Bulbe Customer Operations and Experience
Digital ecosystem comprised of ERP and Customer Portal to integrate Bulbe's operations and centralize the entire user journey.
Customer
Bulb
Categories
UI/UX Design
Duration
6 months
My Role
UI/UX Designer
Tools
Figma
Team
Scrum Master; Designer; Front-end; Back-end; QA
The challenge wasn’t simply to digitize invoice issuance. It was to connect Bulbe’s entire operation — from energy generation to payment — into a single, integrated experience for employees and customers.
Context
Bulbe is a shared energy company that operates multiple photovoltaic plants in Minas Gerais and distributes energy credits to residential and commercial consumers.
Every month, each customer receives a Bulbe Invoice, a document that consolidates the energy credits received and presents the final amount to be paid, always lower than the amount charged by the traditional utility provider.
Until then, much of this operation relied on separate tools and partially manual processes. The company needed its own platform capable of centralizing operations, automating internal processes, and providing customers with a digital channel to track their entire experience after signing up for the service.
The Challenges
Bulbe’s operational process involved several steps before an invoice could be generated.
Each month, the team needed to analyze power plant generation, calculate energy allocation across registered installations, integrate data from the energy distributor, and consolidate all information into a single invoice.
Much of this workflow relied on a third-party platform that did not fully meet the company’s business needs.
Once invoices were generated, customer communication took place through channels such as email and WhatsApp. Although functional, these tools were not designed for billing management, making communications harder to track and contributing to higher-than-expected delinquency rates.
The challenge was to create a digital ecosystem capable of addressing both Bulbe’s operational needs and customer expectations, bringing the entire journey together into a single, integrated experience.
The Approach
The project began with a detailed understanding of the different processes supporting the company’s operations.
Qualitative Research
I conducted interviews with Engineering, Marketing, and Support teams to understand how the operation worked, the company’s business positioning, and the main needs reported by customers.
Each area contributed a different perspective on the product, allowing me to build a more comprehensive view of the platform and its ecosystem.
Design System
Since the project encompassed both a Corporate System and a Customer Portal, I developed a single Design System to ensure visual consistency, component reusability, and scalability across both applications.
Prototyping
All ERP and Customer Portal flows were detailed in high-fidelity prototypes, documenting the interactions, states, and behaviors required for implementation.
The Solution
The project was structured into two complementary applications, connected by the same Design System and designed to provide an integrated experience.
Corporate System
The ERP was developed to support Bulbe’s entire operational workflow.
The invoice generation flow now brings together data from power plant generation, energy allocation across registered installations, and invoices issued by Cemig, automatically integrating this information into the system.
Since the team was already familiar with the Bulbe Invoice layout, I used the document itself as a reference for the creation interface. Information automatically populated by the system remained in its corresponding position, while data requiring manual input was converted into editable fields.
This decision reduced the team’s learning curve and made the invoice generation process more intuitive.
In addition to generating invoices, the ERP centralized customer communication management, allowing the team to configure engagement sequences, automated billing communications, and personalized campaigns across multiple channels, including email, WhatsApp, SMS, and push notifications.
Customer Portal
The Customer Portal was designed to centralize the entire customer journey after signing up for the service.
From onboarding and activation tracking to invoice management, all key interactions now take place within a single environment.
In the invoices area, customers can access their monthly history, track payment status, view savings details, access utility company bills, and make payments via PIX or bank transfer.
Since each situation requires different communication and actions, the invoice details screen was designed to accommodate multiple states — such as open, paid, overdue, or canceled invoices — presenting the appropriate messages and actions for each scenario.
To make the benefits of shared energy more tangible, I designed a dedicated area for tracking energy consumption and savings. Customers can view consumption charts, monthly savings, and the total amount saved since joining Bulbe.
A benefits area was also created, allowing users to access promotional campaigns and participate in referral programs to earn additional discounts.
Results and Learning
O Portal do Cliente está disponível nas lojas de aplicativos e continua a expandir sua base de usuários.
O Sistema Corporativo tornou-se parte do dia a dia das operações da Bulbe, apoiando a geração de faturas, gestão de comunicação e outras atividades críticas de negócios.
Ambos os aplicativos continuam a evoluir com a introdução de novos recursos.
Durante meu tempo na empresa, recomendei a realização de testes de usabilidade e pesquisa com usuários para guiar a evolução do produto com base em evidências. Embora essa estratégia não tenha sido priorizada na época, a experiência reforçou minha crença de que produtos digitais alcançam melhores resultados quando a evolução contínua é apoiada por pesquisa com usuários e validação contínua das decisões de Design.
