"As a product management intern, I worked on the first ever monthly energy insights report Plentify has launched for its end users. Plentify aims to optimize hot water energy consumption in broader South Africa, and in more countries as they expand globally, in order to prevent peak energy demand that damages power supply infrastructure. This also enables solar power to meet energy demands less dependent on the time of day the need occurs.

As a smart home device, Plentify products aim users to forget that they exist and access hot water whenever they want. However, Plentify also needs touchpoints to remind users that they save energy and contribute to the environment by using their product. This project aims to be a continuous touchpoint where users can be reminded of their energy savings, recommendations that can help them save even more, and how their impact helps solve the energy crisis in the big picture.

Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences is a very research-oriented program that teaches the essentials of hypothesis making, testing, and decision making. Through this internship, I had the chance of applying the research methodologies out of the academic sphere, directly on a business decision making process. I needed to develop a set of user messages and ways to identify them, which I see similar to a hypothesis making process. Then I worked with an information designer to draft monthly user reports, in which I collected user and internal team feedback, so that it reflected the messages that we initially targeted. This step was similar to hypothesis testing and experimentation steps. End to end, this project showed me that product management is an applied and more user-centric way of conducting research. Additionally, since my program has a strong data analytics focus, it helped me to feel comfortable working with data scientists partners on the project and ask the right questions when it comes to deciding how to present a certain insight and what would be the shortcomings of a metric we’d like to develop.

Despite having similar foundations, the product management role required a user research component and a business-centric user message design, which were completely new exercises for me. I completed an online product management course that Plentify had recommended prior to the start of my internship, which was tremendously helpful to build the foundations of user research and user-centric product design. Many of my goals were things that I tried for the first time, received feedback on, and often needed to revise. I saw this entire process as a learning journey, and I could observe how I could improve over time.

Another challenge I had faced was using my time efficiently for this remote internship. I had team members that I needed to work closely with both in South Africa and Eastern Standard time zones. Moreover, as a startup during the fundraising stage, time was a very scarce resource for most of the senior team members, which made it particularly important to use meetings efficiently. I learned how to use written communication more to the point. It may have been my first job experience where I didn’t need to send or go through long emails, which I needed to adjust to as a cultural change, but I ultimately found it to be much more effective.

My role at Plentify was the first product management role, which I absolutely loved. It helped me to feel confident that a product career is the direction that I want to go in. Moreover, working for a sustainable energy startup helped me to observe the difference between a social enterprise that has tangible scientific results towards contribution to the energy crisis and a social enterprise that has more abstract and people-centric success metrics. I believe that each and every member of the team believed that the product they worked for improved people’s lives and the energy crisis that has costly long-term impacts on the environment.

Another takeaway for me was a self-confirmation that technology is capable of creating greater good for society. I have always been interested in technology companies, yet also wanted to commit my career to social enterprises, which made me wonder whether I would ever be able to fulfill my two goals in one career journey. Working for Plentify established my belief that a technology product that prioritizes user experience and wellbeing can be as successful as a humanitarian social good organization in terms of making tangible improvement in people’s lives."