In a 2011 CHI Conference paper, Heller and Borchers use human-centered approaches to gauge user feedback to different types of energy feedback. They used rapid prototyping: instead of designing/building the above alternatives, they implemented them in software on the iPad. They also used an interesting framework to structure feedback system types:
14 users were asked their views of the five designs in an informal experiment. Result? The LCD design (e) was rated higher than others (though not [statistically] significant). Overall, the authors summarize their work in progress as follows:
The results of our study show that the ambient
visualizations are perceived as aesthetically appealing,
but the relation to the actual power consumption is not
obvious enough. We will therefore revise the design of
these ambient visualizations in a user-centered
approach to tackle this problem. After that, we want to
evaluate which two ambient visualizations work best,
implement them in our hardware prototype, and again
compare them to PEMs. The hardware prototype has
the advantage that ambient effects, like the colored
glowing light, are more visible behind some furniture.
