Project Overview
This redesign, part of a pilot program during my time at the marketing department of Blue Raven Solar, focused on creating a streamlined, one-stop shop for customers to be able to energize (turn on) their residential Enphase photovoltaic systems. Unfortunately, with no longer being at the company, I do not have access to the design resources and processes I used for this project.
In 2023, while working in the marketing department of Blue Raven Solar, I pitched a content marketing strategy intended to benefit current customers and improve our SEO metrics. After working in both customer support and system support/maintenance, I knew our internal processes and customer flows like the back of my hand. With this, I got approval from the website manager, senior marketing manager, and vice president of sales (who oversaw marketing) and began to explore building a page to help customers energize (turn on) their new residential photovoltaic (solar) systems
Prior to building the page, customers were only provided with a PDF created in Microsoft Word that lacked much information and detail, something customers often wanted after making a purchase in the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands. Customers also found that the information in the document often did not match what they were seeing on their own homes. Many would call into our customer support or work orders department frustrated or even angry and not understating the confusing instructions. My goal was to use my experience in all of these departments to create a guide to help customers turn their system on in every scenario.
The first step in energizing any system is identifying exactly what you’re looking at. For the average person, identifying the different types of external electrical boxes (otherwise ignored) can be confusing, so accurate labeling and identification is essential, especially when working with these high voltages. I went through dozens of images from the installs of real customers and found the most common models of equipment we used, since this occasionally varied depending on region and supplier.
Working with our in-house graphic designer, we put together visuals that made identifying the different boxes simple. The labels in the graphics were made to match the labels in-person, labeled with callouts that provided a visual guide for the corresponding step, and boxes that often had variation in shape or style were noted. The page was created using a combination of WP Bakery and custom coded HTML and CSS.
One of the most important parts of teaching someone to do something is to make it as simple and digestible as possible. This is the reason behind the large, simple, short descriptions for each step. I also provided additional links for app support and internet connectivity support. Often these are confused since both are done through Enphase Energy (the system manufacturers), meaning that many customers contact Blue Raven Solar instead of Enphase. By including better information, I was able to significantly reduce the number of support tickets related to app and internet connectivity support.
After all was said and done, I ultimately got approval to move forward with similar pages after this pilot. This was a clear move towards efficiency that customer support, work orders, and senior leadership were very pleased with. However, this was around the time I planned on leaving to volunteer full-time at a nonprofit for an extended period of time. After I left, the vice president of sales left, the senior marketing manager left, and the project was not continued by the website manager. Despite this, the page is still used company-wide today, and is sent out to each customer after every installation completed. Long gone are the days of the ‘energization PDF’ that spawned in the depths of corporate Sheol.