Objectives
The Final Report for Packet Butler is the outcome of a project developed during the Postgraduate course in Design and Global Trends at ELISAVA in Barcelona. The primary goal of the project was to apply the concepts learned in class while providing a strategic forecast for Packet Butler, the company our team collaborated with. This involved simultaneously recognizing current patterns and assessing how these changes might impact the company's future, ultimately developing a strategy based on Design Thinking methodology.
What was done
Desk research
Contextual Analysis
In deth interviews
User diary
Trend Analysis
About the client
Founded in 1953 by Franz Prettl, PRETTL started as a metalworking company in Pfüllingen, in Germany, as a supplier for Bosch. With Willi Prettl joining the company as a 3rd generation of the family, PRETTL now works in 5 areas in 25 countries and 33 locations. The holding defines its work as simple and precise, and their way of working as innovative, detail-oriented and independent.
The Challenge
Providing a safe storage station service for unattended delivery which allows businesses (B2B) to improve their efficiency and their service quality, by acting as a convenient pick up system for end users.
Desk Research and contextual analysis
With the aim of understanding the motivations behind delivery system choices in general, we conducted desk research on existing systems and explored potential possibilities and future developments for the delivery sector. We came up with these drivers, before validanting them with the final users:
In deth interviews
It was challenging to understand German perspectives on delivery systems and online purchases. For the in-depth interviews, it was crucial to gather diverse viewpoints from individuals representing different segments of society. A total of 8 Germans, aged between 18 and 45, from the country’s largest cities, were interviewed. We came up with these main insights:
User diary
While the in-depth interviews focused on analyzing consumers' emotions and some of their experiences, the goal of the user diary was to uncover the key drivers behind online purchases, the challenges faced, and their perspectives after completing the experience. It also aimed to explore the factors influencing the choice of a specific delivery service and how users ultimately received their products. This process involved "following" consumers’ daily lives for one week to gain a deeper understanding of what they ordered, where, how, and why, as well as insights into their experiences and the efficiency of the online ordering process.
Trend Analysis
As Amy Webb explains in her book The Signals Are Talking, the future emerges gradually, appearing at random points on the fringes of society. These signals may seem disparate, unrelated, and difficult to connect at first, but over time, they form patterns that provide direction for understanding scenarios and context.
Looking for signals was not confined to a single area; it explored various sectors such as food, fashion, the sharing economy, and consumer experiences related to IoT, including smart homes.
Patterns
Drawing from The Trend Forecaster’s Handbook, it is crucial to examine the material categorized under probable trends, articulate these signals with external forces, and guide them into the creation of meaningful patterns.
By understanding the signals and combining them with key drivers - supported by facts, statistics, and quote - data evolve into patterns that validate the research. To ensure clarity and test the validity of the patterns, it is essential to name them and assess whether the ideas resonate with. We came up with 4 main patterns for delivery system:
Actionable trends and framework
According to Martin Raymond in The Trend Forecaster's Handbook, a trend is defined as the direction in which something tends to move, having a significant impact on culture, society, or a business sector. With this understanding of probable societal behaviors, it becomes possible to analyze the context and identify actionable insights to guide the project to its final conclusion.
Initially, it was challenging to grasp the broad possibilities of trends relevant to our project. Once all relevant trends were identified, it became essential to ensure they aligned with the client's vision and core values. It’s important to clarify that the client must not only want to follow these trends but also be capable of evolving to do so.
Based on this understanding, we selected actionable trends that are both aligned with the project and suited to the client:
Profiles
The profiles represent the outcome of the qualitative research. As this is a human-centered design project, simply identifying opportunities within the delivery system and potential solutions for unattended deliveries was not enough. The challenge required a deeper understanding of how German consumers interact with delivery services and what drives their decisions when facing issues with online purchases.
Following the survey, in-depth interviews, and user diaries, certain probable ideas emerged based on the interpreted characteristics. While these profiles do not represent the entirety of German society, it was determined that they could effectively guide the project, as they serve as ideal examples for understanding the unattended delivery issue in Germany.
Insights into ideas
By analyzing actionable business trends and identifying compatible profiles, we were able to suggest some ideas and service possibilities.
Scenario Planning
It was considered internal and external drivers that could impact each trend density and its possible futures. For each driver it was understood the impact of it in the cultural, social, environmental, economic and technological context, in order to visualize what could happen with the curve of each trend. Analysing the possibilities that come up, it was decided to zoom in the scenario planning into two most important drivers: technology and balanced life.
Matching the two main drivers, Balanced life and Technology, it was possible to raise four probable scenarios. In a sense that the company strategy must take into account the probable scenarios that might occur in the future, it is important to connect probable scenarios and the profiles and how they could react in each situation. Having this idea, the client will be prepared for any situation in the future.
Strategy
Drawing from Amy Webb's formula for calculating future scenarios, we were able to understand potential outcomes and use them to guide the team's strategic decisions, taking the client's context into account. As previously noted, several probable scenarios were considered, but one was chosen as the most applicable to the client: the transhuman scenario. However, the other scenarios were not dismissed entirely. In other words, the company must be prepared for various possibilities, but the strategy focused on the one that best aligns with the client's profile.
The "cone of plausibility" was applied to acknowledge that setting goals along a fixed timeline is not always feasible. Instead, we first identified highly probable actions, supported by data and evidence, to continue the project’s development. Each section of the cone represents a strategic approach, with each phase building on the outcomes of the previous one, allowing us to track the project’s evolution.
Using the trend framework, we identified actionable insights and integrated them into a strategic framework, considering the following phases: tactics, strategy, vision, and system-level evolution.
Solution
The solution is a reliable network of users connected through an online platform. As the research showed, Germans value trust and prefer engaging with people to solve their problems rather than relying on a brand or company. Therefore, the solution was designed as a personal delivery network, allowing users to choose who will deliver their order, connected to a central locker system located anywhere. The entire process is powered by a tracking system that monitors your parcel. You can track its arrival at the locker you selected during checkout, and from that point, you can use the platform to see who is available to retrieve it for you that day.
Additionally, you can select your preferred delivery option directly through the platform when making an online purchase. For instance, you might choose the closest neighbor available to receive your package. Since you're also part of the platform and can offer your own resources as a service, you’ll be rewarded for doing so. This system provides a safe storage solution at every stage of delivery, addressing the issue of unattended deliveries.
For companies that rely on delivery services to complete their brand experience, this solution offers a fast delivery option to lockers in strategic locations.
For consumers, it provides flexibility in how they receive their parcels by leveraging a trusted user network, eliminating the hassle of traveling to distant lockers or missing deliveries at home.
For users who offer their resources as a personal service, it presents an opportunity to earn extra income.
And for Packet Butler, the platform presents a chance to offer a service linked to a product, collecting valuable consumer data that can be used as a foundation for developing new human-centered products.
Pics from the process
