The Washington State Department of Commerce helps improve communities and grow the economy in Washington. It does this by funding and supporting initiatives in areas of housing, energy, local governments, and businesses.
TOPIC AREAS
Economic Inclusion
PROJECT TYPES
Programs & Services
Public Policy
In 2019, Washington State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act was signed into law. This groundbreaking legislation was one of the first clean energy laws in the nation to put equity at the center. Following from this work, the Department of Commerce was tasked with exploring what a statewide low-income energy assistance program would look like.
GGS helped the Commerce team learn directly from low-income households about the importance of energy access to their lives, as well as their experiences navigating bill assistance programs. We conducted research and shared prototypes to better understand end users’ needs and desires, and to surface opportunities to design a more connected energy assistance system.
Project Outputs
Our final deliverable was an illustrated narrative that showed how residents might experience a statewide energy assistance program, helping policymakers connect research findings to real-life situations. The narrative followed three personas, informed by residents, as they learned about, applied for, and used a proposed statewide energy assistance program.
The stages of the program are communicated through a user journey map, which clarifies the process for all stakeholders.
Each step is shown in detail for one of three “personas,” or characters that represent different aspects of the people we met.
We also included more detail on how each step might be experienced by the other personas.
The narrative weaves in a series of proposed program features and service concepts, helping stakeholders to envision how the future program would come to life.
Client & Community Outcomes
This project helped the Department of Commerce better understand the experiences of households struggling with energy costs and navigating assistance programs. We clarified challenges with power dynamics, communication, and how people navigate the fragmented programmatic landscape. In turn, we identified opportunities to design for positive relationships, shift power to those who are served, and widen accessibility to meet people where they are.
Commerce included our research at the beginning of the legislative report, where it gave policymakers a clearer picture of how program design decisions affect people’s daily lives. This qualitative section supplemented the pages of quantitative data and policy information, and helped bring the perspectives of residents into policy discussions.
In addition, key features and benefits of the program design came directly from the insights and ideas of residents.
We are thrilled to share that after our project, in early 2026, Washington passed a new law creating a statewide low-income energy assistance program which provides monthly bill discounts to low-income households. The program reflects a broader vision of reducing energy burden, increasing financial stability, and helping people move forward during periods of transition. After that tremendous milestone, Commerce worked to design and implement the program, with our work as a critical reference.
Too often, interest groups decide what households need. I learned that we need to be hearing directly from the people most impacted, if we want to advance policies that reflect their visions of a better future.
Austin Scharff
“Also, the GGS team was amazing! They were not only amazing project managers, but also amazing at working with our households in a caring and compassionate way. I felt so comfortable working with GGS, and couldn’t recommend them enough.
Team & Studio Impact
This project reinforced in us the value of combining research with storytelling. We have always understood that data alone is not always enough to support good decisions, especially in policy settings where decision-makers may be far removed from the people affected by their choices. Yet we hadn’t had an opportunity to deliver this type of visual storytelling in a policy context before. Knowing that our intended audience was the state legislature really motivated us to up our game, and our client told us in 2026, “We still use all these materials to help inform policymakers.” We’re excited for future possibilities to apply this approach.
