Manufacturing
Breathing New Life Into a Flagship Energy Analytics Product

Ascend Analytics

We breathed new life into Ascend Analytics’ flagship product PowerSIMM™ with a modern, human-centered user experience.
Overview

Analytics & Data Infrastructure at Scale

Ascend Analytics is a software and consulting company specializing in the energy sector. The Boulder-based company offers analytics and data infrastructure to energy providers all over the United States so they can make informed decisions and increase efficiency. One of Ascend Analytics’ longest-running products, PowerSIMM™, is an energy analytics platform that provides energy portfolio management, resource planning, and project optimization.

Challenge

In early 2021, Ascend Analytics realized that PowerSIMM™ needed a few significant updates, most notably its user interface.

Insight

Previously, PowerSIMM™ was actually a combination of several different products, each with their own user interface and sign on process.

Solution

To create a much more streamlined experience when using PowerSIMM™, we pulled the most critical features from each product into a single interface.

MentorMate really excelled in not only redesigning the user experience of PowerSIMM™, but also worked within our available tools to bring that design to life.

Scott Wrigglesworth

Managing Director, Operations & Strategy

SOLUTION

A Revamped Flagship Product

Since PowerSIMM™ is Ascend Analytics’ flagship product, we gave the new version of the platform a world-class experience to match its importance in the company’s portfolio. The previous version was actually a combination of several different products, each with their own user interface and sign on process.

 

To create a much more seamless experience across all those products, we pulled the most critical features from each into a single interface and added single sign-on (SSO) authentication. The result is a much more streamlined experience when using PowerSIMM™. To power that experience, we built a web-based, Microsoft Azure hybrid cloud solution. It uses a React front-end, Power BI, and leverages Ascend Analytics’ existing Oracle back-end database.

Services
Strategic Consulting
Align Your Vision and Business Strategy
UX / UI Design
Elevate Your User Experience
Web Development
Consistent Experience Across Platforms
Quality Assurance
Ensure the quality of your software
Cloud and DevOps
Future-proof and Scale Your Infrastructure
PROCESS

Modernizing the PowerSIMM™ Experience

In order to create a modern user experience, we first had to understand PowerSIMM™ users. We began by conducting collaborative behavior design and human-centered design workshops with key stakeholders at Ascend Analytics. One of those key stakeholders, Scott Wrigglesworth, had the unique experience of being an Ascend Analytics customer and PowerSIMM™ user for about a decade before joining the company. His input proved invaluable in helping us understand the needs and habits of the platform’s users.

 

Following the workshops, we designed and built prototypes to assist us in user testing different ideas. After identifying the right route to take, we built the front-end of the platform and put everything through our standard quality assurance process. Additionally, we built a middle-tier API with enhanced security. We accomplished all of this by taking a large scale scrum (LeSS) approach to the project.

We were very impressed with the QA process that MentorMate followed. It was quite rigorous and we greatly appreciated the attention to detail they provided.

Scott Wrigglesworth

Managing Director, Operations & Strategy

IMPACT

A High Return Investment

Ascend Analytics estimates the ROI of revamping PowerSIMM™ at between 120–200% with a payback period of 2–3 years. But the anecdotal evidence of its impact that they’ve seen speaks volumes above and beyond even those numbers. Several existing Ascend Analytics customers said that the new user experience was a driving factor in them renewing their contract with the company. The same can be said for several newly signed accounts as well.

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SERIOUSLY CUSTOM SOFTWARE

Distinctly Designed. Brilliantly Built.

Everyone working on your project is fully invested in its success. We care just as much about how your software looks and performs as we do about the problem that it’s solving. We work, learn, and celebrate together, measuring success by the duration of our long-term partnerships.

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