United States Postal Service
Product Design • Web-based application
A USPS business-to-business agent deals with several dozen missing package requests a day. On average, it can take around 3 days just to locate a single package and resolve an open service request. By conducting on-site research of the agent's workflows and touring mail sorting facilities, we were able to use our findings and design a platform that consolidates all the disparate systems into one location. Machine learning harnesses historical data and feedback from agents to surface insights that empower users and reduces package location from 3+ days to 1.
Created at Fjord | Product Design - Annie Lin | UX Design - Mike Edwards & Robert Boler | Visual Lead - Michelle Oros
Design Director - Ben Tautfest
The Challenge
Reduce the time it takes for a BSN Representative to locate a lost package and unify the disparate systems and methods currently used to complete the task.
Deliverables
A simple, purpose-built application that seamlessly integrates contextually relevant package data from multiple USPS systems, reducing the time and effort it takes to locate a customer’s package.
The solutions
ALL YOUR TOOLS IN ONE EASY LOCATION
Unifying the number of different methods and tools, we created an all-in-one dashboard experience that surfaces the most important and relevant data for each request.
work smarter not harder
An AI algorithm analyzes a package’s tracking events the moment a customer service request is generated and helps the service rep make a complete picture of where the package is and how it got there.
case management at a glance
The ability to manage multiple service requests at various stages drastically streamlines the process of working a single service request from beginning to resolution.
Track, inform, and delight
Users can focus on incoming information related to service requests through a design system that communicates the various types of data being recorded from newest to oldest.
The Process
2 pages, 1 solution
Understanding the users needs for different interaction components based on their current task, the high level user flow was mapped to address the various tools that agents used across 9 different applications. The solution decided to reduce the full capabilities of SPLU down to two core screens: Dashboard and Service Details.
Needs-based designs
Using the research we’d accumulated to inform my designs, I was careful to design interactions to communicate the most relevant information a user would need in that moment and mindset.
Designing a system
To create an experience that truly meets the users needs, designing a system that effectively communicates all levels of information is highly important. Here are different states for events that change depending on what type of information is updated for each case and service activity, taking care to show information that is most relevant to achieving the users goals (closing the case and locating the lost package).
Results
Initially rolled out to all 200 BSN Reps in September 2017, the SPLU Tool was quickly adopted and proved to make a big impact in a short amount of time, resulting in a 56% improvement on case resolution.
Video Manifesto
Our studio created the following video as a testament to the efficiency and effectiveness that SPLU has provided for USPS’s partners.