Co-designing new essential services with a community and Australia Post.
MY ROLE
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Immersion
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Co-design
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Prototyping
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Interaction design
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Design research
OUTLINE
apcolab was a service design initiative that explored how Australia Post could better support local communities. Working with the Australia Post Social Design team, an innovation lab was established with the aim to create new essential services that were locally responsive and people-centred. To achieve this, we immersed ourselves in Footscray and engaged local community groups. Through the co-design process, we developed and tested two new Australia Post services.
Client / Australia Post
Studio / Craig Walker
PROBLEM
Australia Post and Craig Walker investigated key social issues facing communities around Australia. How could we design services that were both locally meaningful and organisationally scalable? The lab was set-up in Footscray with an aim to create essential services that increase participation and answer local needs.
IMMERSION
First, we went through a process of discovery to develop an understanding of the local community. We immersed ourselves in Footscray and became sensitised to the socio-cultural geography. Lab principles were established to inform our way of working. A card activity engaged locals to take us to places where they feel welcome or unwelcome. This revealed the local cultures and community needs.
CO-DESIGN
Community engagement meetings were set up to build a picture of what local community groups needed. We conducted interviews to capture experiences. We ran a series of pop-up co-design workshops within the local community to develop new service concepts.
SYNTHESIS AND OPPORTUNITY AREAS
After the discovery process, we rapidly developed a broad range of ideas using the 10 plus 10 method. We began to converge our ideas, where a total of 80 new services were narrowed down to 2. Ideas went through a process of analysis based on business feasibility.
DEVELOP AND DELIVER
Working in two teams, we began by mapping an initial customer journey, researching different moments of contact with Australia Post. A fail-fast methodology was employed to rapidly prototype and iterate. Prototypes were tested with customers, including intercepts at post offices and in-depth interviews. Connected organisations were interviewed to test the validity of the idea. A service blueprint was clarified through the process and delivered along with documentation and a customer journey map.
