Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market

© 2019 A journey map is a visual representation of a process undertaken by a person, and is related to product use and human-centered design. Here, we introduce combined (linked) journey mapping techniques and use them to capture a complex system—residential solar panel purchase and installation—fro...

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Main Authors: Sinitskaya, Ekaterina, Gomez, Kelley J, Bao, Qifang, Yang, Maria C, MacDonald, Erin F
Outros autores: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Formato: Artigo
Idioma:English
Publicado: Elsevier BV 2021
Acceso en liña:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136400
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author Sinitskaya, Ekaterina
Gomez, Kelley J
Bao, Qifang
Yang, Maria C
MacDonald, Erin F
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sinitskaya, Ekaterina
Gomez, Kelley J
Bao, Qifang
Yang, Maria C
MacDonald, Erin F
author_sort Sinitskaya, Ekaterina
collection MIT
description © 2019 A journey map is a visual representation of a process undertaken by a person, and is related to product use and human-centered design. Here, we introduce combined (linked) journey mapping techniques and use them to capture a complex system—residential solar panel purchase and installation—from the perspectives of both the homeowner and the installer at the same time. Few studies have analyzed the installer, who we found significantly influences the homeowner's decisions. The advantage of the linked journey map over individual journey maps is that it decreases subjectivity of findings as “pain points” worthy of further study, and modeling can be verified from two or more vantage points. We demonstrate these maps as a semi-formal analytical tool to categorize, parameterize, and unite insights affecting both stakeholders. We gathered data from in-depth interviews with homeowners and installers and built individual journey maps. Then we identified interactions between the two, and merged their two maps to identify points on the journey that create difficulty or frustration. These maps provide comprehensive insight analysis for later surveys and agent-based model creation. We found that post-contract stages were filled with pain points. Both homeowners and installers found the lack of communication between all stakeholders, slow permit processing times and lack of assistance from utilities and housing jurisdictions, and lack of standardization for the permitting process to be painful.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1364002023-12-06T18:24:53Z Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market Sinitskaya, Ekaterina Gomez, Kelley J Bao, Qifang Yang, Maria C MacDonald, Erin F Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering © 2019 A journey map is a visual representation of a process undertaken by a person, and is related to product use and human-centered design. Here, we introduce combined (linked) journey mapping techniques and use them to capture a complex system—residential solar panel purchase and installation—from the perspectives of both the homeowner and the installer at the same time. Few studies have analyzed the installer, who we found significantly influences the homeowner's decisions. The advantage of the linked journey map over individual journey maps is that it decreases subjectivity of findings as “pain points” worthy of further study, and modeling can be verified from two or more vantage points. We demonstrate these maps as a semi-formal analytical tool to categorize, parameterize, and unite insights affecting both stakeholders. We gathered data from in-depth interviews with homeowners and installers and built individual journey maps. Then we identified interactions between the two, and merged their two maps to identify points on the journey that create difficulty or frustration. These maps provide comprehensive insight analysis for later surveys and agent-based model creation. We found that post-contract stages were filled with pain points. Both homeowners and installers found the lack of communication between all stakeholders, slow permit processing times and lack of assistance from utilities and housing jurisdictions, and lack of standardization for the permitting process to be painful. 2021-10-27T20:35:11Z 2021-10-27T20:35:11Z 2020 2020-08-13T17:23:20Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136400 en 10.1016/J.RENENE.2019.06.018 Renewable Energy Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV other univ website
spellingShingle Sinitskaya, Ekaterina
Gomez, Kelley J
Bao, Qifang
Yang, Maria C
MacDonald, Erin F
Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title_full Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title_fullStr Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title_full_unstemmed Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title_short Designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
title_sort designing linked journey maps to understand the complexities of the residential solar energy market
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136400
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