioning a sustainable and democratic energy market that empowers consumers to make better use of their energy resources.


Singularity Map - Results screen


Role
Product Designer (strategic + hands-on)

Platform
Web-based Energy simulation tool & marketplace
Impact
90% onboarding success, early community activation, energy savings insights for users 🔥  

Industry
Energy & Blockchain

Year
2020-2022 
Key Milestone
🚀 MVP launched ~3 month


The Challenge

Grid Singularity aimed to transform d3a.io, a functional but overly technical energy simulation tool, into a mass-adoption-ready experience for peer-to-peer energy trading. 
The legacy UI was too complex for typical households and small businesses, blocking broader adoption and public launch.  



Users


  • Beginners: homeowners, small businesses — want a simple setup and energy trading
  • Advanced: energy entrepreneurs and researchers — need deeper control and data insights

GridSingularity Ecosystem (GSy API connects to enable P2P trading)
GSy Ecosystem


My Role


I joined as a Product Designer in July 2020 and combined strategic planning with execution:

  • Participated in early workshops with leadership to shape product strategy
  • Partnered with Lead Designer to scope features and break down user stories
  • Designed UX solutions aligned to business goals and measurable KPIs
  • Coordinated cross-functional collaboration to synthesize insights into design decisions 

Business Goals:


  1. Increase active energy communities
  2. Launch a seamless P2P marketplace
  3. Demonstrate traction in a real-world pilot

    Approach: Research + Insights

    • Conducted user interviews with early adopters
    • Observed live demos to identify usability blockers
    • Ran cross-functional workshops to align direction


    *
    Key insight: users described community building like “placing a house in The Sims” — inspiring a visual, map-based interface that felt familiar and intuitive
    *


    Design & Solution


    Central to the experience is the Singularity Map — a dynamic map-based interface that enables users to:

    • Build communities: drag-and-drop homes and devices onto the map
    • Simulate energy trades: explore trading scenarios without live consequences
    • View real-time data: see energy flows and savings at a glance
    • Layer interactions: simple defaults for beginners, expandable analytics for advanced users  

    Community Map (Medellín)
    Simulation Results screen



    Onboarding Experience


    Guided first-time users to create a community within minutes.

    Drag-and-drop homes and devices onto the map



    I recommend viewing this prototype in full-screen mode

    Testing & Iteration


    Ran three rounds of validation:

    1. Low-fidelity prototypes — validate flow and task clarity
    2. Interactive prototypes — test core interactions (drag-and-drop, zoom)
    3. Beta pilot — monitor community creation and onboarding completion


    🚀 Actionable refinements:

    • Simplified onboarding language
    • Increased map contrast for better readability
    • Added quick-add device shortcuts for power users



    Constraints & Trade-offs


    Technical: legacy backend limited real-time updates
    Blockchain: transaction confirmation delays
    Regulatory: some markets were restricted to P2P trading

    Design trade-off: prioritized onboarding simplicity for MVP over full customization.  



    Results & Impact


    Medellín Pilot Outcomes

    • 90% onboarding success rate
    • 13 households / 60+ users engaged in active communities
    • Recorded energy savings up to 7%
    • Solar payback shortened from 10 → 9 years
    • Pilot became a model for future scaling  
    Business impact

    • Reduction in support requests as users navigated independently
    • Regular design + business syncs turned feedback into actionable improvements  

    Learnings & Next


         This project reinforced the value of familiar interactions (map metaphor, layered complexity) to make technical domains accessible to broader audiences. The importance of balancing simplicity with advanced user needs in multi-persona products.