Drone Delivery Service
Human Interaction Research & Design
Overview
A major online retailer engineered an autonomous package delivery drone but needed to explore and understand the human experiences around receiving the package, and to answer critical questions about this new delivery model. How much control does a customer expect over their delivery? How might they choose an exact delivery spot? What do they need to know in order to ensure the spot is clear for delivery? What delivery notifications are most important?
My Contribution
After rapidly immersing in the engineering and baseline human centered research, and expanding our understanding through competitive research, I created and hosted a series of ideation, evaluation, and choosing exercises. I designed and prototyped interface and concept stimuli and built a progressive series of unmoderated and moderated user tests from which we identified key needs and experience issues and elevated high potential concepts.
Impact
Iterating through multiple sets of concepts and tests, we surfaced key principles which the final design must satisfy in order to deliver a fast, easy, reliable, and lovable customer experience. We met with technical groups to help negotiate more than “engineering minimum” so that initial trials would succeed and satisfy users. The product and engineering teams leveraged my reported recommendations to build their upcoming release cycles for MVP and beyond.
“This research is helping us see around the corner beyond the next launch to understand what customers really need.”
“I need Paul on my team. He is the best researcher and designer I’ve ever worked with.”
NDA Project
I am unable to share detailed work products or insights from this project since it is not yet released and I am under NDA.
Copyright © Paul Townsend