Home // International Journal On Advances in Intelligent Systems, volume 6, numbers 3 and 4, 2013 // View article

Three Principles for the Design of Energy Feedback Visualizations

Authors:
Robert S. Brewer
Yongwen Xu
George E. Lee
Michelle Katchuck
Carleton A. Moore
Philip M. Johnson

Keywords: visualization, serious games, energy feedback, energy, energy literacy, smart grid

Abstract:
To achieve the full benefits of the Smart Grid, end users must become active participants in the energy ecosystem. This paper presents the Kukui Cup challenge, a multifaceted serious game designed around the topic of energy conservation that incorporates a variety of energy feedback visualizations, online educational activities, and real-world activities such as workshops and excursions. We describe our experiences developing energy feedback visualizations in the Kukui Cup based on in-lab evaluations and field studies in college residence halls. We learned that energy feedback systems should address these three factors: 1) they should be actionable, 2) domain knowledge should go hand in hand with feedback systems, and 3) feedback must be "sticky" if it is to lead to changes in behaviors and attitudes. We provide examples of both successful and unsuccessful visualizations, and discuss how they address the three factors we have identified.

Pages: 188 to 198

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2013. Used with permission.

Publication date: December 31, 2013

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2679