Enigin Design

Why Design is Important to Enigin

By Steve Hill

A blog I was reading recently raised the question “Why is design important?”

A BIG question in some ways but a simple answer usually does best and we will look at some of the comments and suggested to this question further down.

First though I would like to talk about Enigin and design - if you look at anything Enigin get involved with there is generally good design - design for purpose and visual design, whether hardware or software, because at Enigin we realise design is important - why?

Well, let’s go back to the original question asked on that blog.

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Enigin at Nemex

We’ve just got back from the Nemex expo at the Birmingham NEC where the stand for Enigin attracted considerable attention. We were really pleased with the positive response for the on-screen displays and panels we produced for the show. The panels worked like a flow diagram depicting areas of business and forms of energy in a highly graphical form. Attached image shows one of the walls.

This was a great opportunity for us to showcase the new Eniscope product and the direction it’s heading and the massive improvements in the operating system which have been implemented by the Enigin R&D team.

We’re very close to releasing this next phase of Eniscope and have every confidence the enhancements will benefit Distributor and customer alike.

New Enigin Real-time Monitoring

Busy times as usual here at Enigin and the R&D team have been hard at work creating the latest updates to our Eniscope product. We’ve listened to feedback from our Enigin Partners and Distributors and now believe we’ve built the most stable, accurate and visually exciting software for monitoring energy usage to date.

For those of you unfamiliar with Eniscope, it breaks down into three key display areas, these being:

Public Display.

This is primarily for business and educational establishments to display their energy usage in their entrance areas. The dynamic, engaging screen shows energy usage in Real-time with easy to digest graphs and simple dials. We have also created a display which deals with Renewable energy. This enables people to see how much energy they are generating themselves as opposed to drawing from the National Grid.

Real-time.

As the title suggests, this is all about getting readings instantly, so you can see exactly where and when you were using energy and what was causing you to lose money. The dials are simple and easy to read, but retain a stylish, contemporary design to them. Because of the simplicity of the graphics, we have been able to contain all the data on the physical Eniscope Meter, thus negating the problem of having to receive data via web access.

Analytics.

Here is where you can really explore your energy usage and compare different sectors of your business at ease. Again we’ve taken considerable time to make the interface as ‘user friendly’ as possible, so you aren’t wasting time trying to figure out how to you use the software, but can start to make immediate savings for your business.

We’re all really pleased here at Enigin with the end results and are looking forward to launching these updates in the very near future. As they are still ‘under wraps’ I can’t show you them yet, but will post images and further info as soon as I’m able.

Simplifying Enigin Systems!

As I’ve explained before, at Enigin we’ve implemented a new system called the Knowledge Base which is now had time to ‘bed in’. From feedback we’ve received and questions that have been identified as ‘regulars’, we decided to act proactively and put together Quick Guide Sheets.

These are to help all Enigin Partners and Distributors with the installation of the Eniscope. What we’ve done is created pdf downloads for an IT Professional and Qualified Electrician to follow and check off. A thorough guide for installation is still available from the main Enigin pdf manual, but we thought these sheets would be really useful for your hired professionals to check against.

We’ve also put together a list of areas an IT Professional should be fluent in to help you in the hiring process.

From these new guides, we are monitoring their use closely and will act on any other areas we feel can benefit the Enigin global team.

Enigin update

Well it’s been a while since I’ve had anything to say, but as usual lots has been going on in the Enigin R&D department. I’ve been working with Ed to create The Knowledge Base which is an all encompassing knowledge centre for Enigin Partners and Distributors. It’s aim is to supply information through video, pdf downloads, white papers, interviews with customers and case studies. This should cover all aspects of the energy saving business and help to make Partners and Distributors feel more part of a global team.

Screen grab image of the Knowledge Base shown below.

End of 09 at Enigin

Well, that time of year is upon us again, and as usual, I can’t believe how quickly the year has flown by!

It’s been an extremely productive year for us in the Enigin R&D department and I thought it may be a good idea to highlight so of the projects I’m particularly proud of that what we’ve achieved as a team.

One of the biggest projects completed was a complete overhaul of the websites we offer Enigin Distributors. These have proven to be an invaluable asset for the Distributors in providing them with key information on Enigin products and benefits which their customers can benefit from. The format and clarity we’ve worked hard to achieve has met with positive responses and sits well in the ‘family’ of Enigin websites. To see what we’ve done, go to: www.enigin.co.uk

The other big project has been the re-design of www.enigin.com  Both the .com and .co.uk sites are now predominantly white as opposed to the original black backgrounds. Time has shown us that, although black looks sophisticated and professional, it’s hard on the eye to read text. And as the fundamental role of the website is to convey information, we’ve opted for white with cool grey gradients to alleviate this problem.

You’re probably thinking why is my blog black then! Yes you’re right I will be amending this shortly.

