How We Developed the Therm Platform To Help Energy Companies Reduce IT Costs and Improve Sales Efficiency

Improving functionality can actually increase the bottom line. Creating new tools, wireframes, and workflows for an energy retail platform led to a monumental increase in both sales and pricing efficiency and net profits.

Role: Principal Product Designer

AT A GLANCE:

improvement in pricing efficiency

20x

improvement in sales efficiency

10x

reduction in IT costs

40%

increase in net profits

16%

Sizzle reel for Therm, a fully integrated retail energy automation platform.

The Challenge

Energy retail companies relied on outdated, manual processes that were prone to errors and inefficiencies, leading to high IT and operational costs. Recognizing an opportunity to modernize the industry, we created Therm—a scalable, user-centric platform designed to automate complex logistics for five diverse groups: energy retail customers, brokers, suppliers, ISVs, and market research firms. Therm streamlines critical functions such as pricing, scheduling, forecasting, CRM, and bid management, significantly enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.

In the United States, the demand for natural gas is on a modest upward trajectory, growing at a 0.4% annual rate up to 2025, primarily fueled by increased industrial usage. (source)

The Fix

As principal designer, my team and I conducted user research within distinct users, which helped us design wireframes and workflows for more efficient bidding processes. Collaboration between user research and engineering is critical to aligning automation with real-world workflows, which is why we worked with both Therm’s engineering and executive teams to ensure alignment between the design and tech sides. Once the multiproduct suite was ready, we implemented it in phases for ease, training users across all profiles for seamless adoption.

Early sketches during the concept phase exploring the user interface and functionality.

User research synthesis

User role mapping

User and workflow visualization

Sales opportunity workflow for energy brokers and suppliers

"The new platform allows us to process deals and bids at an unprecedented scale, transforming how we manage energy procurement and pricing."

— Brian, Managing Director

The Results

Thanks to its redesigned platform, Therm is now a leader in energy automation, securing major accounts and delivering quantifiable value to customers. Our automated solutions for Therm helped energy retail companies reduce overhead by 40% and increase profitability by 16%. More specifically, RFP responses for brokers skyrocketed from 8 to 80 per week, a 10X increase in sales efficiency, and analysts were able to process 100 deals per day instead of the former 5 per day, a 20X increase in pricing efficiency.

Energy platform shown on desktop, tablet, and mobile, adjusting functionality based on user roles and device capabilities.

The responsive platform adapts to different roles, offering full functionality on desktops while providing a streamlined experience on smaller devices.