Sensory Energy – InSentiv Smart Heating Platform
Designing and delivering a data-driven IoT control platform to eliminate wasted energy in multi-occupancy buildings
The requirement
Sensory Energy had already proven that InSentiv, their intelligent IoT-based heating platform – could dramatically reduce wasted energy in multi-occupancy buildings. By ensuring rooms are only heated when occupied, InSentiv delivers major cost savings, better ESG performance and a step-change in how buildings are managed.
However, as the platform evolved, so did the complexity of its use:
- Installers needed a fast, error-proof way to deploy and commission devices in busy, live environments
- Facilities and energy managers needed real-time visibility and control across hundreds or thousands of rooms
- Sensory’s product team needed a scalable, future-proof platform that could support growth across multiple building types and heating systems
The challenge for IDS was to design and build a software experience that made sophisticated IoT heating control feel simple, intuitive and reliable, from first install through to daily operation.
IDS worked closely with Ed Williams, Product & Commercial Lead at Sensory Energy, and Sensory’s product, innovation and development teams to deliver this.
The project at-a-glance
- Research-led UX design: Conducted field studies to streamline the device lifecycle, from rapid install to long-term facilities management.
- Centralised control hub: Developed a unified admin dashboard for real-time visibility and control across thousands of multi-occupancy rooms.
- Optimised field workflows: Engineered intuitive interfaces to speed up device commissioning and simplify fault resolution in live environments.
- Measurable energy savings: Empowered operators to cut heating costs by up to 75% through automated, occupancy-based climate control.
- Scalable IoT architecture: Built a future-proof software experience supporting rapid growth across diverse building types and heating systems.
Our solution
Understanding real-world use
Before any interface design began, IDS ran in-depth user experience studies to understand how InSentiv was actually used in the field.
This included:
- Studying the software as it existed
- Observing installers and engineers in the environments where devices are deployed; plant rooms, corridors, student accommodation, hotels and care facilities
- Mapping the full lifecycle of a device: from arrival on site, to installation, commissioning, maintenance and ongoing optimisation
This research revealed a crucial insight:
The success of InSentiv depends as much on the installation and operational experience as on the underlying technology.
A few seconds saved per device during install, or a small reduction in operator error, scales into huge cost and reliability gains across thousands of rooms.
These findings shaped every design decision that followed.
Designing for speed, clarity and scale
IDS created a complete set of wireframes and visual designs for the InSentiv platform, focused on three core user groups:
- Installers and engineers
- Facilities and energy managers
- Sensory’s own support and operations teams
The UI was designed to support:
- Rapid device discovery and onboarding
- Clear room-to-device mapping
- At-a-glance system health
- Simple fault identification and resolution
- Confident, error-free commissioning
Every screen was optimised for efficiency in real-world conditions, often used on laptops or tablets in noisy, time-pressured environments.
The result was an interface that feels light and simple, while sitting on top of highly sophisticated IoT and data infrastructure.
A centralised admin control hub
At the heart of the project was the design and build of a centralised admin control hub for InSentiv.
This gives Sensory Energy and their customers a single, authoritative view of their entire heating estate, across buildings, floors, rooms and devices.
The hub enables users to:
- Monitor real-time occupancy and heating status
- Control electric and wet radiator systems from one place
- Analyse energy usage and performance trends
- Identify inefficiencies, faults or under-performing areas
- Make data-driven decisions to improve comfort and reduce cost
By bringing all this into one unified platform, InSentiv becomes not just a control system, but a strategic energy-management tool.
Collaborating as one team
This was a deeply collaborative engagement.
IDS worked in close partnership with:
- Sensory’s product leadership, led by Ed Williams
- Internal innovation teams shaping the long-term roadmap
- Engineering and development teams responsible for delivery
Designs were continuously tested against technical realities, real-world user needs and commercial goals. This ensured that what was built was not only usable and elegant, but robust, scalable and aligned with Sensory’s growth strategy.
The results
The result is a platform that fully unlocks the power of InSentiv, Sensory Energy’s intelligent smart heating system.
InSentiv now enables building owners and operators to:
Reduce electric costs
Cut electric heating costs by up to 75%
Lower wet heating costs
Reduce wet heating costs by up to 55%
ESG
Significantly improve ESG and sustainability performance
Real-time visibility
Gain real-time visibility and control over heating across every room
Easy installation
Install and retrofit wirelessly, without damage to building fabric
Scalable and user-centric
Working with Lets Insure clients to establish growth of the product.
By stopping buildings from heating empty rooms, InSentiv delivers measurable impact on both operating costs and carbon footprint with a software experience that makes adoption easy and scalable.
Why this matters
This project shows how great UX and platform design can amplify the impact of smart energy technology.
InSentiv isn’t just an IoT system, it’s a business-critical platform that helps organisations reduce waste, improve sustainability and operate more intelligently. IDS helped ensure that the software experience is as powerful and forward-thinking as the technology behind it.
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