Internal User Feedback

[ElectricMountains]

Script that I followed with some liberty.

Please head to:
https://deploy-preview-119--powernetzero.netlify.app/

Go ahead and explore, your goal is to tell me what this website is about. Please mention any feedback you have.

<Feedback>

Thanks, for the feedback. For the last steps, would you mind going through each page and briefly saying what is most important to you.

<Per page "What is most important">

Thanks, do you have any other comments?

<Comments>

Well thanks for your time, we appreciate the feedback and will try to incorporate most of it. We'll let you know when we've released it, then you can have another look if you're interested.

---

All comments filtered and summarized for each page (+ navbar):
Feedback (description of action causing feedback) [my own comments]

Keep in mind that all users complimented the UI/UX of the website, so the feedback skewing negative due to me listing the flaws they percieved isn't fully indicative of their experience.

Navbar

• It seems the "About" button is the homepage, perhaps use "Home" or similar
  • "About" vs "Learn more" would seem to contain similar information
• About button doesn't seem to work (clicking from the homepage)
  [unclear that "About" directs to homepage, user realized later during navigation]
• What does "Now" mean (on the now/network page)
  • If "Now" is 2025, will it be updated in realtime? (on the now/network page)
• "Now" could be called "Grid" as its what's on that page

Homepage

• Perhaps specify "only in select countries"
• More Snoopy
• Check text for grammar issues
• Hero section is good, purpose is clear
• Include future plans, Vision of the project
• Logos not properly shown on dark mode
• A lot of blank space between the elements
• Unclear about what Scenarios section represents
• CTA to [WIP] app once its live
• User may not understand being directed to pypsa-meets-earth (Github link)
• How to navigate the website is missing
• Any numbers we should state where they come from, refer to the config/assumptions we used for our modelling
• If we include scenarios, others should be able to request being on the website
• Too much spacing in the github cards (empty space)
• Nice that 2050 color fades (color gradient)

Now

• Assumed it was just for one country (US) at first visit
• Explain what "Now" means
• I did not expect the topology of the network
• Legend is nice and plots are clear
• Is the network data from OpenStreetMap? What is the source?
• Dark/Light mode toggle seems to not work [I could recreate but unsure about the exact conditions]
• What is GVA in legend?
• Transmission lines having different weights does not translate well to the map, perhaps use colors
• Bus sizes all look about the same, can not see different sizes
• Unclear how to interact with the map, nothing mentioning that hovering gives you information
• Circles (Buses) on the map are too small, struggle to get the popup to show, seems you have to be exactly on the bus
• [Popup Bus]
  • Takes some time for the popup to load
  • Colors for offshore and onshore wind are too close in shade
  • Offshore wind is repeated, AC & DC can be combined
  • Not sure what the circles represent, some enumeration would help to read the chart
  • Use Bar chart instead of Pie Chart
  • What is US30? [country-code][id] Instead map to the city, ideally control zones
  • Nominal capacity is good, investment needs per node could be better, perhaps user can choose
• [Network Statistics]
  • [Generation Mix] Is this 2050 or is it now?
  • [Comparison] Quite a difference, is there an explanation for this?
  • [Comparison] Chart is quite big
  • [Comparison] Difficult to get insights from the chart, perhaps bar chart grouped by resource
  • Are the values correct for Brazil?

2050

• Rephrase the buttons on the left, e.g. Installed capacity -> Insights into capacity
• Add button for assumptions, so people can explore those
• Explanations on the page for each element, e.g. you need an explanation for euro per tCO2 [Info button]
• World is focused on reducing CO2 for the cheapest possible price, it can be included here but needs more explanation
• Is the data available for download?
• Labels inconsistent throughout charts, e.g. Investment charts vs Capacity charts
• Where is Oil in CO2 Emissions for India?
• That's a lot of solar for Nigeria
• Visual artifacts on the globe [Lock zoom so you can't zoom out enough to have stars over countries]
• Incorrect oceans, see Mediterranean or Southeast Asia
• [Popup Country] Unclear what "Investment required" is about
• [Popup Country] Shouldn't the cost be in dollars? Nigeria, US, etc.
• [Investment Costs]
  • [Current Costs] How do you define the total system cost of today? Is it costs to build from scratch?
  • Left arrow doesn't work when tab open
  • Technologies are in the legend that aren't in the charts
  • 1 Chart, 2 on the right, they don't align [Visible by adjusting screen resolution]
  • Load shedding? Present in 2021 but not in 2050?
  • Where is hydrogen and batteries in Germany? Hydrogen discharger, storage capacities
  • Lacking explanation for 2021, why that year?
  • No costs in 2021 for solar in Nigeria is surprising
  • [Net-Zero Target] Why is coal still present in Total System Costs?
  • [Net-Zero Target] Colors of charts are too similar, e.g. Blue for hydro, onshore, offshore and yellow for CSP, PV.
• [Capacity Expansion]
  • Spelling corrections for the legends, "off wind dc", keep it consistent with other charts
  • Titles should include technology, e.g. "by technology"
  • Are you only expanding solar not wind for Nigeria?
• [Generation Mix]
  • Same title between the charts, perhaps include year

Scenarios

• Under construction

Learn more

• Images in descriptions aren't loading
• Should the concept cards be clickable?
• More content to learn about would be nice
• Could contain more background information, such as a short explanation with link "more info here"
• Reference third party sources where appropriate, no need to repeat explanations found elsewhere
• "How to contribute" to attract contributors
• Differentiate "About" and "Learn more", where "Learn more" could be specifics on how it was built or similar
• Glossary of terms relevant to the webapp
• Spacing between elements

Things they found important

• Homepage
  • Clearly state what the website is about
  • Investment perspective
  • "Net Zero by 2050" hero section
  • Describe the value proposition
• "Now"
  • Why are some buses not connected to the grid
  • With "Now" I expect to see the current state of the grid, am curious about capacities
  • Information contained in the statistics, generation mix and installed capacity mix
  • A highly detailed map
• "2050"
  • The various statistics (located on the left)
• "Learn more"
  • Instructions on how to use the pages, per visualization
  • Explanations instead of definitions, current content should be on the scenarios page.
  • Should show me around the app
  • Background information on what has been done with concepts as well
  • Missing information on how we designed the scenarios
• "Scenarios"
  • Description of two scenarios, today and 2050. Some explanations about the constraints and boundary conditions of the model.
  • Perhaps multiple scenarios for one country would be nice, e.g. US then see scenarios for 2030,2040,2050
  • Lack of background information
  • Would be nice to explore various projections
• Additional
  • Perhaps you don't want to frame it with net zero in 2050, some countries will want to reach net zero earlier/later.
  • Could be nice to see a timeline of when investments need to be made
  • Zenodo link for the results, for those interested it would be quite useful
  • Ensure it is reproducable, share the config .yaml files, etc.
  • Missing parts:
    • Share the limitations (Being precise about limitations gets us credibility)
    • Future opportunities/plans (Roadmap/Vision of further development)
    • How they can support us
    • Call To Action (need data? -> contact us)
  • Limitations & opportunities (Even a straightforward list would be valuable)
  • Cater the content to investors (Try to get that feedback after launch)
  • Give investors a robust decision making tool
  • A version ready for the team event would be great