Florida Power & Light — Case Study

01 — Problem

Revitalizing economic development for Powering Florida

Powering Florida is a business arm of FPL focused on economic development for municipalities across the state. Their flagship tool, the Resource Center, provides data insights for business owners, government officials, and economic development teams making location and growth decisions. The tool needed a major overhaul — to help users be more proactive in their research, consume information at a glance, and collaborate across their organization. As Design Lead, I spearheaded discovery of the system as it stood, identified new opportunities, and partnered with designers to create Resource Center 2.0.

Audit Finding 01

The information architecture made it hard to navigate to key features. Users couldn't find what they needed without a lot of back-and-forth.

Audit Finding 02

The interface overwhelmed users with dense data without context — no visual hierarchy, no aesthetic minimalism, and no guidance on where to look.

Audit Finding 03

Entering tasks felt friction-heavy. The system didn't prevent or recover from errors — users got blocked, with little explanation.

02 — Project

Resource Center 2.0

A three-phase engagement: Discovery (audit + interviews + competitive scan), Conceptual (affinity mapping + sketches + information architecture), and Design (production-ready UI partnered with the visual design team). I led each phase, mentored junior designers through interviews and synthesis, and aligned stakeholders on the future state of Resource Center.

Phases — Discovery, Conceptual, Design

Heuristic audit focal areas

20+

User types & orgs interviewed

Key Themes

Theme 01

Lead with the "Why"

Surface the value on the signup page, back it up with key data points, and ensure data is actionable, relevant, and interpretable for users.

Theme 02

Guide Users to Answers

Let users define their needs, teach them how to use the available tools, and incorporate interactive elements wherever possible.

Theme 03

Simplify the Navigation Path

Minimize the back-and-forth by prioritizing navigation options, categorizing content by user goals, and anticipating user questions.

Step 01 · Heuristic Audit

Auditing the system as it stood

I led a deep heuristic analysis of the existing Resource Center across four focal areas: information architecture, error prevention, aesthetic minimalism, and ease of access. The annotated audit gave the stakeholder a clear picture of where users were getting lost.

Annotated heuristic audit of the legacy FPL Resource Center

Step 02 · Value Proposition Canvas

Aligning with the stakeholder

A facilitated value-proposition canvas with the primary stakeholder — mapping gain creators and pain relievers against the local-community-official customer segment. The shared artifact set the bar for every design decision that followed.

Value Proposition Canvas built collaboratively with FPL stakeholders

Step 03 · Synthesis & Affinity Mapping

From interviews to themes

I interviewed users across multiple organizations — coaching junior designers through their first interviews while leading the conversation. We synthesized findings in Figma, affinity-mapping shared patterns under question buckets: "I'm a new user, what do I do?" · "How do I compare?" · "Show me the data that matters."

Affinity-mapped interview synthesis in Figma

Step 04 · Conceptual Sketches

Exploring before committing

Before pixel-pushing, I sketched the new system end-to-end — onboarding flows, dashboard layouts, search and discovery — to pressure-test ideas against real use cases. Cheap, fast, and easy to throw away.

Step 05 · Whiteboarding the Future

Mapping the experience flows

From sketches to structured flows — whiteboarding sector industry analysis, regional profile creation, and factor comparison. These flows defined the information architecture, screen inventory, and component requirements for Resource Center 2.0.

Whiteboard flow for the sector industry analysis experience

Step 06 · Industry Standard, Redesigned

Making data make sense

The original spider chart left users guessing — no context for weights, no interactive insight into factors. The redesigned screen gives every metric a label, every factor a story, and lets users drill in without losing their place.

Redesigned Industry Standard screen with annotated spider chart

Step 07 · Regional Overview

The new dashboard experience

The Workspace dashboard surfaces what users actually need — overview snapshot, job trends, largest industries, labor force breakdown, population and unemployment trends — in a scannable, modular layout that scales as users add widgets.