Designed an Energy Management System for 14 APAC buildings, improving monitoring, usability, and energy efficiency.

How i reimagined a data-heavy industrial dashboard into a clear, actionable tool, helping engineers make faster decisions, reduce energy waste by 32%, and respond to issues 2x quicker.

Energy management systems are notoriously difficult to use well. They sit at the intersection of industrial engineering, real-time data, and high-stakes decision-making, yet the interfaces that power them are often built by engineers for engineers, leaving facility managers and sustainability leads drowning in numbers with no clear path to action.

This case study documents the end-to-end UX process behind redesigning an EMS platform for a global-sized American technology company managing 14 buildings across Asia-Pacific region (APAC). The existing system was technically capable but operationally ignored alarms, went unacknowledged, energy consumption went unnoticed for days, and sustainability reporting was done manually in spreadsheets.

Before i start redesigning, i understood the failure modes of the existing platform. Through a combination of stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiry sessions, and reviewing three months of system logs and five major problems emerged.

Understanding the people behind the screens

I conducted 18 in-depth interviews across three role types facility managers, building engineers, and sustainability directors. Each had fundamentally different mental models, goals, and levels of technical fluency which meant one interface couldn’t serve everyone equally well.

A critical insight from my research the three roles interact with energy data at completely different time scales. The Facilities Manager needs, is everything running properly what’s wrong today. The Building Engineer needs a recent past view what caused this. The Sustainability Director needs a months-to-years view are we on track toward our targets?

The biggest change i made wasn’t visual it was structural. system was originally organized around technical categories like HVAC, lighting, power, and water. While this made sense from a system perspective, it didn’t match how people actually worked.

So i redesigned it around roles. Instead of asking users to navigate through system types, the interface now adapts based on who is using it. A facilities manager, an operator, and a sustainability lead each see the same data but in a way that’s relevant to their responsibilities.

Below is a representative view of the primary Facilities Manager dashboard. Every visual decision was driven by testing we ran 6 rounds of usability testing across 18 participants during the design phase, iterating on information density, color theory, and alert hierarchy.

The redesigned EMS platform was rolled out across all 14 buildings over seven months, with results measured against the baseline metrics defined during the research phase.

This case study covers research, synthesis, design, and validation phases conducted over a 6-month engagement. Names and specific metrics have been adjusted to protect client confidentiality. The design system and interface patterns described here are my original work.

UX Design, Energy Management, Dashboard Design, IoT, Smart Buildings, User Research, Industrial UX, Case Study.

Energy Management System for Real-Time Decision Making

Lead end-to-end UX strategy for enterprise dashboards and data-driven platforms bridging business monitoring goals with the operational needs of end users making real-time decisions. Define and drive UX research plans: user interviews, contextual observation, and usability testing sessions that surface critical user needs and inform design direction at a senior level. Own workflow definition for complex, multi-step enterprise processes mapping user journeys, identifying friction points, and designing intuitive flows that drive measurably higher task efficiency. Translate business stakeholder requirements into creative, user-centred design strategies; present and defend design rationale to leadership and cross-functional partners with clarity and authority. Lead design critiques and sprint ceremonies; mentor junior team members and elevate overall design quality through structured feedback and strategic direction. Architected the UX migration from PowerStudio to EntroCIN — a complex, high-stakes product transition maintaining workflow continuity and achieving zero regression in user efficiency post-launch. Built a scalable Figma component library and design system that reduced design iteration cycles by ~30%, enabling the team to ship higher-quality work faster.

Independently led UX design across SaaS products, admin dashboards, and business tools — balancing business goals with user needs across multiple simultaneous client projects. Conducted end-to-end UX research: user interviews, workflow analysis, and feedback synthesis that directly shaped product strategy and drove measurable engagement improvements. Defined user workflows and information architectures for complex business tools, reducing task completion time and improving user satisfaction scores across iterations. Created wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity UI that communicated design intent clearly to developers, product managers, and non-design stakeholders. Established reusable design systems and component libraries in Figma, enabling cross-team consistency and accelerating design-to-development handoff. Operated as the primary design voice in client and product team discussions — translating ambiguous briefs into structured design strategies with clear creative and business rationale.

Designed digital storytelling experiences focused on user engagement, cognitive flow, and behavioural design developing a strong foundation in how design decisions drive user attention and interaction efficiency. Applied user research insights to restructure content workflows across web and mobile, improving engagement depth and platform usability.

Produced visual assets and narrative layouts grounded in communication hierarchy and user perception building craft fundamentals now applied at a senior strategic level.

Parthi’s attention to detail and ability to balance aesthetics with usability stood out in every project we collaborated on.

Aisha Verma

Parthi’s design decisions always connect back to the user journey — crisp, intuitive, and well-reasoned.

Energy Management System for Real-Time Decision Making

Parthi Guru