UX redesign · Spec work
Acque Padane
An unsolicited redesign of a utility app — spotting the UX that gets in people's way, and proposing something cleaner, faster, and more human.
- Role
- Self-initiated · UX/UI redesign
- Year
- 2025
Context
Self-initiated concept. Not affiliated with, or commissioned by, Acque Padane — a personal UX exploration, shared to show how I think.
Acque Padane is the utility app people in my area use to manage their water service — bills, meter readings, notifications. I use it too, and every time I did, the same friction showed up.
So I did what designers do: I redesigned it, unprompted. Not to criticise the team behind it, but to practise the muscle that matters most — turning everyday friction into a clearer, calmer experience.
The problem
Where it gets in the way
Core actions are buried
Checking a bill or submitting a meter reading — the two things people open the app for — take too many taps to reach.
Everything looks equally important
Dense, undifferentiated screens with no hierarchy. When everything shouts, nothing is heard.
Status is unclear
It's hard to tell at a glance what's paid, pending, or overdue — the exact thing a utility app should make obvious.
The tone is cold
A service people depend on that reads like a form, never like something on their side.
The proposal
The redesign
A focused rethink — same service, far less friction. Here's the direction.
Why these choices
Three decisions behind the redesign
Put the two real jobs first
Bills and meter readings move to the top of the home screen as the primary actions. Everything else steps back. The app opens on what people actually came to do.
Status you can read at a glance
A clear visual system for paid / pending / overdue — color, weight, and position doing the work, so the state of an account is legible in a second, not a scroll.
Calmer, human language
Microcopy rewritten to reassure instead of instruct. Plain words, clear next steps, and a tone that treats people like people — not case numbers.
Outcome
What changes for users
- Fewer taps to the things people actually open the app for.
- Instant clarity on what needs attention — paid, pending, or overdue.
- A utility that feels calm and human instead of bureaucratic.
Next project