Shift Focus

A human-centered strategy for connecting energy efficiency to people

IDEO project

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is the Cabinet-level agency in the United States government responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. The DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) works to strengthen the country's energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality through public-private partnerships.

Over the last three decades, public awareness about the need for increased energy efficiency within the home has been on the rise. People are regularly bombarded with media messages about the need to conserve. Additionally, economic, social, and political forces are well aligned to induce energy-efficient behaviors and actions. Still, most residential energy customers have yet to adopt power-saving technologies and habits. For the DOE-EERE, a question emerged: Why aren't people doing more to conserve energy? The DOE-EERE engaged IDEO to develop strategies for tackling this question by making energy efficiency more attractive to US residential customers.

IDEO conducted an intensive insight-gathering program, surveying experts in energy efficiency, assessing the relationships and networks of the DOE-EERE, and seeking inspiration from analogous human experiences. The resulting insights were surprising and often counterintuitive, as people have diverse reasons for conserving energy. Certainly rising energy costs encourage people to change their behavior; however, economics alone are inadequate for shifting people's behavior on a mass scale. While concern for the environment or threat from global warming motivates some people, it is irrelevant, even a turn-off, for others. To tackle the scope of the challenge, the team recognized the need to catalyze broadly the design of human-centered product and service experiences. The team also worked to map the needs and behaviors of energy consumers at a deeper, more emotionally resonant level.

The strategy directed the DOE-EERE around the possibilities of human-centered design and innovation. The team shifted the focus from a highly technical- and scientific-driven culture to one that creates solutions which fit and enhance the way people live.

The result is a new point of view on energy efficiency for the DOE-EERE, anchored in people's needs. IDEO created an Opportunity Map and Guidelines that allow the DOE-EERE and their partners to design and guide experiences that better suit the lives of people in the home. IDEO designed Engagement Catalysts, comprised of a limited-edition 「Shift Focus」 book, 「Concept Flashcards,」 a 60-second tone-setting video short, and a modular presentation to support conversations between the DOE-EERE and their partners, intermediaries, sponsors, and thought leaders who, in turn, will ultimately bring about new energy-efficient experiences.

IDEO and the DOE-EERE are developing a series of workshops and presentations intended to broadly communicate the strategy, as well as design new methods for engaging intermediaries and DOE partners.

IDEO's work for the US Department of Energy – Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE–EERE) was completed under a cooperative agreement, award number DE-FC36-08GO18101 / A000.