Domo — The Future of Delivery

THE FUTURE OF ONLINE DELIVERY

Domo

CLIENT

Self-driven personal project

ROLE

UX Research

Service Design

Experience Design

Systems Architecture

SUMMARY

Domo is the world's first circular collection service designed for our fast-growing E-commerce economy. It enables customers to order clothes to a Domo changing pod, collect their clothes from the lockers inside, try them on within the space and simply return back to the lockers if they don't fit.

Welcome to the Future of Delivery.

Project Goals

Reduce delivery pollution in cities

Reduce delivery packaging waste

Improve the experience of returning online clothing orders for customers and delivery drivers

Project Goals

INTRODUCTION

The rise in digital adoption is a legacy trend of the pandemic with 25% of British customers planning to switch to online shopping permanently.*

And yet in our customer-driven and sustainable age, online clothing returns are inconvenient, delivery vans heavily polluting cities, and landfills full of mailing bags and boxes.

I believe that Design works best when it aims to tackle complex, systemic challenges like these.

* Source: Alvarez & Marsal and Retail Economics report, 2021

Visit to Amazon

PRIMARY RESEARCH

My research began with a trip to Amazon's Fulfilment Centre where I discovered that the UK delivery system is still based upon rigid processes and logistical journeys that frankly put have always been this way. I observed a system that was ripe for disruption and saw a design opportunity to transform the way we receive our parcels.

Sorting robots

1/5

A parcel's typical journey

1. INBOUND

ARRIVAL

2. STORAGE

3. PICKING

ITEMS

4. PACKING

ITEMS

5. SCAN, LABEL, APPLY, MANIFEST

6. OUTBOUND SHIPPING

7. SORTATION CENTRE

8. LOCAL DEPOT

9. HOME DELIVERY

The Pollution problem

30%

By 2030, the last mile to home's delivery emissions will increase by over 30% in 100 cities globally.*

* Source: The World Economic Forum.

The Packaging problem

SURVEY

43%

*43% of people regularly return clothing bought online. When this happens, everything from plastic poly bags to cardboard packaging and paper labels goes to waste as each item must be re-packaged again.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU RETURN CLOTHES BOUGHT ONLINE?

*Self conducted survey of 100 people, January 2020

- Dylan, Warehouse Associate

LIGHTBULB MOMENT

By 2030, we will be living in a complete

E-commerce economy and the current systems in place are not prepared for it.

Stakeholder pain points

Collection from store is time-consuming

Pressure to deliver in shorter timeframes

Incurred costs for returns postage

Packaging

PEOPLE

COURIER

BRAND

Missed deliveries

Seasonal demand

PLANET

Fast fashion

Returns are inconvenient

£25 million parking fines annually

Strain of click & collect on store queues

Pollution

INTERVIEW

Employee insight

Pressure to fulfil next-day and same-day deliveries leaves little time for efficient routing which means that many delivery couriers start their day driving half-empty trucks. Returns routinely bounce from home to warehouse and back to other homes making the whole process extremely inefficient.

NIMA, HERMES DRIVER

“The same jacket can be returned and re-packaged up to six times before being delivered to six different homes”

INTERVIEW

Customer insight

Many Gen Zers and Millennials have gradually fallen out of love with the British high street. Online shoppers like Samia value the convenience of being able to order a wide variety of clothes online and try them all on in the comfort of their bedroom.

“The changing room is no longer in the shop, it’s in the home”

SAMIA, STUDENT

LIGHTBULB MOMENT

We need a space that is neither the home nor the store... but a third place to receive deliveries

- Dylan, Warehouse Associate

Meet Leanne

Many millennials like Olivia have fallen out of love

LEANNE SMITH

Age: 26

Occupation: Account Manager

Family: Single

Location: North London

Archetype: £5.99 Next Day Delivery

KEY MOTIVATIONS

Choice

Leanne enjoys scrolling through numerous pages of online fashion to find that perfect pair of shoes. The hunt is the thrill.

