Water Corporation, a key player in protecting Western Australia’s water resources, wanted to engage the community in waterwise behaviours. However, the existing approach of asking consumers to cut back left the community feeling burnt out and disengaged. The challenge was to find a new way to involve customers in water conservation that felt fresh and engaging.

Water Watchers is a gamified web app that motivates WA customers to improve their water habits by comparing their usage to similar households and ranking them, tapping into a competitive mindset to drive lasting engagement. The app gradually reveals more features as users engage, offering deeper insights and tips for those who are ready, while allowing others to simply check in on their progress.

• Water Usage Visibility: Users can see their water consumption and compare it with other households like theirs based on detailed data like household profile and location soil profile

• Gamified Ranking System: A visual ranking mechanic motivates users to improve their water usage by tapping into friendly competition.

• Gradual Engagement: Features are unlocked as users interact more with the app, catering to both highly engaged users and those who prefer a quick check-in.

• Tailored Tips and Leak Detection: Provides personalised tips, smarter ways to save water, and tools to identify potential leaks.

Role: User research, journey mapping, Co-creation with users, ideation, human-centred design, workshop facilitation, user testing, UX user flows and wireframes, prototyping

Impacts: Over 90% of Water Corporation’s 1.3 million residential customers had a positive view of the web app, with 85% saying it motivated them to reduce water usage.