DIGITAL & STRATEGIC
UX DESIGN PRACTICE
STRATEGIC DESIGN; UX FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Unlocking barriers to adoption for building retrofit by understanding the customer
An exploratory study into how human-centred research and design methodologies can accelerate retrofitting ambitions.
On a path to net zero, the UK is facing the vast challenge to reduce carbon emissions generated by the current housing stock. With approximately 29 million homes in the UK, residential homes account for approximately 77% the direct greenhouse gas emissions. As the adoption rate of retrofit measures by homeowners and occupiers is low, this study explores how human-led design approaches can uncover and design for the lived experiences and perspectives of customers, identify blockers and accelerate adoption.
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Two distinct perspectives have been unpacked as a result of this work: the Arup lens, to identify opportunities for Arup to integrate a user perspective more proactively within a Retrofit project. In parallel, the People lens aims to understand current end-user experiences, perceptions, barriers to adoptions, and how these can be mitigated, based on Arup’s assumptions.
The people's lens informed a series of recommendations for future retrofit projects and teams, prompting consideration of people's perspectives at every stage, and providing tangible examples of how the UX approach can be integrated into holistic system-led programme complementing the technical, systemic and place-based dimensions.
"I have been really impressed with the ability of the UX team to distil key messages that resonate with the experience of the task force. This work has challenged us to explore the perspectives of 'the user' in a structured way. The report is a concise articulation of the challenge and a framework within which each contributing discipline can engage and collaborate."
Helene Gosden, UK Retrofit at Scale Taskforce Leader
Delivering a UX framework aimed to unpack the human dimension of Retrofitting at Scale and to demonstrate how an integrated UX approach can add value to Arup’s Sustainability agenda. A discovery phase was structured according to the Double Diamond framework; encompassing a Research,Synthesis, Ideation and Design stage.
Drawing on research insights from stakeholder interviews, desk research, workshops and project shadowing, Arup Studio has articulated the critical challenges that home occupiers and residents experience when retrofitting through the end-to-end retrofit journey, from awareness to maintenance.
In response to the research, a series of practical UX tools, such as customer personas, user journeys, and User Experience Arup guide were generated. Each can support practitioners embarking on a Retrofit at Scale project to incorporate an end-user perspective and empathise with the customer's lived experiences, needs and motivations driving adoption.
