Turntide Technician
Guiding people through smart motor installations to reduce energy costs.
HVAC and the climate crisis
HVAC systems play a critical role in the climate crisis. In 2021, the operation of buildings accounted for 30% of global energy consumption and 26% of total energy sector emissions. The solution was a smart motor system, a drop-in HVAC retrofit perfectly suited to replace the AC induction motors in rooftop units.
We focused on the entire system, from tune-up to retrofit, for optimal savings and energy reduction. After launching the commissioning app we cut troubleshooting call durations by 64%, expedited hardware installation and commissioning, minimized errors, eliminated the need for third party tools, and notably reduced the amount of data entry required on site.
Continuous discovery
Through contextual inquiry and observational studies we could test ideas and iterate quickly in the real environment where the work happened. That environment was no joke: techs worked on rooftops in direct sunlight, extreme temperatures, and genuinely hazardous conditions, from standing water near running units to worn equipment and hardware installs in the dead of summer. We visited a few times in July and it was scorching.
Those visits shaped everything. We developed design principles grounded in what we saw: accessibility, reliability, efficiency, and timely information. On the roof every second matters, not just for the installer trying to finish safely, but for the business absorbing the cost of every extra truck roll, troubleshooting call, missed visit, and overtime hour. Reducing that friction was the entire goal.
How might we reduce the time spent installing hardware, provide help at the right time, and give users meaningful feedback so they feel confident during installation?
Color contrast, scalable type, and touch targets that work in the field.
Meaningful feedback, so a technician feels confident during installation.
Less time installing hardware, less redundant data entry.
Help at the right time, at the moment it is needed.
Designing for admins
Technicians were only half of the journey. Back at the office, the troubleshooting and service team needed to know what had been installed, where, and how it was running.
We designed an admin portal that brought every asset into one searchable view, from motor and drive serials to firmware and install time. It gave the service team insight into installations as they happened, so they could spot issues early and already have the context in hand when a technician called in.
Fewer calls from the roof
The impact was real. Bringing troubleshooting directly into the app cut call times significantly, and removing our dependency on third party tools opened up new revenue. We brought on a wave of new channel partners, which led to installations scaling across hundreds of sites on a single project. The operational wins compounded: fewer documentation questions per job, less redundant data entry, and a meaningful drop in errors.