Livebot
Livebot is a delivery-to-live-location service that utilizes autonomous delivery robot to ensure the security and convenience of the delivery of valuable products. The project was a 1-month design project for the class Design Innovation: Re-imagining Mobility, and was sponsored by Ford.
Timeframe
4 Weeks
4 Weeks
Skills
Service Design
UI/UX Design
User Interviews, User Testing
Service Design
UI/UX Design
User Interviews, User Testing
Collaborators
Nikita Jain
Qifan Yao
Nikita Jain
Qifan Yao
My role 🙋🏻♀️
I was the design lead on the team. I handled the visual and interaction design for the digital prototype while also contributed to the user research and business analysis process.
I was the design lead on the team. I handled the visual and interaction design for the digital prototype while also contributed to the user research and business analysis process.
The Problem
When a signature is required, the handoff of packages is not always the smoothest.
Each year, millions of packages get lost off American doorsteps. To minimize loss and liability, many delivery of valuable goods or important documents would require the recipient to be on site and give a signature authorization.
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but it can be quite a painful experience for those who cannot just stay home all day to sign for packages, like working professionals and students.
but it can be quite a painful experience for those who cannot just stay home all day to sign for packages, like working professionals and students.
How might we leverage the power of autonomous vehicles to make this interaction smoother without losing the security that a face-to-face handoff would guarantee?
solution overview 👀
We designed a service that supports the secure handoff of valuable packages and documents to the recipient. Our solution, Livebot, is a delivery-to-live-location service utilizing autonomous delivery robots so that people can get their package no matter where they are physically.
We designed a service that supports the secure handoff of valuable packages and documents to the recipient. Our solution, Livebot, is a delivery-to-live-location service utilizing autonomous delivery robots so that people can get their package no matter where they are physically.
Research
Identifying painpoints and opportunity spaces in the current package delivery experiences
01 Interviews
We interviewed 10 participants, mostly working professionals and students, about their past experiences with package delivery. Here are some quotes that jumped out as particularly frustrating memories for the interviewees:
Instead of feeling a sense of security from the signature requirements, the one or two incidents of miscommunication that resulted in inconvenience seemed to over-dominate user’s attitudes.
We interviewed 10 participants, mostly working professionals and students, about their past experiences with package delivery. Here are some quotes that jumped out as particularly frustrating memories for the interviewees:
“Another frustration I have is when they require me to have a signature... it’s legit almost impossible because the delivery people don’t try”
“I get a notification that I need to have a signature...they delayed the delivery so I could have time to sign. In the end, this delay caused my item to be sent back to the warehouse.”
Instead of feeling a sense of security from the signature requirements, the one or two incidents of miscommunication that resulted in inconvenience seemed to over-dominate user’s attitudes.
02 User journey map
Informed from our conversations with target users, we crafted a user journey map that aggregated experiences across individual users with shared pain points. We found that while the tracking process could be a bit of a hassle for users, the biggest pain points surfaced in the last mile of the delivery process.
Informed from our conversations with target users, we crafted a user journey map that aggregated experiences across individual users with shared pain points. We found that while the tracking process could be a bit of a hassle for users, the biggest pain points surfaced in the last mile of the delivery process.
03 Brainstorming 🤯
After deciding on the scope of signing and authentication, we came up with as many (wild) ideas as possible to address the issue, and then categorized them to pinpoint the most relevant concepts.
Concept Design
Balancing the tradeoff between costs and security
The team moved forward by each choosing one concept to develop in a one-pager format. The concept that I picked was given a temporary name “secure box”.
The basic idea is that autonomous vehicles, unlike human couriers, can wait. If the recipient is not present at a specific time, then our delivery bot can wait at a designated location until the recipient comes back.
The basic idea is that autonomous vehicles, unlike human couriers, can wait. If the recipient is not present at a specific time, then our delivery bot can wait at a designated location until the recipient comes back.
However, there is one possible constraint from a business point of view: resources are limited, and the number of bots is limited; if all distributed bots end up being stuck at each user’s doorstep, then it probably would undermine the efficiency and operability of the business ecosystem.
