RED Platform App
UX case study

Project Overview

The RED Platform is a blockchain-powered energy trading application that facilitates transactions between renewable energy producers and consumers. Due to a shift in platform logic, as the user experience designer for the RED Platform, my role was to enhance the dashboard experience to improve usability and align with the platform’s evolving focus on green energy attributes and tokenized sustainability solutions. The redesign introduced role-specific dashboards, improved navigation, and integrated new features to support energy trading, staking, franchise management, NFT integration, carbon credit marketplace functionalities, and renewable energy tracking tokens.

The problem

The initial dashboard had several usability challenges due to the platform’s expansion and evolving functionalities:

A single dashboard for all users caused confusion, as Traders, Producers, Consumers, Franchise Owners, Sustainable Project Developers, Renewable Energy Producers, and Carbon Credit Buyers had different needs.
The GTK marketplace required intuitive features for listing, buying, and trading green tokens.
Franchise functionality lacked a structured flow for onboarding and management.
The introduction of Solar NFTs necessitated a dedicated marketplace where users could buy, sell, and assign NFTs to renewable energy projects.
A Carbon Credits Marketplace was introduced for sustainable project developers to list and sell tokenized carbon credits.
Users needed real-time insights into transactions, staking rewards, and platform-wide activities, but the existing dashboard lacked clarity and feedback mechanisms.

Responsibilities

UX Research
Identify pain points and usability challenges in the existing dashboard.
Wireframing and prototyping
Interactions
Visual Design
Developed a role-specific dashboard structure to improve clarity and efficiency.
Streamlined navigation, reducing cognitive load and improving task completion times.
Designed intuitive interfaces for the GTK Marketplace, Solar NFT Marketplace, and Carbon Credit Trading System.
Created a Wallets section displaying MWAT, GTK, Solar NFTs, and tokenized carbon credits.

Goal

The goal of this project was to redesign the RED Platform dashboard to accommodate its expanding ecosystem, improve usability, transparency, and efficiency, and ensure a seamless experience across multiple user roles. The redesign focused on role-specific dashboards, streamlined transactions, and new sustainability-driven features such as trading, Solar NFTs, Carbon Credit Marketplace, and Renewable Energy Tracking Tokens.

My role

I worked as the User Experience Designer, responsible for researching, conceptualizing, and designing an improved dashboard experience for the RED Platform. My focus was on creating user-centric solutions that enhanced navigation, accessibility, and engagement across various platform functionalities.

User Research

We researched other energy trading platforms, NFT marketplaces, and carbon credit platforms to identify best practices and usability challenges. We noted effective features such as clear transaction tracking, intuitive asset management, and real-time data updates, as well as common failures, such as overcomplicated onboarding processes, poor visibility into market trends, and lack of transparency in transaction histories.

Pain Points

Users struggled to find relevant actions due to an overloaded dashboard.
A single interface for all user types led to confusion and inefficiency, as different users had different goals.
Consumers and project developers needed clearer insights into their impact and benefits, such as CO2 offset data and energy savings visualization.
The platform was not fully optimized for mobile users, with cluttered layouts and difficult-to-use controls on smaller screens.
Users feel overwhelmed by too many options and details at once.

User personas

The design process

To ensure an intuitive and efficient user experience, I started by sketching paper wireframes to explore layout ideas before transitioning to digital wireframes and creating a low-fidelity prototype. This approach allowed for early feedback and iteration before moving into usability testing with stakeholders.

Low fidelity wireframes

I drafted multiple layout variations to explore different ways the information could be structured.

Visual Design

At this stage, I focused on creating a clean, intuitive visual design that enhances usability and aligns with the RED Platform’s focus on green energy attributes. Green tones symbolize sustainability, while violet conveys innovation. Clean typography and distinct icons improve readability and navigation. Real-time transaction tracking, dynamic data visualizations, and structured dashboards provide transparency and efficiency, ensuring a seamless experience for all user roles.

Outcome

Expected Outcomes & Impact

With the redesigned dashboard yet to launch, the anticipated impact focuses on improving user engagement, efficiency, and platform transparency. By implementing role-specific workflows and a more intuitive UI, the platform expects users to navigate more efficiently and complete tasks with greater ease. Additionally, a structured marketplace for Solar NFTs will enable investors to manage ownership and track energy yield more effectively, potentially driving greater adoption. The improvements may also expand carbon credit trading, as the enhanced listing process could make it simpler for sustainable projects to enter the market and attract investors. These refinements aim to position the RED Platform as a leader in green energy tokenization, blockchain-based sustainability tracking, and renewable energy investments while offering a seamless user experience.

Key Takeaways

The redesign process reinforced the importance of role-specific experiences, demonstrating that tailoring the dashboard to different user needs significantly enhances usability and engagement. Clear data visualization emerged as a crucial factor, as users need real-time insights and transaction tracking to make informed decisions. We also found that blockchain transparency builds trust, as users feel more confident when they have visibility into their transactions, staking, and NFT ownership. Addressing mobile usability issues was another key lesson, as ensuring accessibility across devices broadens the platform’s reach. Lastly, we discovered that education and support reduce friction, as many users require guidance to navigate energy trading and tokenized assets effectively.

Next steps

To ensure a successful launch and ongoing improvements, the next focus areas include conducting beta testing and gathering user feedback to validate design decisions before full deployment. Enhancing the mobile experience remains a priority, with plans to introduce a dedicated app for seamless trading, staking, and project monitoring.

The platform also aims to implement gamification elements, offering rewards for sustainability actions such as using renewable energy or reducing carbon footprints. Additionally, advanced analytics will be further integrated to provide Solar NFT investors with deeper insights into energy yield and financial returns. By pursuing these next steps, the RED Platform is expected to continue evolving, driving adoption and making a lasting impact on sustainable energy markets.

RED platform app