Energy & Utilities

# Energy & Utilities

## Designing the first AI interfaces for the power grid.

We design and build software for energy companies — AI-powered operations platforms, grid monitoring dashboards, and forecasting tools for the people who keep the lights on.

[Discuss an Energy Project →](https://calendar.app.google/5xBrWfMguyk3j2sHA)

## Our Energy Experience

Our work with OATI represents some of the most technically complex and consequential product design we've done. We designed the interface for Genie — the first generative AI system to enter power grid operations, globally.

### OATI & California ISO
OATI holds 98% market share in energy grid software. Their platform serves the operators who manage power generation, transmission, and distribution across the United States and Canada.

We were brought in to design the user experience for Genie, an AI assistant that helps grid operators make real-time decisions. The system uses retrieval-augmented generation to search operating procedures and scans hundreds of critical keywords across outage data to surface anomalies and risks.

This isn't a chatbot. It's a decision-support tool for people managing critical infrastructure — where a mistake can mean blackouts affecting millions.

### Understanding the Users
We spent weeks interviewing California ISO operators. These are professionals with 30-40 years of experience who work with interfaces that look like they were built in the 1980s — because they were. Every element on their screens serves a purpose. Every color has a meaning that's been standardized across the industry for decades.

We identified five distinct operator roles — transmission desk, generation desk, planning engineers, real-time operations engineers, and reliability coordinators — each interacting with the same underlying data but needing completely different views and workflows.

### The MISO Win
Our design work for OATI was the key factor in winning a major contract with MISO — the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. MISO is the largest energy grid operator in North America, managing power across 15 US states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. It's a $600M organization.

The resulting engagement is a multi-year, 7-8 figure contract. The design work didn't just look good — it directly generated transformational revenue for the client.

## What We Learned About Energy

### Respect Institutional Knowledge
Energy grid operators have developed workflows, color systems, and mental models over decades. Our job wasn't to modernize their interface according to contemporary design trends. It was to enhance their existing workflow with AI capabilities while preserving the expertise and conventions they rely on every day.

### Design for Zero Downtime
When your user is managing power for 15 million people, "we'll fix that in the next sprint" doesn't work. Every state, every error path, every edge case matters. We designed with the understanding that the interface must be reliable and predictable under every condition.

### Data Density Is a Feature
Energy operators need to see dozens of data points simultaneously. Power flow, line congestion, outage status, generation capacity, weather data — all at a glance. The design challenge is organizing information so critical signals are immediately visible while supporting detail is accessible without friction. Material Design wasn't built for this. We designed from first principles.

### AI Needs Trust
Grid operators won't blindly follow an AI recommendation that contradicts their decades of experience. The Genie interface was designed to surface AI insights as evidence-backed suggestions — with clear citations to operating procedures and data sources — rather than opaque directives. Trust is earned through transparency.

## Services for Energy & Utilities

**UX Audit** — Evaluate existing energy software interfaces against operator workflows and identify opportunities for improvement. Our OATI engagement started with an $8K audit that led to a long-term design partnership.

**Product Design** — Complex dashboard design, role-specific interfaces, real-time monitoring views, and AI-powered decision support tools.

**AI Interface Design** — Specialized design for AI features in critical infrastructure contexts. Natural language interfaces, alert systems, and decision-support tools designed for high-stakes environments.

**Rapid Prototyping** — Interactive prototypes for client presentations, conference demos, and stakeholder alignment. We've built demo-ready prototypes for industry conferences like DistribuTech and OATI's Energy Conference.

## Energy Companies We've Worked With

- **OATI** — UX Audit, AI Interface Design, Dashboard Design
- **MISO Integration** — Monitoring dashboard design for the largest North American grid operator