Project goal
The goal of this project was to improve package pickup and delivery by optimizing the workflow in the mobile device FedEx couriers carry with them.
User Research
After spending a few days reading everything I could on how FedEx works and talking to project team members I went on a few rides with couriers from start to finish of their work shifts (Contextual Inquiry). After each ride I debriefed the project team and collaboratively created a number of diagrams: Sequence, flow, cultural and physical (You can read about them in detail in the book Contextual Design by Karen Holtzblatt or in this link).
Sequence Diagram
Affinity Diagram (only a section is displayed). Click here for the full document.
This type of diagram is a way for analysts to organize observations obtained during contextual inquiry sessions. Analysts can organize observations in whichever way the informations makes sense to them. One way is to organize them as per the user's work flow (user journeys).
Flow Diagram. This diagram is just like a regular flow diagram in software design.
Cultural Diagram. This type of diagram deals with the social pressures a user is subjected to under a particular environment that affects his or her performance of a set of tasks. The yellow boxes describe how the courier (user) reacts to social pressures represente by simple text next to arrows.
Ideation
After analizing the information from user research we spend some time thinking what could we do in order to improve the lives of Couriers. And eventhough we thought about many ideas (click here for the full list of ideas) we chose a few items to work on that seemed doable under the current project mandate and budget.
* Remember customer information from previous visits. Between 60% to 80% of customers are repeat customers; couriers visit the same customers day in and day out. Currently couriers have to enter customer information every day.
* Route management. Couriers spend most of their time driving and FedEx does spend quite of bit of energy optimizing this. However for some reason couriers are not included in these efforts. After observing couriers I realized they are extremely knowledgeable about things affecting their routes including all the little details regarding traffic patterns, time dependent events, construction sites, customer readyness, etc. I also found interesting that their daily list of customers is presented in a list not in a map.
* Provide contact and site information about the stop itself, e.g. receiver's name and phone, dock number, which door to use, etc. The courier enters this information only once and serves as a memory preserve for future couriers and for the courier who enters the information too while she or he gets used to the route.
Route management
The "obvious" task was to present the customer addresses in a map form. Most couriers wanted this but for some reason it was not provided to them; the list of customer stops was provided in a list format in their mobile device (rugged device with scanner) and a map of the city in printed form.
The main challenge is how to present couriers the customer stops in a way that makes it easier for a courier to figure out an optimal route given the fact that conditions change throughout the day; new stops are added through the day (for package pickup), time commitments, traffic conditions, construction zones, accidents, roads blocked by trains, package pickup readyness, etc. For this reason most couriers plan their route in two levels: a high level plan where the courier divides his or her route into large chunks or areas, and a detailed level which usually involves the next 4 to 6 stops. The courier strengths are: they know their service area very well because they work in the same area for years, they have a very close and personal relationship with their regular customers so they know their habits and needs.
The most important data couriers use to determine their route are:
1. Geo location of themselves and customers.
2. Ready times (when picking up packages) or Commitment times (when delivering packages).
3. External conditions: traffic, weather, constructions zones, etc.
User Environment Design
I like creating the User Environment Design first because I don't have to deal with the how part of design; I can focus on what is needed for the end user.
User Environment Design (UED). This type of diagram mainly deals with grouping funcionality into screens or activity areas without dealing with screen layout or other distracting details.
