I initially started studying service design because I wanted to develop service processes at work, but did not know where to start. I was happy to find a Service Design course from Aalto Open University and lucky to get a spot on the course.
In the beginning of the course participants were divided into teams. Our team got parcel services as a project topic. The image below describes our project journey. We started with system analysis, continued with problem identification, then scoped the problem, tested our hypotheses and adjusted our digital solution accordingly.
The Three Horizons
Idea of this exercise was to brainstorm in group on what is taking place now (traditional delivery services, H1), what could take place (increased online shopping, new materials and services, H2, innovation), and our vision of parcel and postal services (rise of new technologies and socioeconomic ecosystem, H3).
Stakeholder Map
One of my first learning's on service design was on how much understanding of the business ecosystem is required, prior to a service design project. This helped us to understand about the regulatory field, competitor field and on parcel delivery methods.
Customer Journey
We had two customer journeys documenting parcel delivery, from purchase to delivery. This was my journey. After documenting it, some things seemed absurd: How can communications related to parcel delivery be so hard accomplish. Little things, service obstacles, have a big impact on customer experience.
Observation
Two people from our group went observing self-service parcel pickup points. I also tried to give my share, but head office Posti in Helsinki city center was rather empty.
The Last Mile
After the research process and case analysis, we came to the conclusion that at the moment Service providers have the power. Consumers do not have possibilities to affect the delivery process of parcels. To meet those challenges we designed a concept "The Last Mile". It is a digital postal service, which works as a communication layer between online shops, parcel delivery service providers and private users.
Prototyping
For prototyping, we used storyboards with animations and a mock-up of "Last Mile" mobile application with information flow. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not get to present the project and our prototype before our course presentation. The feedback we received from audience was very good.
Concept Value
Every concept needs to create value for users. I think we captured it rather well. To end the project we also evaluated who would be service users and how we would monetize the concept.
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