No. of delivery items: 40/81
3 Meadow End Cottages,
CREDITON, EX17 4PH
Imagining a new and improved day to day postie experience
Translating challenges into actions
From both the audit and the journey, we were able to narrow down key opportunities for design. These opportunities were formed by challenges we saw – such as information overload, lack of guidance and small tasks made more difficult.
Auditing the current experience
Using an RFP as a design and vision opportunity
Although this was purely an RFP given by Royal Mail, it’s worth looking at in more detail due to the approach and method of thinking.
Royal Mail’s postmen (aka posties) have been using the same internal system for years; they saw that many of them have trouble using it and that they could be much more efficient. They wanted to see if there was a way to modernize and streamline the existing app, or even usher in a new one.
The ask was centered around an audit of their current experience; understanding where white space is and what issues may arise during day to day use. The Royal Mail team provided us with screenshots of the app and walked us through it; we also wanted to look further than screenshots and find actual users.
Since we didn’t have time for official user research, we used what we had on hand – in this, YouTube.
(Thanks, Rowan the postie!)
After watching Rowan’s day in the life videos, we actually pivoted to framing our problem as a journey map. Building it in this way allowed us to think through postie vs Royal Mail actions, pain points and any opportunities. Applying a service design mindset gave us the chance to go beyond a traditional audit and show Royal Mail a new approach.
Building the journey
We structured the journey into key phases: arrival, loading, route prep, take off, enroute, delivery and wrap up. These phases were informed by the audit, but mostly by how Rowan and other posties went about their daily deliveries.
We began realizing our concepts through low-fidelity, which we actually ended up using for part of the RFP.
We felt it showed our thinking in a new and unique way – and would allow potential clients to see our process.