Project Overview

BUILDING AN EARLY INTERACTIVE CONCEPT TO TRANSFORM HVAC SALES

Mantel is a technology company focused on modernizing how essential home services are sold and delivered. During their pre-seed phase, I partnered with the team to design the first interactive prototype of what would later evolve into SmartQuote, a consumer-facing experience that simplifies how homeowners compare and purchase HVAC system options.

SMART QUOTE BY MANTEL

Foundational Concept for a Sales Comparison Tool in the HVAC Industry

UX Design · Information Design · Interaction Design · UI Design · Prototyping

Design Opportunity

TURNING A FRAGMENTED SALES EXPERIENCE INTO A COHERENT CHOICE MODEL

HVAC systems are among the most expensive and least understood purchases a homeowner will make, often under stressful conditions when their current system unexpectedly fails. With costs ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, and replacements occurring only once every 15 years, most homeowners approach the process with minimal knowledge. They are often unaware of energy efficiency incentives or how to evaluate different system options, resulting in a high-stakes decision made with low confidence and limited time.

The quoting experience only compounds the issue. Homeowners typically receive multiple bids from contractors, each delivered in inconsistent formats filled with technical jargon and little explanation. This fragmentation makes it difficult to compare options or trust recommendations, leading to a frustrating and confusing process.

Mantel recognized an opportunity to improve how HVAC sales information is communicated to homeowners. At this early stage, their priority was to explore the core value of the product: how system options are compared and presented. They aimed to demonstrate a clearer, more homeowner-focused approach to this critical part of the sales process. My role was to design a compelling prototype that simplified complex data into a visual, structured format, supporting purchasing decisions and helping communicate Mantel’s product vision to early investors.

Typical quote format shared via email from a real sales interaction.

Research

Mapping Friction Across the current Experience

I began with a multi-faceted research approach: analyzing the HVAC sales process from both homeowner and contractor perspectives, understanding the end-user profile, and benchmarking against comparison tools across popular digital platforms.

The sales process revealed a significant disconnect between the data contractors relied on and the information homeowners received. Critical purchase-driving factors, such as total cost of ownership, energy efficiency, and comfort features, were often buried in technical language or omitted entirely. Quotes varied widely in format, lacked prioritization, and failed to present value clearly or consistently.

Organizing Information to Surface Value

I gathered all relevant information related to the sales process and began organizing the data into clear, high-level categories. I then designed a visual framework that presented the information in an organized manner, focusing on key areas to clarify content priorities.

This phase directly informed the design strategy, emphasizing legibility, simplified navigation, reduced interaction steps, and clear information hierarchy within a mobile-focused layout.

User profiling pointed to an audience skewing older, with limited technical familiarity and a strong preference for older mobile devices.

I studied how other digital products handled complex comparisons. Many interfaces were overloaded with information or fragmented across deep navigation paths. The most effective tools limited comparisons to a smaller set of items and used layered content to support quick scanning without sacrificing depth.

Presenting this structure to the Mantel team enabled targeted feedback that refined content priorities and identified opportunities for progressive disclosure, reducing cognitive load while preserving critical detail.

Concept Exploration

Experimenting with Form to Improve Function

With the research insights and information framework, I began translating structure into interface. I established a minimal design system focused on legibility, clarity, and hierarchy, and applied it to a series of rapid, high-fidelity prototypes. Each concept explored distinct layout and interaction strategies to improve comparison logic, scalability, and cognitive ease.

Each direction offered unique strengths: the dual system view supported focused evaluation, the quadrant layout accelerated surface-level scanning, and the system card model clarified individual option value. I analyzed their strengths and limitations and combined the most effective patterns into a single, refined layout used in the final prototype.

Results

Final Output and Impact

The final prototype introduced a sales comparison experience tailored to user needs and cognitive ease. It limited comparisons to two systems at a time to reduce overload, grouped information by homeowner-prioritized categories, and used color, iconography, and consistent layout to support scannability. Industry jargon was simplified, and standard metrics were reframed in clear, accessible language to help users understand their value. Each data point was displayed in a compact, tappable card, integrating both textual and visual indicators to immediately communicate meaning.

Tapping on a card opened an expanded view, revealing detailed, supporting metrics. This structure preserved context while allowing for deeper understanding. All interactions relied on one-tap gestures and displayed overlays, avoiding disruptive page transitions and maintaining a sense of spatial continuity.

Investment Secured

The process included continuous input from Mantel stakeholders, aligning outcomes with both user needs and business goals. As a result, Mantel secured investment and transitioned into an operational software product. As of 2021, it operates as a privately held company generating an estimated $1M in revenue, helping contractors present quotes clearly and enabling homeowners to make smarter purchasing decisions.