Case Study
Nearly everybody in San Diego County has to interact with San Diego Gas & Electric in one way or another. SDG&E provides service to 3.3 million customers with an average of ~260,000 monthly site visits. Consequently, this makes the digital user experience critical for the company and the community it serves.
Methodology
The site featured in this case study was evaluated via usability testing and a qualitative interview about the participant’s experience. The participant was a user with limited experience on the SDG&E website. In testing, the user was given a series of tasks to attempt, including:
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Locating a telephone number
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Paying a bill
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Signing into MyEnergy and identifying key information on the dashboard
The methods in how the user chose to do these tasks were recorded, as well as whether or not they were successful.
Problem 1: Confusing Layout
The SDG&E home page is missing a clear visual hierarchy, with multiple groups of information competing for attention. Other issues are:
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Multiple navigation bars with overwhelming dropdowns with ambiguous labeling lead to choice overload.
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Small fonts and graphics are hard to read, particularly for those with lower vision.
In usability testing, the most reoccurring comment was, “I’m spending too much time looking for what I need.”
Two separate navigation bars with no clear reason as to why these items are separate
This login area and the hero image it’s grouped with don’t have any association
Callouts are hard to read, especially for those with visual impairments
Solution: Prioritize Hierarchy
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High-traffic pages such as Outage Map, Home, Pay My Bill, Customer Service, and Log In should be prioritized in the main menu.
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Visual hierarchy with increased font size and weight will better direct the user’s attention to what’s most important.
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Consolidating the multiple menu bars and organizing the sub-menus with simpler, clearer labels.
Problem 2: Help is Difficult to Find
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Basic contact information— finding a customer service phone number requires navigating through multiple clicks, which inflated the task completion time.
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Reluctance to explore—user spent excessive time hovering over the "Customer Service" mega-menu while deliberating their next step.
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The link that most quickly leads to a phone number was overlooked since it’s located at the top right of the page.
The top right of a page is easily overlooked, according to Fitt’s Law
Choice overload, none of which make it obvious that there is a service number available to call.
Solution: Highlight Contact Info
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Repositioning the "Contact Us" page away from the easily missed top-right corner emphasizes communication channels.
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A prominent customer service phone number directly added to the homepage.
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An FAQ category in the navigation menu for quick access to answers to common problems.
Problem 3: Difficulties With Bills
SDG&E's bill payment system creates unexpected obstacles.
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Paying with a third-party site— “My Energy Center” as a method to complete this task is available, but users are confused as to why they need to make an account with a third-party site.
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Unexpected sign-up process— The user found that “logging in” was most attractive course of action, as opposed to “paying as a guest”. But creating account was an unforeseen process that took up a lot of time.
Redirection to a third-party site confused users
Users go in not expecting to go through a 5-step sign-up process
Solution: Clarify the Content Design
Usability interviews indicated that customers had positive perceptions on the My Energy Center interface. To take advantage of this positive perception:
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The My Energy Center signup/login should be more prominently presented on the home page.
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Include clear accompanying messaging such as, “Looking for a simpler way to pay your bills? Sign up for My Energy Center,” to inspire users to confidently create an account.
Conclusion
Many of the problems with SDG&E’s site are rooted in the organization and layout. Often, users find themselves hesitant about where to go next. Better user efficiency could be achieved with the solutions proposed:
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Improved visual hierarchy
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Prioritizing high-traffic and direct access to support pages in the navigation bar
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Consolidating and clearly labeling dropdown menu links
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Emphasizing the benefits of signing up for “My Energy Center” on the home page
By making these changes, SDG&E can recognize user’s time and needs while strengthening their relationship with the community.