CASE STUDY • Projects • UX Research • Content Design

Palmetto virtual site survey (VSS)

In 2021, Palmetto launched a virtual site survey to support an online sales and fulfillment flow for custom residential solar. The survey guided customers through a series of photo prompts and questions to collect crucial information about their homes.

Palmetto’s goal was to reduce unnecessary costs by eliminating the need for an on-site solar survey. However, completion rates were low and often lacked the detail required, resulting in delays, errors, and frustration for teams and customers.

ROLE
UX Research • Content Design

COMPANY
Palmetto

TEAMS
Product • Fulfillment • UX Design • Customer Experience • Marketing

YEARS
2021-2023

CHALLENGE //

To replace the on-site survey, we needed better results.

OPPORTUNITY //

The VSS offered new ways to engage with and learn from our customers.

If successful, it could reduce solar costs and unlock valuable insights to enhance the customer journey.

Palmetto’s end-to-end solar energy solutions help you plug into savings with less time and no hassle.

Marketing copy written by Trystin Sova

CONTEXT //

In August 2020, Palmetto closed Series B funding with a $29M raise intended to accelerate tech enablements across product and service offerings.

Our teams were resourced, growing, and busy as we developed products and features for a digital platform experience.

APPROACH //

Research. Iterate. Repeat.

We needed to understand why completion rates were low, where to focus our efforts, and how to deliver an experience that customers could easily use.

We were also in early-stage growth, with competing priorities, tech limitations, API roadblocks, and the like. Our approach would be iterative and research-focused, allowing us to integrate learnings as our understanding of the problem space evolved.

DISCOVERY //

Content Audit

Provisional guidelines and updates

  • The existing content lived in an online survey platform.

    It had been pieced together by our build partner team, who oversaw the design, permitting, and installation process.

  • To begin, I inventoried all UI content, including headers, titles, descriptions, labels, buttons, and error messages.

    Text patterns and formats were varied, creating a disjointed user experience.

  • Before editing the content, I outlined guidelines and best practices, specifying the capitalization, length, format, and function for each UI component.

    Our voice would be friendly, helpful, and concise—empowering customers with clear information and expectations.

    • Edited all content per new UI guidelines

    • Introduced a friendly, expectation-setting intro

    • Applied conditional logic to avoid non-applicable questions

    • Revised confirmation screen with next-step details

MIGRATION //

Once initial updates were complete, we migrated the content from SurveyMonkey to our central GitHub repository.

The migration enabled greater UI flexibility and control, better integration with our website and platform experience, and richer data insights.

Black SurveyMonkey logo with a transparent background

→

SurveyMonkey logo

GitHub logo

RESEARCH // GOALS

  • Research and diagnose problems

  • Decide where to focus our efforts

RESEARCH // PLANNING

This required a tactical, cross-functional approach within a remote tech environment.

We began by mapping the ecosystem of the problem space—outlining questions, methods, and stakeholders to include in our research process.

Map of qualitative and quantitative research methods by category

Initial list of questions to ask and stakeholders to connect with for relevant data and insights

RESEARCH // QUESTIONS

  • Where and why are folks getting stuck in the VSS process?

  • How are accuracy and completeness defined? 

  • What are the primary causes for kickbacks and cancellations?

  • How does this fit into the larger customer experience? 

  • How are folks entering and engaging with the VSS?

  • Can we identify any patterns in completion or drop-out rates?

  • What is the cost to the company? To the customer?

  • What data do we have available?

  • What initiatives have other teams tried?

  • What are our technical capabilities and limitations?

  • How are we messaging the product?

RESEARCH // METHODS

  • Stakeholder interviews

    Met with teams across the company to collect data, gather insights, and align on objectives for the project

  • Customer field studies

    Scheduled virtual, moderated field studies to observe and learn from customers as they engaged with the VSS

  • Desk research

    Reviewed existing data and reports to analyze behaviors, define pain points, and further quantify the problem

  • Contextual mapping

    Developed a customer journey map and service blueprint to clarify the broader scope of customer/business interactions

  • Funnel analysis

    Analyzed the sales and fulfillment funnel to measure patterns in completion rates and quantify the cost to the company

  • Usability audit

    Conducted a usability audit and heuristic analysis to uncover opportunities for design and content improvements

RESEARCH // FINDINGS

  • The VSS collected critical information for design, pricing, permitting, and installation.

    CLEAN SALES

  • Incomplete or inaccurate submissions led to costly kickbacks and delays. Due to technical limitations, customers were required to redo the survey rather than edit specific questions.

    KICKBACKS

  • Poor quality, missing, or duplicate photos were a primary cause for kickbacks.

    PHOTO ACCURACY

  • The VSS took longer than expected and customers were often surprised (or annoyed) that they had to go outside. While customers could exit and return to the VSS, they couldn’t navigate to specific sections or track their overall progress.

    USABILITY

  • In some cases, an on-site survey was required due to the structure and condition of the home, or the preferences and constraints of the homeowner. The VSS failed to identify and divert customers who were ineligible for solar or required an on-site survey.

    EDGE CASES

  • The VSS contained technical jargon that was confusing for customers and failed to accommodate regional variations in terminology. Customers who were unfamiliar with electrical equipment struggled to locate specific devices in and around their home.

