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Explore the evolution to SMT third-party usability and functionality through an overview and in-depth walk-through. Learn about the SMT APIs, registration, account management, energy data management, and more. Discover the enhancements made for a better user experience. Find out what third-parties need to know and get insights from validation testing. The presentation covers proposed solutions for improved efficiency, cognitive load reduction, and consolidated processes. Dive into methodology details, including heuristic evaluations and validation testing results.
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Third-Party Release Market Presentation September 2014
Agenda Evolution to SMT Third Party & Usability Today’s Agenda Overview of Usability Enhancements Presentation of the SMT Third-Party Navigation Prototype Third-Party Functional Design (Process Flow) Walk-through Overview of SMT Third-Party Functionality Third-Party Registration & Account Management Manage Energy Data Agreement and Usage Requests Manage In-Home Device Agreement Manage In-Home Device Services Agreement SMT Application Programming Interfaces (API) Walk-through Overview of Available SMT APIs API Definition and Structure (Adhoc Usage Request and Scheduled Report Request API) What Third-Parties need to know before Registering with SMT Q&A
SMT Usability and User Experience Work An effort was undertaken to improve the overall user experience (UX) of the Smart Meter Texas web portal Retained Shannon Graf, a consumer insights professional Conducted a heuristic evaluation of the overall SMT site usability against industry standards and best practices Proposed changes to be considered to improve the user experience. The TDSP’s reviewed and elected to include recommendations that could be included in the new third party solution without impacting the ability to release third party in 2014. Ms. Graf then conducted user validation testing on the new SMT UX design changes Validated that the changes improved the usability of the site Incorporated feedback from these session with additional changes to further improve the user experience.
Methodology Heuristic Evaluation Results The evaluation involved Ms. Graf utilizing the existing Smart Meter Texas solution to perform all new and existing customer functionality. Ms. Graf also walked through the design documentation and navigation prototype tool to review the new Third Party functionality. The research resulted in development of industry best practice recommendations intended to improve the Smart Meter Texas solution usability and user experience (UX). 6
Proposed Solution • Quick Fixes solve for… • Addressing key issues that are a barrier to success in the existing portal • Reducing cognitive load currently required during each step from registration to management • Consolidating the steps needed to register, view, and manage agreements • Proposed Solution solves for... • A simplified process which aims to reduce overall cognitive load and increase efficiency for all user types • Organization of processes in modal windows by critical tasks • Visual representation of key data to help users identify at-a-glance: pending agreements, overall usage, updates / notifications, and entry points to action items, (i.e. 3rd party agreements) 7
Methodology Validation Testing Results The study involved 15 in-depth interviews (IDIs) across two days on May 6th and 8th, 2014 in Dallas and Houston, respectively. The interviews were conducted with both residential and business customers and prospects, including representative consumers of the Hispanic community. The research resulted in consistent strategic and tactical findings across all respondents, and validated that changes made as a result of the first round of design reviewsare positive and well-received. 8
Presentation of New Enhanced SMT User Experience 10 10
Presentation of the SMT Third-Party Navigation Prototype 11 11
Third-Party Functional Design (Process Flow) Walk-through 12
Overview of SMT Third-Party Functionality – What is a Third-Party Service Provider? A Third-Party Service Provider is a company that provides services to consumers related to energy use, such as energy management services and/or devices to monitor energy use and control consumption. Third-Party Service Providers can either be: Retail Electric Providers (REPs) who are authorized to sell electricity to consumers in the state of Texas but are not the current Retail Electric Provider of the customer (REP of Record), Independent Third-Party Service Providers that provide energy related services who are not authorized to sell electricity to consumers in the state of Texas. If you are a Retail Electric Provider (REP), your company only has access to the usage data of the customers for whom you are their current REP of Record. You need to establish a Customer Agreement with your customers as a Third-Party Service Provider if you want to: Access the usage data for customers that you are not the current REP of Record Add or remove In-Home Devices to your customers’ Smart Meters Send text messages, pricing signals and load control events to your customers’ In-Home Devices.
Overview of SMT Third-Party Functionality(Page 1 of 2) • Third-Party Registration and Account Management • Third-Party is required to have an SMT account. • REP SMT accounts will have the same functionality as an Independent Third-Party. • Independent Third-Party account model will follow the same processes and business rules as REP accounts (e.g.: Admin/User model). • Third-Party may provide SMT their company logo, URLs to their website and privacy policy, and confirm that they have met the requirements for a Privacy Seal during new account registration. • Initiating Customer Agreements (General Rules) • Third-Party is required to have an SMT account. • Third-Party may invite Customers, with or without a SMT Account, for an Agreement. Customer is required to have an SMT account to accept the Agreement Invitation. • Third-Party Access To Customer Energy Data • Customer must accept the Energy Data Agreement to allow SMT to begin provide information to Third-Party. • Third-Party can acquire up to 12 months of Customer Historical Data per Agreement. • Third-Party can acquire future Customer Historical Data per same Agreement until agreement is expired. • The Energy Data Agreement may have a terms of up to 1 year only. • Customer can terminate the Energy Data Agreement at any time.
Overview of SMT Third-Party Functionality(Page 2 of 2) • Third-Party Ability to Provision / De-Provision Customer In-Home Device (HAN) • An In-Home DEVICE Agreement authorizes a Third-Party to provision and de-provision an In-Home Device with the Customer’s Smart Meter. • An In-Home DEVICE Agreement does not enable a Third-Party to send In-Home Device messages to Customer’s In-Home Device. • Customer must accept an agreement invitation to allow the Third-Party In-Home Device to be provisioned with the Customer’s meter. • Provision / De-Provision process must follow Smart Energy Profile (SEP) 1.0 standard. • The Third-Party ability to provision / de-provision In-Home Devices will remain in effect until the In-Home Device is de-provisioned from the meter, or either the Customer or the Third-Party terminates the Agreement. • Third-Party Ability to Provide Customer with In-Home Device Messaging Services • An In-Home Device SERVICES Agreement authorizes a Third-Party to communicate with a Customer’s In-Home Device using SEP 1.0 messages. An agreement can specify any combination of simple text, pricing and/or load control message types. • An In-Home Device SERVICES Agreement does not enable a Third-Party to provision or de-provision a Customer’s In-Home Device. • Customer must accept agreement invitation before the Third-Party is able to send In-Home Device messages (e.g. Load Control, Pricing, Text). • In-Home Device messages must follow Smart Energy Profile (SEP) 1.0 standard. • The Third-Party In-Home Device Messaging Services will remain in effect until the Customer or the Third-Party terminates the Agreement.
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughProcess Flow Customer “Accept / Reject Agreements” Third-Party “Create / Manage Agreements” SMT “Process Agreements / Information”
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughThird-Party SMT Permissions
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughThird-Party Registration Process
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughInitiate New Agreement Process
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughManage Energy Data Agreement and Usage Requests Process
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughManage In-Home Device Agreement Process
Detailed Third-Party Design Walk-ThroughManage In-Home Device Services Agreement Process
SMT Application Programming Interfaces (API) Walk-through 23 23
SMT API Definition and Structure –Adhoc Usage Request API 26
SMT API Definition and Structure –Scheduled Report Request API 27
What Third-Parties need to know before Registering with SMT 28 28
Third-Party Registration and On-boarding –DUNS and Connectivity Validation Process
Q&A 30