Experience

It's all about that just-got-a-gift-feeling of parcels arriving at her doorstep and the instant gratification that follows

Convenience

Leanne loves that she can place orders on her lunch break and have parcels waiting for her before she arrives home

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

Shoppers like Leanne hate returning items because the experience doesn’t align with their motivators

Re-pack

Fill form

Attach label

Seal bag

Leave

Travel

Queue

Post

Customer Satisfaction Score

Returning a clothing item

FRAMING THE CHALLENGE

So what if we could make collection her first choice (less pollution) and make returns easier (less waste)?

The way we pack goods has to change

from SINGLE-USE to REUSABLE

The way we receive goods has to change

from DELIVERY to COLLECTION

THE BRIEF

To create the world's first circular collection service

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Customers
Delivery Couriers
Online fashion brands eg. Zara, H&M

WHAT IS OUR AIM?

A world where customers want to collect online orders from a third place (eg. coffee shops, stations, supermarkets) rather than have them delivered

HOW MIGHT WE DO THIS?

Changing space for trying clothes on
Collection lockers for easy returns
Reusable crates for transporting clothing

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

A space to collect clothing orders and try them on

Scan barcode to enter Domo pod
Collect clothes from locker
Try them on in front of the mirror
Place unwanted items back in locker

Queue in store

Provide lengthy collection numbers

Carry physical proof of ID to collect

Fill out return form

Print postage label

Re-pack and re-seal packaging

CUSTOMER DOES

CUSTOMER DOESN'T

EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Changing Pod

I built 3D models and doll-sized prototypes to test with users, which iteratively guided the design of a changing space that could provide elevated comfort and privacy for customers collecting their online orders.

Minimal

Homely

Comfort

Premium

Arrive

STORYBOARD

ARRIVE

ENTER

CHILL

TRY ON

DECIDE

LEAVE

TESTING PROTOTYPES

Reusable Clothing Crate

To deliver this service, it was crucial that the packaging could be used, transported and washed multiple times therefore I designed a robust clothing crate that the driver could easily side into the lockers to deliver the clothes.

WAREHOUSE STAFF

DELIVERY DRIVER

CUSTOMER

Pack clothes

Transport to pod

Magnetic lock

Customer opens locker

Close lid

Open lid

Slide crate into locker

Customer sees clothes!

3. Customer pulls shutter to open?

1. Worker folds crate lid and locks with magnets to close

Prototype: Delivering clothing crates to locker

Final design:

CIRCULAR ECOSYSTEMS THINKING

Designed for Reuse

Returned clothing crates travel from Pod back to the Warehouse to be washed and reused. Zero packaging, Zero waste

USER INTERFACE DESIGN

Dual Locker Interface

DRIVER-FACING SIDE

CUSTOMER-FACING SIDE

Facilitates smooth delivery and pick-up

For the driver, simply tapping the on-screen 'Delivery' option and scanning the barcode of the crate they want to deliver prompts the correct locker door to open for delivery. No chance for mistake deliveries

Facilitates collection and easy returns

Customers can easily select the items wish to return on the locker screen before placing them back in the locker for the next driver to pick-up. Easy, quick and stress-free returns

SERVICE DEFINITION

How does Domo work?

Domo is the world’s first circular collection service that enables customers to order clothes to a Domo changing pod, collect their clothes from the smart lockers inside, try them on within the space and simply return back to the lockers if they don’t fit.

A fast, free and less polluting alternative to standard home delivery and returns

DRIVER

Delivers and picks up crates to lockers through back door

CUSTOMER

Collects clothes from lockers inside the pod

CUSTOMER STRATEGY

Collect from your local

Domo pods are conveniently located in supermarkets, train stations, coffee shops, shopping centres, gyms and more!

Convenient collection. Easy returns

The Domo app enables customers to collect at their convenience...

CUSTOMER-FACING DIGITAL APP

Flexibility to change your booking if plans change

Live tracking of delivery to your locker in real-time

Your unique 'I-Key' barcode electronically opens the Domo pod door and lockers at the time of your appointment

... and drivers to deliver in their free time

DRIVER-FACING DIGITAL APP

Work when it suits you: Accept transparent delivery and pick-up jobs on demand in your personal vehicle

Navigate to Domo pods easily with in-app navigation, precision-finding and live traffic updates

Driver's unique 'I-Key' barcode opens the Pod's back door and helps the driver by automatically opening the correct locker doors for their delivery and pick-up