    CONTENT

  • By analyzing submissions across sales channels, we discovered two distinct user groups: customers and sales partners. Virtual site surveys submitted on behalf of the homeowner were often lower quality as sales partners skimmed the process to ‘save customers time.’

    USER GROUPS

  • Drop-off rates were high around the VSS and other process milestones that required homeowner action. The cost to the company included retention cases, lost sales, cancellations, added customer support, and low consumer sentiments.

    IMPACT

  • Sales partner and white label channels presented unique challenges as customer information was often incomplete and brand awareness low. As a result, many customers weren’t receiving, engaging with, or acting on communications to complete the VSS.

    COMMUNICATIONS

CONTENT // MANAGEMENT

To facilitate and manage updates, I create a central repository of all VSS content, pulling the data and location directly from GitHub into a shareable spreadsheet. The repository allowed us to:

  • Collaborate on edits and translations

  • Collect feedback from stakeholders and SMEs

  • Solicit and manage approvals

  • Ensure consistency across all UI content

  • Streamline processes across product, content, and engineering

  • Track versions and test updates

Screenshot of a the VSS content repository showing versions across the top, GitHub data along the side, and content edits within

Screenshot of the VSS content repository: Yellow indicates an edit, blue indicates new content, and green indicates a change in sequence or branching

CONTENT // STRATEGY

I also explored gaps and opportunities in the broader customer journey, including the website, consumer app, support center, onboarding flow, and transactional communications.

USABILITY // UPDATES

We created a consistent content design with actionable microcopy to make the process easier, more intuitive, and more engaging for Palmetto homeowners.

Note: Many of the images below are low-fidelity Figma or Canva recreations intended to illustrate key aspects of the content updates, not the visual design.

We built a new welcome screen to set clear expectations about the survey content and process.

We built a new welcome screen to set clear expectations about the survey content and process.

We organized and resequenced the survey into logical sections to minimize indoor-outdoor transitions and overall movement while following a consistent, broad to specific pattern within each section.

We organized and resequenced the survey into logical sections to minimize indoor-outdoor transitions and overall movement while following a consistent, broad to specific pattern within each section.

We improved conditional branching to support ease of navigation, eliminate unnecessary questions, and created clear exit paths for customers who were ineligible for solar or required an on-site survey.

We improved conditional branching to support ease of navigation, eliminate unnecessary questions, and created clear exit paths for customers who were ineligible for solar or required an on-site survey.

We integrated alternative names, complementary images, and in-product education to help customers locate specific devices and understand the requirements/purpose of each request.

We integrated alternative names, complementary images, and in-product education to help customers locate specific devices and understand the requirements/purpose of each request.

​​We added image guidelines, real-time validation, and a pre-submission review page—empowering homeowners to easily fix gaps and errors before submitting their survey.

​​We added image guidelines, real-time validation, and a pre-submission review page—empowering homeowners to easily fix gaps and errors before submitting their survey.

We created a Spanish VSS and a bypass option, allowing homeowners to request an on-site survey due to personal or digital constraints.

We created a Spanish VSS and a bypass option, allowing homeowners to request an on-site survey due to personal or digital constraints.

To accelerate completion of the VSS (and other customer actions), we created a new email template and introduced nudge notifications that clearly signal to the customer when and how to engage.

To accelerate completion of the VSS (and other customer actions), we created a new email template and introduced nudge notifications that clearly signal to the customer when and how to engage.

We developed and placed educational content across the user experience, using a layered approach that allowed customers to easily stay informed or explore additional resources for detailed information.

We developed and placed educational content across the user experience, using a layered approach that allowed customers to easily stay informed or explore additional resources for detailed information.

Within the consumer portal, we expanded both stage- and task-based updates so customers can track progress, complete tasks, and feel a sense of agency as they move toward going solar.

Within the consumer portal, we expanded both stage- and task-based updates so customers can track progress, complete tasks, and feel a sense of agency as they move toward going solar.

IMPACT //

  • Over the course of 2022 and 2023, we improved both completion rates and submission quality for the Palmetto Virtual Site Survey.

  • New communications, onboarding, and support content reduced the average time between trigger and completion: Customers were acting faster.

  • As one of the first self-service features in the sales and installation process, VSS updates helped orient customers to the broader customer journey and empower them to rely on and engage with the Palmetto solar app.

  • The downstream effects included an increase in the rate of clean sales, a decrease in project delays, faster installations, fewer cancellations, and relief for internal teams.

  • In January 2023, Palmetto reported that “platform enhancements resulted in residential solar systems getting installed 37 days faster than previous averages” while “change orders and cancellations declined by 5%” (Solar Builder, 2023).

“By making solar adoption as easy and seamless as buying a new home appliance, Palmetto is uniquely positioned to accelerate clean energy adoption at a time when the world needs it most. We are enabling sellers to do what they do best – lead generation and selling products – while Palmetto handles the rest.”

—Chris Kemper, CEO and Founder of Palmetto, in Solar Builder 2023: ‘Early results of Palmetto's new platform show speedier solar sales, install cycle’

Next

Palmetto customer support center