This is when two ideas clashed 💡
The other concept chosen was the idea of delivery to live location. Basically, the notion of delivery address becomes more fluid. The recipient can be anywhere (within a reasonable range), and the bot will always come to find the recipient.
However, if the package is heavy and hard to carry around, or that the user is being extremely mobile and not in an ideal situation to get a package, then it would be more desirable to have a direct delivery to the user’s home address, where the delivery bot can then wait, as outlined in the first idea.
Ecosystem Map
Understanding where Livebot service can contribute in the shipment-delivery ecosystem
We envisioned livebot to handle the last-mile problem in the delivery process, given the limits on the travel capacity of the robot and transportation constraints. In addition, the team also wanted to first focus on the delivery of valuable goods/important documents that usually require signature authentication, instead of generalizing the experience to all online purchases.
Concept validation
Prototyping both physical and digital experiences for concept testing
For the digital experience, we initially pictured it as an add-on service provided shopping platforms such as Amazon, so the flow we prototyped primarily comprised email notifications and web-based interfaces:
![Ordering & selecting Livebot delivery]()
![Email updates & Tracking]()
![Delivery & hand-off]()
During the low-fi prototyping of the hardware portion, we considered security features, such as a surveillance camera and a face-scanner to support the authentication process.
Wizard-of-Oz Testing
Gauging how potential users will interact with the flow and the bot
After the first round of low/mid-fi prototyping, we conducted a round wizard-of-oz testing with 5 participants and walked them through the entire delivery experience to test their interactions with the service flow, and collect feedback about the overall service concept.
Insights
Users want more certainty and agency over Livebot’s delivery process
Only relying on email 📮 notifications is insufficient and not the most convenient for user to track progress
The handoff experience needs more refinement and details, since it is a relative new experience for most people
Quotes
“What if someone attacks the bot? Or if the bot runs into an accident?” 🤔
“I don’t want to always have to check my email to know where the bot is, especially when it is out for delivery”
“I am curious how the handoff works. What if I am moving around the whole time? Does it know where to find me?”
Opportunity
Implement additional security features and give users more control
Consider other format, such as a mobile app, to enable easier tracking and more functionalities
Hone in on the details of the user journey and consider different use scenarios in the design
After the first round of testing, we received lots of feedback from peers and representatives from Ford, and we decided to pivot more to refining the digital experiences and designing the interfaces and flows for a mobile app that can better support the experience.
Final Design
a seamless mobile experience to support all touchpoints along the shipment-to-handoff journey
Style guide overview
Prototype Walk-through
On Route
The home page features all packages on-route that will be delivered by Livebot. The user can easily modify delivery preference any time before the day of the delivery.
The home page features all packages on-route that will be delivered by Livebot. The user can easily modify delivery preference any time before the day of the delivery.
Delivery Tracking
On the day of the delivery, the user can track live delivery progress with both map view and camera view, both showing the bot’s live travel trajectory. The user also has the option to set meetup point for a smoother pickup experience.
On the day of the delivery, the user can track live delivery progress with both map view and camera view, both showing the bot’s live travel trajectory. The user also has the option to set meetup point for a smoother pickup experience.
Hand-off
For the hand-off experience, we designed an easy-to-follow flow that includes a camera-based scanning interaction for users to open the bot and retrieve their package.
For the hand-off experience, we designed an easy-to-follow flow that includes a camera-based scanning interaction for users to open the bot and retrieve their package.
Final thoughts + Next Steps
I learned a lot about designing a new service from this project, particularly the business considerations that go into innovative services and how to translate those considerations into design. It was also a learning experience about navigating ambiguity in a relatively emerging tech field.
Given the constraint of time, there was still quite a lot that we did not get to further deliberate on. Here are some next steps:
1. Refine the details of the possible interactions between users and delivery bots in different contexts, and include edge cases that will heavily impact the experience.
2. Conduct more user testing to gauge users’ emotional responses to this experience.
Given the constraint of time, there was still quite a lot that we did not get to further deliberate on. Here are some next steps:
1. Refine the details of the possible interactions between users and delivery bots in different contexts, and include edge cases that will heavily impact the experience.
2. Conduct more user testing to gauge users’ emotional responses to this experience.