Carriers that Care
A senior academic project to create an experience design for Canada Post to increase its value proposition and extend services to connect with socially isolated seniors.
Project Length
7 weeks
Team
Jasper, Tristan, Erika, Hugo
Tools
Figma, Premier Pro
Role
User research, UI Design, UX Designer, Design System, Prototyping
Contribution
Conducted user interviews and secondary research, created a new design system, focused on the wireframes, and final prototype for the mail carrier interface.
Awards
This project was nominated for the 2024 UX Design Awards.
Proposal
Carriers that Care
Carrier that Care takes advantage of Canada Post’s existing infrastructure of door-to-door delivery to provide companionship to socially isolated seniors through periodical check-ins. It allows long-distance families to stay updated on their loved ones well-being, support Canadian seniors desire to live independently and potential for Canada Post to extend their services beyond mail delivery.
Mockup of Carriers that Care homepage
Client
Canada Post desires to extend its service
Canada Post is a crown corporation and the primary postal service provider in Canada, covering more ground that any delivery services in North America. In their 2022 financial report, revealed a steady decline in revenue for 17 years and losing market share to faster, cheaper competitors such as FedEx or UPS. As a response, Canada Post aims to extend their services beyond traditional postal service.
Carriers that Care user scenario video by Tristan Turisno
The Opportunity
Introducing a senior check-in program
Since 2016, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been advocating for the introduction of a senior check-in program to cater to the high ageing Canadian population (StatCan) and desire to live independently for as long as possible (Canadian Medical Association and the National Institute on Ageing).
After observing the success of countries like Japan and France in extending their postal services to support the social isolation of seniors, our main objective was to adapt this service to the Canadian socio-cultural context. Furthermore, we sought to capitalize on Canada Post's established infrastructure for door-to-door delivery, its status as a crown corporation, and reputation as Canadian’s most trusted professions (Leger 2021).
How might we support socially isolated seniors in Canada through Canada Post’s existing infrastructure?
User-Research
Arriving to our framing
Emphasis on building trust, consent and rapport
As a team, we conducted a short 3-day design sprint with the goal of developing a shared understanding of our company, the challenges in our problem space, and how to cater to our various stakeholders: the senior, family members, and Canada Post postal workers.
Through activities such as assumption mapping, How Might We creation, golden path exploration, and competitor analysis, we identified that the most critical and challenging aspect of our service lies in establishing trust, gaining consent, and building rapport with both family members and seniors. Furthermore, we successfully pinpointed key stages in the customer journey where prioritization is crucial to ensure the success of our project.
Images of our team design sprint.
Pivot to reducing loneliness and building social connections
Afterward, I conducted total of two out of seven 30-40 minute user tests with people who live independently from their parents. We were able to reinforce our concerns of establishing trust and value of our service as user emphasized the service “feels impersonal” and questioned the mail carrier’s qualification.
Our key finding indicated that highlighting the tangible value sent to families, such as the physical well-being of their loved ones, resulted in a decrease in user trust. This was attributed by users perceiving mail carriers would act as medical caretaker without the necessary training.
To redefine our service value, we assessed the Canadian National Institute of Ageing framework for supporting older adults ageing in their own homes. We shifted our focus to highlight social connections to alleviate loneliness and isolation, as this is the pillar mail carrier can reasonable intervene.
Final Prototype
Primary touchpoints
Primary phases for Carriers that Care service.
Step 1: Sign Up & Consent
Canada Post Subdomain
STAKEHOLDERS: RECEPIENT & RECEPIENT'S FAMILY
The Carriers that Care homepage provides clear information for seniors and families registering loved ones, emphasizing transparency on service logistics, limitations, and expectations.
The onboarding assumes users have a pre-existing Canada Post account. It follows a standard sign-up process, collecting recipient information, visitation availability, specific visit questions, optional details about the recipient, and payment preferences. Users choose notification preferences (text or email) and are informed that service starts after recipient confirmation.
Prototype walkthrough of the Carriers that Care homepage and sign-up process
Step 2: Reoccurring Check-ins
Mail Carrier App
STAKEHOLDERS: RECEPIENT & MAIL CARRIER
While on route, the mail carrier will have a list of recipients to visit. They can give a call to inform the recipient, they are on their way for a 20-30 minute visit. Upon visit, the two would have a conversation with the recipient and assist with small tasks. Post-visit, they will be prompted to complete a report the details of their visitation, formatted to be short and easy to reduce the cognitive overhead for the busy postal worker.
The mail carrier also has access to resources for managing unforeseen situations and can quickly connect with emergency services for urgent issues.
Prototype walkthrough of the mail carrier app and filling out the post-visit report.
Step 3: Further Actions
Post-visit Updates & Actions
STAKEHOLDERS: RECEPIENT & MAIL CARRIER
Subscribers will receive visitation updates via text or email and redirected to the Canada Post dashboard for further details. Here, users will be able to update their account information, edit visitation details and manage family members on the plan. As well, get to know the mail carrier visiting their loved one and be informed of any changes.
Send a Gift, is an extension of Carrier that Care which leverages Canada Post existing service to purchase gift through Canada Shop to promote Canadian-owned businesses. The recipients’ family can purchase a gift through Canada Post and have it hand-delivered during Carrier that Care visits.
Prototype walkthrough of recepients' family receiving an update, their dashboard to manage their account and Send a Gift.
Design Decisions
Addressing User Concerns
Building personal connection with seniors.
To address the service feeling impersonal, we included a section in the sign up for families to add hobbies and interest of their loved one. These details would act as conversation starters and initial touchpoint for the senior and mail carrier to build a personal connection.
Final mock-up during the sign-up process inquiring about recipients' personal interests.
Ensuring Consent and Privacy
As a team, we recognized the potential invasiveness of this service and the importance of respecting the privacy of seniors. Consequently, we devised pamphlets families can send to their loved one to inform them of this service. Additionally, we implemented safeguards to encourage discussion amongst families about this service before signing up and ensuring that the service only commences after consent is given by both parties.
Images of various instances our team implemented consent and privacy of the recipient.
Developing a Sub-brand
To address concerns from initial user testing where people were confused about how Carriers that Care differentiates from Canada Post’s letter and parcel delivery services, I created a dedicated design system for the service, where I focused on the components, color and type.
This new illustration style is used to guide our branding towards a more approachable and familiar feeling. These also help us guide our interactions, or if there is a lot of information to digest.
Image of the final design system.
Discovery through Parcel Stickers
The primary way we expect customers to discover this service is through the news, word of mouth or online advertisement. However, using stickers on Canada Post packages provides an opportunity to invite existing customers to learn about the service, while staying true to the brands assets.
Mock-up of Carriers that Care stickers on delivery parcels.