OPattern

For a company like Opower, which specializes in providing customer engagement and energy efficiency software to utility companies, the design of their digital products is crucial for encouraging behavioral change and helping customers understand their energy consumption. Presenting complex energy data in a clear, engaging, and consistent manner across various interfaces is paramount to Opower's mission. This is where OPattern, their design system and style guide, plays a vital role, serving as a comprehensive resource for everyone who creates Opower products, providing insights into the desired look and feel and offering detailed specifications for key interface elements like colors, buttons, charts, and more.

OPattern is strategically positioned as the central guide for all design and development efforts at Opower. Its identity as both a design system and style guide suggests a comprehensive resource that encompasses both the overarching principles and patterns of design (design system) and the detailed specifications for visual elements (style guide). This combined approach ensures that teams have access to both the "why" behind the design decisions and the "how" for implementing them consistently.

The fact that OPattern is intended for "everyone who creates Opower products" highlights its inclusive nature and its role in fostering collaboration across different disciplines. This likely includes designers, front-end developers, back-end engineers, product managers, and potentially content creators. By providing a single, accessible resource, OPattern ensures that everyone involved in the product creation process is aligned on the desired look, feel, and functionality of Opower's software. This shared understanding is crucial for maintaining consistency and efficiency in a collaborative environment.

A key function of OPattern is to help teams "see the look and feel we’re going for." This speaks to the system's role in articulating the desired aesthetic and overall user experience that Opower aims to achieve in its products. This likely involves defining a visual language that is not only clear and trustworthy for presenting energy data but also engaging and encouraging to motivate energy-saving behaviors. OPattern provides examples, guidelines, and potentially visual assets that convey this intended look and feel, guiding teams in creating interfaces that resonate with the end-users – the utility customers.

Furthermore, OPattern provides "specs for colors, buttons, charts, and more." This indicates the inclusion of detailed technical specifications for key interface elements. Colors are crucial for branding and conveying information, particularly in data visualization. OPattern provides the exact color values to be used, ensuring consistency and adherence to accessibility standards. Buttons are fundamental interactive elements, and OPattern defines their appearance, states (e.g., hover, active), and behavior, ensuring a predictable and user-friendly interaction. Charts are particularly important for Opower's products, as they are used to visualize complex energy usage data. OPattern likely provides detailed specifications for different chart types, data representation, labeling, and interactive features, ensuring that energy data is presented clearly and consistently across all products. The phrase "and more" suggests the inclusion of specifications for other essential components like forms, navigation elements, typography, and iconography.

The benefits of leveraging OPattern are significant for both Opower and the utility companies and customers who use their software. For Opower's internal teams, OPattern fosters increased efficiency in the design and development process. By providing
reusable components and clear specifications, teams can build interfaces more quickly and accurately, reducing
redundant effort and accelerating the delivery of new features and products. The shared standards and guidelines also improve collaboration between designers and developers.

For the utility companies that license Opower's software and their end-customers, OPattern contributes to a more consistent, user-friendly, and engaging experience. The unified look and feel across different Opower products make it easier for utility customers to understand their energy usage, access relevant information, and engage with energy-saving programs. The clear specifications for elements like charts ensure that complex energy data is presented in a comprehensible manner, empowering customers to make informed decisions about their energy consumption.

In conclusion, OPattern is a vital design system and style guide for Opower, serving as a comprehensive resource for everyone involved in creating their products. By providing insights into the desired look and feel and offering detailed specifications for key interface elements, OPattern empowers teams to build quality consistent interfaces that are essential for engaging utility customers and encouraging energy efficiency. It is the foundational system that helps Opower deliver clear, reliable, and engaging digital experiences in the energy sector.