Product no longer useful
- Research validated that the switching product no longer matched users' needs.
Uswitch
Creating
Creating
the Uswitch
Quick Checker
When the energy crisis killed switching, Uswitch's core product became useless overnight. I designed the Quick Checker, a new tool that gave users the guidance they needed and kept Uswitch relevant until the market recovered.
User problem
Users could no longer switch energy providers. Prices were rising, suppliers were going into administration, and people didn't know what to do.
Business problem
Uswitch's core product, energy switching, was dead. The business needed to find a way to keep users engaged until the market recovered.
Solution
The Quick Checker: a tool that gave users the information they needed to navigate the crisis, kept Uswitch relevant, and encouraged them to return when switching came back.
200k
Monthly returning users
5%
Email sign-up rate for updates
1.9→3.5
User satisfaction score improvement
Validating the problem
With a big shift in the energy market, I led user testing to validate whether our switching product still met users' needs. The research revealed three things.
Users felt unsettled
- Rising bills, supplier collapses, and no available plans left users anxious and looking for guidance.
New direction needed
- A change in product direction was needed, not just a UI update.
Defining the solution
I planned and ran an ideation workshop with the product team (engineers, product, data analysts) using the research findings as a starting point. We used ideation cards to generate solutions, then grouped and assessed them.
Choosing a direction
We assessed each option on user value, business value, available data, and risk. I presented our recommendation to the product team, and we agreed to move forward with the Quick Checker.
Testing the Quick Checker
I ran moderated usability tests to validate the concept before engineers built it. I reused the same metrics from the initial research so we could directly compare whether the Quick Checker better matched users' needs.
What we built
Testing confirmed the Quick Checker's value, showing improvements in both usefulness and satisfaction. The key features were:
- A personalised energy grade
- Insight into their plan, supplier, usage, and cost
- Notifications on grade changes and new plans
- Market overview, including plans not on Uswitch
The Quick Checker
The shipped product: a personalised grade, the detail behind it, a view of the wider market, and updates when either changed.
1.9 → 3.5
user satisfaction score
We launched the Quick Checker as an A/B test alongside an onsite survey. User sentiment rose from 1.9/5 on the empty switching page to 3.5/5 with the Quick Checker. We rolled it out to 100% of traffic.
Over the next three months: 200,000 monthly returning users and a 5% sign-up rate for grade and plan updates, creating a contactable base for when energy switching returned.
What I'd do differently
Grade communication needed more iteration
- Users struggled to interpret their energy grade: some weren't sure if a "B" was good or bad.
- More iterative testing on the grading system could have improved comprehension and confidence.
Long-term sustainability
- Every energy market announcement now requires manual updates to the guidance.
- A simpler, more rule-based system could have reduced this ongoing effort and freed the team for new opportunities.