I’ve created icons for all the sub-sections, which help to soften the corporate feel of the site, but without being trivial. We’ve created a template which allows for text, pictures and video to be displayed in an engaging format, with space to let your eyes ‘breathe’. Some sites are packed with information, but cram everything on to one page, I personally find this a real ‘turn off’ and always try to avoid this is any aspect of design.

The third project to come out of the Enigin stable this year is the Eniscope 4.0 update. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times now, but am now very pleased to say it has been launched! There will be a dedicated page on www.enigin.com explaining the key benefits and redesigned elements, so instead of me going on for ages, best to go straight to this page for a full update. Here’s a screen shot to get you started!

That’s it for now. There’s plenty of new, exciting projects coming up in the new year which I will post as soon as they come available for public viewing. A very happy Christmas to all and here’s looking forward to a great 2010.

Knowledge Base for Enigin

Hi to all, just finished some icons off for a Knowledge Base website for Enigin, which will feature video, white papers, tutorials…in fact anything that is relevant and useful for Enigin Partners to further their business. Thought you might like to see how they will look, so have attached an image:

If you want to find out what makes some of the key people at Enigin I work with tick, have a look at their blog spaces.

Firstly there’s Ed at www.enigindigital.com, he’s primarily here as an amazing coder, but his job role doesn’t do justice to the amount of projects and day to day running of systems he’s involved with. I’ve know Ed for four years now and I can honestly say that I’ve never met somebody as talented as he is in his field and a great fun person to have around.

Next up is Nik at www.eniginworld.com. He’s the main man behind all the programming of the latest version of the Enigin Eniscope 4.0 (which I’ve mentioned briefly before). This will be released in the next couple of days, then I’ll be able to bombard you with info on this project! Whatever I ‘ve dreamed up in the form of graphs and dials, Nik has been able to bring the graphics to life and make them as user-friendly as possible. Again an awesome coder like Ed and a good fun to be around.

Another member of the team who helps in so many ways is Phoebe at www.eniginliaison.com.

(The serious bit) – Her main role is to source and ‘vet’ potential new Enigin Partners and recommend them on to our development team.

(The not so serious bit) – she has become a loyal supplier of tea in times of tight deadlines and great stress and has an amazing ability to produce yummy homemade cakes!!! Joking aside Phoebe is the kind of person who you just can’t fail to get on with, she’s always got time to listen and brings a welcome break to our little world of computing when she sticks her head round the door.

That’s all for now folks, speak soon!

Enigin Newsletter

I mentioned an e-newsletter that will be coming out soon from Enigin and I thought I’d give you a sneak preview! I’ve covered the visual on the screen of the latest Enigin Eniscope 4.0 as this hasn’t been officially released yet, but I’ll be showing this off in the near future.

The newsletter will deal with current global issues from all over the world and this first edition will naturally feature the progress of the World Summit taking place in Denmark.

There will all also be specific news updates for Enigin Partners and Enigin Distributors to help you all with your business goals. All of us in the Enigin R&D department hope you find it a useful business tool.

Attached image shows the header block…….

Enigin TV

I’ve been working with Ed on a new project which I thought you’d like to hear about. It’s Enigin TV (or e-tv which I like the sound of more). The site is going to contain video content directly aimed at helping Enigin Partners and Enigin Distributors with training and on-going support. I came up with three concepts with the attached image being the chosen theme. I wanted something dynamic and colourful which represented the flow of data streaming from one point to another. Hope you all like it! I’m building the first Enigin e-newsletter over the next couple of days and will post the finished article for you all to have a look at soon as.

Enigin workspace

We’ve recently had an office shift around at Enigin and I now work in a ‘contained’ office with Ed and Nik.

One thing the three of us have noticed is how much heat is generated from our displays and Macs, which has led to us using a portable air-con unit. With Enigin being all about saving energy, it seems a real shame we have to rely on another source of power to make the working environment more comfortable. We’re hoping to install some type of direct air-flow to the room to negate this problem, but if anybody out there has come up with a similar situation and has any good solutions, please fell free to let me know!

At Enigin, I’m currently working on packaging ideas for a micro PC which will power the new Eniscope (which I mentioned briefly in my last post). As a designer, I like the challenge of working in different media which helps me to keep a fresh eye on what I’m producing. Working closely in the Enigin R&D department has been a real bonus in this respect, as there is great ‘first-hand’ feedback from avenues which are sometimes not open to a designer.

Here’s an  example of a simple box package with graphics I’ve created.

I produced the graphic panels for ‘Sustainability Live’ Expo where Enigin had a stand and the feedback from Mark Sinden who was ‘manning’ the stand was extremely positive. So much so that he secured some great leads in to well known national corporations, who expressed a real interest in using the tools Enigin is producing which can save companies up to 30% of their energy usage.

I’ll post some images of some of the panels next time. Over and out for now.