CS_Pricelock | Yukari Yamano Design

Pricelock

Pricelock was a Silicon Valley startup aiming to disrupt the energy industry through innovative digital platforms. I worked with the company for 2.5 years, contributing as a UI/UX designer across product and marketing teams. The experience gave me firsthand insight into entrepreneurial environments—collaborating with smart, optimistic financial experts in a fast-paced, agile setting.

Pricelock

Client: Pricelock

Role: UI Designer

Years Active: 2011–2014

SCOPE

ROLE: UI/UX Graphic Designer
Pricelock was a Silicon Valley startup developing digital platforms to modernize energy procurement and professional networking. Their integrated goals included:

Building an online auction platform for large-scale energy procurement (Marketplace)
Creating a buy-and-sell listing site for small businesses
Launching a business-oriented social network for energy industry professionals

OVERVIEW:
Pricelock was a Silicon Valley startup developing digital platforms to modernize energy procurement and professional networking. Their integrated goals included:

Building an online auction platform for large-scale energy procurement (Marketplace)
Creating a buy-and-sell listing site for small businesses
Launching a business-oriented social network for energy industry professionals

MY CONTRIBUTIONS:
As a Product Designer, I supported both product and marketing teams with:

UI design for the Marketplace auction application
A mobile monitoring app for live auctions
Pricelock’s corporate and community websites
Brand consistency across marketing campaigns and communications

PROCESS & TASKS

Pricelock followed an agile development cycle, with tasks addressed in two-week sprints. My design process typically began with a request from the product team, including content specifications and task goals. After a kickoff meeting with the producer, I created two to three initial design directions, refined them through stakeholder feedback, and finalized the selected approach. I then produced mid-fidelity mockups, art assets, and a style guide for the development team. After integration, I conducted cross-device reviews to ensure visual consistency and adherence to design standards.

Featured Project: Marketplace

When I joined Pricelock, the company had just expanded from fuel price protection into energy auctions. The backend system was ready, and I was tasked with designing the frontend for Marketplace—a web application that simplified energy procurement by consolidating complex steps into a single platform.

Marketplace supported recurring auctions for natural gas, airline fuel, gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, coal, and railroad car leasing. The platform enabled buyers to conduct efficient, transparent, and auditable auctions in as little as ten minutes. Suppliers could bid more intelligently, manage price-volume tradeoffs, and reduce sales costs.

ABOUT MARKETPLACE

Excerpt from Pricelock corporate brochure

Buying and selling natural gas, fuel, and electricity is complex. Pricelock Marketplace is the result of Pricelock’s close collaboration with the largest energy buyers and sellers to build a leading online energy auction platform. Marketplace supports large volumes, complex delivery requirements at pipeline injection points and meters, robust product choices such as peaking and weather-contingent options, and flexibility for custom terms and conditions. Best of all, Marketplace reduces a multi-week purchase process into an efficient, transparent, and fully auditable auction in as little as ten minutes. Leveraging the Internet, Marketplace instantaneously connects buyers and sellers—giving buyers access to competitive pricing and suppliers ongoing opportunities to grow their business.

CHALLENGE

Designing for multiple platforms under tight timelines required balancing usability, branding, and technical constraints. Pricelock’s fast-paced environment meant adapting quickly to shifting priorities while maintaining design clarity across auction tools, mobile apps, and marketing materials.

RESULT

My contributions helped launch several key products, including the Marketplace auction platform and a mobile monitoring app. The design system I developed supported consistent branding and user experience across Pricelock’s digital ecosystem. My work was well-received by both the product and marketing teams, and I gained valuable experience collaborating with engineers and executives in a startup setting.

Client Impact: Marketplace in Action

These examples from Pricelock’s brochure illustrate how Marketplace supported large-scale energy and fuel procurement for major clients.

1. CenterPoint Energy – Natural Gas Procurement

Industry: Energy delivery (Houston, TX)

Transaction: $350M+ / 92 BCF

THE PROBLEM

CenterPoint’s RFP process took four weeks, often requiring repeated bids due to market volatility. Delays made it difficult for suppliers to hold pricing, forcing the company to restart the process.

THE SOLUTION

Using Pricelock Marketplace, CenterPoint held two auctions in under five hours—reducing procurement time from four weeks to one day. The same-day award period allowed suppliers to honor original pricing, while increased competition led to a 43% reduction in reservation fees.

Source: Pricelock brochure

2. Kansas City Southern Railways – Diesel Fuel Procurement

Industry: Long-haul railroad (Central and South Central U.S.)

Volume: 13M+ gallons

THE PROBLEM Fuel purchasing was manual and time-consuming, impacting both financial performance and operational efficiency. Long-term contracts took months to issue and analyze.

THE SOLUTION

Pricelock Marketplace enabled Kansas City Southern to hold live online auctions for diesel fuel. The process was streamlined into a two-hour contract setup and a 40-minute reverse auction, with awards made within an hour. The expanded supplier network improved pricing and simplified future fuel purchases.

Source: Pricelock brochure