AbleEdge Installer

Case Study - June 2026

Company:
Eaton Corporation
Role:
Senior UX Designer
Tools:
Figma, Miro, UserInterviews.com
Published:
June 2026

AbleEdge Installer is a professional-grade iOS and Android app for qualified electricians and system integrators to commission and configure Eaton's AbleEdge smart breakers on-site. It connects devices to a Wi-Fi network, manages installation sites, and integrates with Eaton's AbleEdge API platform for partner organizations. The app works in tandem with a web-based Developer Portal that handles the admin and installer management side of the ecosystem.

At Eaton I served as the owner of the UI and UX experience for AbleEdge Installer and its companion Developer Portal, acting as the bridge between the product team and development. I translated technical requirements into usable designs across both products, then communicated those decisions back to developers through detailed Jira tickets and active participation in sprint planning, ensuring nothing got lost between design intent and what actually shipped. The Developer Portal is an internal web tool for installer management and admin functions, designed using Eaton's Brightlayer UI framework and Material Design 2.

 example home screen

Background

The Challenge

AbleEdge Installer was built to serve a fundamentally different audience than Brightlayer Home. Where Brightlayer targeted everyday homeowners managing their energy at home, AbleEdge was built for professionals - qualified electricians commissioning and configuring smart breakers in the field and developers testing device functionality in commercial environments.

The challenge was not to build something visually impressive - it was to build something fast, clear, and functional for people who needed to get a job done and move on.

Personas

Two Very Different Personas

AbleEdge served two distinct professional personas with different mental models, workflows, and definitions of success.

Persona 1: Qualified Electrician / Installer

A field professional commissioning smart breakers on a job site. Time is money - they need to get devices online quickly, confirm everything is working, and move on. They are technically skilled but not interested in a complex interface.

Persona 2: Developer / Tester

An engineer or technical user testing device functionality, sending commands, and validating behavior. They want access to deeper data and controls, but still expect a clean and logical interface to work through.

Research

Finding the Right People

Research for AbleEdge required a more targeted approach than a typical consumer study. The target users were working professionals, spanning qualified electricians and installers with real-world experience commissioning commercial electrical systems, and developers looking to test devices or send commands through the platform. Recruiting through UserInterviews.com required detailed screener questions to verify participants had the right background and exclude anyone who did not accurately represent the intended user base.

Getting the recruitment right was critical; feedback from the wrong audience would have sent the design in the wrong direction entirely. Once the right participants were identified, sessions were recorded, synthesized in Miro, and organized into themes that surfaced what was working, what wasn't, and where the product needed to go next.

Speed Over Aesthetics

Certified Installers on a job site needed to complete smart breaker device commissioning tasks as fast as possible. Every unnecessary step or screen was friction with a real cost.

Clear Confirmation States

Users needed immediate, unambiguous feedback that a device was successfully commissioned. Ambiguity in a commercial install context was not acceptable.

Technical Depth for Developers

Developer users needed access to device data and command controls that electricians did not need. Which required a layered approach to information architecture.

Connectivity in the Field

Electricians often work in environments with poor connectivity. The app needed to handle uncertain network states gracefully without blocking critical workflows.


example commissioning screen

Process

From Discovery to Delivery

With two distinct personas and a clear mandate to prioritize function over form, I moved through a structured design process by building on elements already established in Brightlayer Home, including the existing commissioning flow, where appropriate and designing new patterns where the AbleEdge use case required something different.

1

Persona Development & Research Recruitment

I developed detailed user personas for both electricians and developers, then used those profiles to build screener questions for UserInterviews.com. Recruiting professional installers required more precision than consumer research - getting the right participants was a design challenge in itself.

2

Information Architecture & Workflow Mapping

We developed a single commissioning and device workflow that could serve both personas and validated through testing that it worked effectively for each without one user's needs cluttering the other's experience.

3

Wireframing & Concept Validationg

We internally tested the low-fidelity wireframes to validate the core flows and navigation patterns before moving into high-fidelity work in Figma.

4

High-Fidelity Design Using the Brightlayer UI Framework

Built the full application in Figma using Eaton's Brightlayer UI framework as the foundation, with custom components and patterns designed specifically for the commercial installer context. Reused the commissioning flow architecture from Brightlayer Home where it applied, adapting it for a professional rather than consumer audience.

5

Usability Testing & Iteration

I conducted moderated usability sessions with certified electricians using the Figma prototype. Synthesized findings in Miro, iterated on flows, and presented findings to stakeholders before moving to final handoff.

6

Engineering Handoff & Sprint Collaboration

I participated in every sprint planning meeting alongside the development team, authoring Jira stories with clear acceptance criteria where needed and staying embedded through implementation to ensure the experience shipped as designed.

Outcome

Results

2 Platforms Shipped
3+ Major Energy Partners
2 Personas Served

AbleEdge Installer shipped to both the App Store and Google Play, delivering a commercial-grade commissioning experience for electricians and developers working with Eaton smart breaker devices. The app was adopted by major third-party energy companies - a strong validation that the experience held up in real-world commercial environments, not just controlled testing conditions. The shared design foundation with Brightlayer Home also meant faster delivery and a more consistent experience across the Eaton ecosystem.

Reflection

What I Learned

Designing for professional users is a fundamentally different challenge than designing for consumers. Electricians in the field are not looking for a delightful experience; they are looking for a reliable one. Learning to strip away everything that was not essential, and to trust that clarity is its own form of good design, was one of the most valuable lessons this project reinforced.

Recruiting the right research participants proved to be one of the harder parts of this project. Building precise screener questions and being willing to disqualify people who did not fit the target profile made the difference between feedback that shaped the product and feedback that would have sent it in the wrong direction.

A note on process: this page was built with the help of Claude and Claude Code. I actively use AI tools to move faster and focus my energy on the design decisions that matter most.