Redesigning Ceneco Green Power's Website: Communicating Nigerian Solar Company's Brand Identity, Credibility, and Services

Ceneco Green Power, a Nigerian solar energy company with over 7 years of experience, specializes in solar system installation and maintenance for residential, commercial, agricultural, and off-grid rural uses. In the near future, it plans to introduce AI-powered solar monitoring systems and an electric vehicle service. The company is rebranding to emphasize sustainability and innovation through technology. We, the Pratt Institute team redesigned their website to reflect this new identity and enhance UX.

We established the following key objectives for this project.

We navigated the project with the following constraints.

We conducted a competitive analysis of 9 solar energy companies across 3 regions (Nigeria, the USA, and Europe) focusing on these 5 key topics: Navigation & site structure, content, offered products & services, usability, and visual design.

View full diagram

As a result, we got the following insights.

Convincing information to establish credibility

Building credibility is crucial on the website. We found that the competitors use diverse information, including quantitative data on achievements, customer reviews, partnerships, recognitions, and details about company members.

Need strong visual design to stand out

The convincing competitor website stood out with appealing visual design, featuring consistent use of colors, icons, typography, and storytelling imagery that illustrated the future with solar. In contrast, most competitor websites appeared similar due to similar color palettes and generic imagery.

Storytelling to reach customers

Strong storytelling makes services more relatable and easier for users to understand. Competitors effectively use their websites as storytelling tools by communicating the benefits of their services well and address common concerns such as the service process, payment methods, and more.

We conducted stakeholder interviews with the CEO and COO of Ceneco Green Power to gain insights into their services, vision, mission, strengths, and more. These discussions provided the following key insights.

Custom solar system installation & maintenance.

Ceneco Green Power provides customized solar system installation and maintenance services, catering to diverse needs such as powering homes, commercial facilities, solar irrigation, off-grid communities, and EVs.

Proud of quality , transparency & innovative technologies.

The company excels in using high-quality supplies, offering transparent services, and integrating innovative technologies like AI monitoring and IoT into its solar systems.

Solar energy is in demand, but cost remains a concern.

Access to affordable, uninterrupted electricity is not guaranteed in Africa, making their service highly demanded and valued, despite pricing being a major concern for customers.

We conducted a card sorting activity with our client to determine what information should be included on each page of the website. In the workshop, we prepared a card deck with a list of information gathered from competitor websites and asked the client to select the items they wanted to include on their website. While card sorting is traditionally done with users, we aimed to involve the client in the design process and understand their preferences.

Following the workshop, we combined the client's input with our strategic approach to create the final sitemap.

As a former software developer, I recognized the importance of communicating design with non-designers. Since the client was responsible for adding body content and implementing the website, I aimed to support their process of transforming the design into a WordPress site. Additionally, I wanted to clarify the design direction to help the client evolve the website in the future. To achieve this, we created a design guide document alongside the Figma mockup and I took the initiative in developing it. This guide included the following.

In this project, all team members, including me were designers (graduate students), collaborating throughout the entire process. However, we also needed to manage our projects independently. In addition to designing, I successfully led the project to on-time delivery despite the challenges of a broad scope. Throughout the project, I ensured transparency of tasks and progress among team members. For example, I created a spreadsheet to break down tasks and establish schedules. This tool kept the team organized and ensured steady progress.

Internal Project Plan Sheet

The client was very positive about adopting our design, mentioning an actual implementation plan. Sunday, the CEO, appreciated how the design was concise and research-driven. Overall, the project was a success.

Final Presentation

“What you have put out here is research driven and it’s a great job.”
- Client

"What I am seeing here is very impressive and concise! I like how you keep it simple and sweet."
- Client

“I'm looking forward to checking the competitive analysis. Very interesting.”
- Client

We provided the design document to support the client in implementing the website. Throughout the process, we articulated design decisions and clarified the purpose of each section. This approach not only helped the client but also ensured that the entire team was aligned, maintaining consistency in the design. This experience taught me the importance of documentation and the value of putting our thought process into words.