Current mission → Fonds Prévention Argile
FREN
Turning an Excel tool into a web app that calculates the carbon footprint of a single building element or an entire project.
At a glance
Ingérop wanted to turn an Excel tool into a user-friendly web app to calculate the carbon footprint of buildings, ahead of the RE2020 regulation.
A journey that serves two opposite needs: an estimate within seconds with no sign-up, or a full project to come back to later. Around fifty screens, desktop and mobile.
At one point I felt stuck: I should have pushed earlier for the in-depth conversation with the client that eventually unblocked everything.
When you're stuck, it usually means you haven't fully understood the users' goals yet.
ℹ️ Good to know: the live version isn't fully developed, but it gives you a good overview: calcab.ingerop.com
Ahead of the RE2020 environmental regulation, engineering firm Ingérop asked me to turn an existing Excel-based tool into a more user-friendly and efficient web app (that also works in mobile browsers).
The goal: let anyone calculate the carbon footprint of a single building element or an entire project.
The main challenge on this project was the range of users. Some want to calculate the carbon footprint of a single element, quickly, hassle-free and without signing up, while others want to calculate the footprint of an entire project and be able to find all the information later on.
To meet both needs, I built a user journey that starts by adding a single element. From there, you already get an estimated carbon cost within seconds, no sign-up required.
You're then free to run a new search, or turn that element into a project by adding more.
That way, we cover users' two main needs. It sounds simple on paper, but it took quite a bit of thinking and back-and-forth to get there.
That's the whole challenge with this kind of project: mobile isn't the priority, but people still need access to their data on the go.
I didn't reinvent the wheel: tools like Notion and Airtable have taught users to navigate data-heavy content on mobile (especially tables). So I added horizontal scrolling to the data-heavy sections.
Prototype testing confirmed that it works really well, even with large amounts of data.
As a product designer, my work involved:
The process involved several iterations and discussions with the client to refine the designs and make sure the app met the sector's specific needs while staying intuitive and efficient.
A much more complex project than it first seemed. It was one of the first times I felt truly stuck. After an in-depth conversation with the client, I finally grasped the users' goals and got past that block. A great, rewarding experience.