Design for the future of the USPS

Scope:

Service innovation, value proposition, public sector service design

Challenge & Goal: 

The United States Postal Service is a costly entity for the government that has been losing billions of dollars annually for the past several years. Lack of innovation in service delivery is the main contributor to this ill-performing history. The goal of the design project was to evaluate the challenges and needs of USPS customers and introduce new services and product initiatives to remedy the issue and project steady growth.

Approach:

We started by making frequent trips to local post offices in the Washington, DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas and observing customers as they interacted with post office services and personnel. We interviewed customers to capture their insight and feedback for the future of the USPS. We asked about their wish list items for the post office, such as which other services their post office could offer to them.

Based on the user research studies, we learned that there are three main user groups that are concerned about innovation and disruption at the post office. The first group consists of small business owners who utilize post office services for conducting business online and remotely. The second group is young, tech-savvy professionals who rely heavily on online shopping and delivery due to a busy urban lifestyle.

Solution:

Through careful study of each user group and discovery of their unique needs, we introduced a mix of product and service solutions that could simplify or improve their lives: 

Design – Create a communal atmosphere to encourage users to spend more time at the post office. Introduce functionalities such as Wi-Fi and comfortable seating, so that customers can prepare for their postal needs on site. Introduce local and geography-specific themes for different cities to create a sense of belonging.

Same Day Delivery – Partner with local grocery stores and other small businesses such as dry cleaners to deliver products and goods to customers. USPS has abundant infrastructure and resources for reliable and efficient delivery that can be used to generate income by partnering with other businesses.

Mobile Application – Introduce a mobile application with which residents can review their non-confidential mail in scanned digital format before it arrives at their door. Allow users the option to receive only their confidential mail and decline to receive junk mail and other unnecessary paper mail. The USPS is currently entirely paper-dependent, which creates tons of paper waste annually. This solution can reduce paper waste as well as delivery volume and cost.

Collaborators: Brandon Ball, Amal Hmayed, Kaitlin Jentzen, Susan Juvet, Dewayne Whitefield