Service Design-in’ at Piclo
An asynchronous interview with Beatrice Bramati, Service Designer at Piclo.
Q: Ciao Beatrice, please introduce yourself and tell us what you are up to.
A: Ciao! My name is Beatrice, and I am one of the many Italians living in London. I am currently working as a Service & UX Designer at Piclo.
Piclo is a software company on a mission to decarbonise the grid, enabling flexible energy systems to manage constraints facing our grids. I am part of the production team that handles the flagship product, Piclo Flex, an independent marketplace for energy flexibility services that allows System Operators (such as National Grid ESO) to source energy flexibility from providers (e.g. electric vehicles) during times of high demand or low supply.
In simpler words, it’s all about accelerating the upgrade of our electricity grids to accommodate the rise in demand for renewables, electric vehicles, and battery storage — making the overall energy system smarter and more sustainable. An exciting and rewarding mission to work on during a climate crisis.
Q: How do you define Service Design?
A: I see Service Design as an evolution of the product design discipline, born from the need to design in a world of increased complexity, where products became intangible and the interactions and systems between them more intricate. My design journey started with a Bachelor’s in Industrial Design, and I maintained a pragmatic imprinting from there.
Besides the well-known user-centred principles and interdisciplinarity, I see Service Design’s real strengths in its ability to handle uncertainty and its inclusive approach. It can’t be confined to a standalone discipline; in fact, it serves as a bridge between diverse mindsets and areas of expertise. It actively promotes dialogue and collaboration, proving to be a powerful tool for breaking down organisational silos. I would say that, among the design disciplines, it’s the one with the smallest ego.
Q: What’s the current Service Design setup at your company?
A: The design team at present consists of seven people with diverse backgrounds and past experiences spanning various industries. Designers in Piclo are required to have a broad, horizontal skillset, because we engage in the entire process, from research to ideation; from Figma-based prototyping to user tests and even quality assurance checks sometimes, integrating Service Design into our broader roles rather than treating it as a standalone discipline. This requires us to be versatile and comfortable wearing different hats.
Service Design becomes especially valuable when we need to step back and think more strategically, driving the product vision forward.
Despite being a quite small organisation, design is viewed as a critical part of how we work in Piclo, and we can see a strong alignment between service design principles and our company values. Empathy, adaptability, and collaboration are key for us, and interestingly, these are also soft skills that a service designer must have.
Q: How did you get your job at Plico?
A: I was contacted by HR on LinkedIn regarding a position at Piclo a few weeks after my transfer to London. It wasn’t the ideal time for me to look for a new opportunity, but I was impressed by their work. So I kept an eye on them, and fortunately, a year later, I got a second chance.
Q: What’s the relationship between Service Design and the other disciplines at Piclo?
A: I work daily with the product manager and the software engineers of my team. Being in a cross-functional team means that being able to talk the same language despite the different expertise is fundamental. In my role as a service designer, I often lead ideation and discovery sessions. I aim to ensure that everyone is on the same page, providing the necessary context and sharing insights gathered from research. I want to create a comfortable environment where each team member can contribute and offer feedback from their unique perspectives.
Q: Let’s talk about your Service design work. What are the typical initiatives you work on?
A: My team is responsible for the System Operator side of the procurement functions of Piclo Flex. We deal with complex and industry-specific problems; that’s why my starting point is often doing internal research and leveraging my colleagues’ energy expertise, to be in a confident position when speaking with our users. I take care of collating the research outcome and distil the main learnings and pain-points, which become the kick-off for the ideation sessions within the team.
The solutions to our scoped problems can vary, from a technical adjustment to a change in the process to the development of a new feature. That’s why having a cross-functional team is essential: business, tech and design are at the same table from the beginning. It’s definitely not about delivering ‘shiny’ features, but how to create the most value for the users.
To provide an example, a challenge we addressed from multiple angles was assisting Flex Providers in understanding where they are within the intricate qualification journey. At the process level, we introduced distinct statuses for asset qualification, helping users comprehend their current stage and the subsequent steps required. On a feature level, we implemented an asset table that enables users to discern why specific assets are deemed ineligible and identify the criteria that have not been met.
When designing a new feature, I find it useful to create a vision for the ideal state — what would we do if we had more time and resources — and then scale back to something feasible in a few sprints time as we work in Agile. This helps the team be more strategic and have a compass for future iterations.
Once the work is prioritised, my role transitions towards the one of a UX/Product designer: I prototype, validate the design internally and externally, prepare the design specifics for the engineers and follow closely the product development.
The bit I am most proud of so far is a new feature that allows System Operators to repeat a flexibility competition that they have previously run in a few steps. Flexibility competitions are tenders published by System Operators through Piclo to address network demand or generation constraints. Each tender comes with various technical and contractual requirements that Flex Providers must prove their capability to meet through a thorough qualification process. If eligible, Flex Providers can proceed to submit their best offers during the bidding phase. Notably, these tenders vary in timescale. When managing day-ahead and intra-day competitions, streamlining the process of setting up these competitions became crucial to minimise user effort. This is where the new feature came into play.
It was well perceived by our users and it’s exciting for me to know that this is used in the control room on a daily basis.
Q: How do you educate your organisation on the Service Design approach?
A: When it comes to educating the organisation on SD, I think in Piclo we have a practical approach, and we often make the work advocate on our behalf. We frequently showcase the unpolished, work-in-progress design, sharing work openly with the wider team. Moreover, we often invite colleagues from different departments to join our discovery/feedback sessions. This practice ensures that the service design methodology is not only disseminated but also well-understood throughout the company. Within the design team, we have even more occasions to share our work and learn from each other, sharing feedback on our experience using a certain service design method or framework.
Q: A service you wish you had designed.
A: It’s not a digital service, but a service I wish I had designed is Migrateful, a social enterprise with a mission to empower and celebrate refugees on their journey to integration by providing to run their own cookery classes. Migrateful leverages food as a powerful medium to unite people and overcome cultural barriers. Having had the pleasure of volunteering there on a few occasions, I could see first-hand the positive impact the experience has on everyone involved — from the chefs to the class participants and the volunteers.
Q: How can people follow you?
A: You can find me on Linkedin. If you want to find out more about Piclo, follow us on Linkedin or visit piclo.energy.
Service Design-in’ is a collection of thoughts and interviews with Service Designers working within organisations. If you want to share your views, please reach out.
