Designing the future of delivery

The robotics division of Postmates, a food delivery platform

Postmates

Product Designer & UX Researcher

2019-2021

Product areas

  • Buyer experience
  • Cargo design and testing
  • Pilot experience research

Skills used

  • UX/UI design
  • User research
  • Prototyping
  • Product planning
  • 3D modeling
  • Industrial design
  • Hardware design
  • CMF

Serve, by Postmates

Serve is an autonomous sidewalk delivery robot designed to take short distance, low-profit deliveries. Through the use of lidar and other sensors, Serve is able to safely and intelligently navigate busy sidewalks, while keeping orders secure in it’s locked cargo bin.

Product Goals

  • Friendly and approachable
  • Able to communicate intent
  • People should feel safe around it
  • Secure and hygenic cargo
  • Recognizable, not just another robot

My role as a Designer and Researcher

As part of the Design Team, I work on physical and digital design, as well as conduct user research. With my strong background in research, I have led many studies with our various users. This research closely ties into the design work that I have done and informs the usability decisions made with the team.

Cargo Design

Customers ordering from the Postmates app tend to all have at least one thing in common, they want their food to arrive as if the chef just placed it on their kitchen table. While Serve is no on-the-go chef, we have taken care to design a safe and secure cargo space that will ensure an order arrives in the best condition possible.

Establishing the Market

To do this, we analyzed the most common orders fulfilled by Postmates and created a list of requirements to accommodate them.

Prototyping

I created potential cargo configurations via a 3D graphics software. Once we decided on the four versions we wanted to test, I created foam core prototypes for user testing.

User Testing

We brought our foam core prototypes to a handful of merchants for testing. They provided us with essential feedback that led to my final design.

The Final Design

I refined the design based on our research findings. We settled on a single configuration that provides plenty of space for large orders, holds up to two drinks, and accomodates large pizzas.

Design Challenges

The design requirements for the cargo included not only the accomodation of our most common orders types, but also considerations for eurgonomics and accessibility. I found that one of the best ways to visualize and modify these designs was by building a 3D model of it. With the help of a Product Designer on the team, I learned to use 3D modeling software that allowed me to iterate and ideate with ease.

Co-branding CMF Design

With a fleet of Serves rolling through the streets of Los Angeles, local businesses have become more and more interested in working with us. The decision to combine our brands increases visability and creates marketing opportunities that increase user conversion and retention.

Co-branding

Companies reached out to us wanting a robot dedicated to their business.

3D Design

A variety of CMF wraps were designed that combined our two brands.

Vinyl Prints

The chosen wraps were then converted from 3D concepts to printable AI files.

Design Challenges

Designing wraps that combined both brands was one of the most enjoyable parts of this project. The biggest challenge was working within the following constraints: cannot be full rover wraps, must work within the physical form of the robot, and logos/names must align in the same place accross robots.

Buyer Experience Research

Recieving a delivery from Serve is an expereince entirely different from that of a traditional Postmate, so we designed an experience that would seamlessly guide our users through the experience.

Stage One

Prototype Testing

Validated the user flow with in-house prototype testing

Stage Two

Beta Testing

Performed mock deliveries for Testers using a complicated wizarding system

Stage Three

Production Testing

Observed real Buyers placing and recieving orders that we fulfilled using Serve

Stage Four

Surveys

Email surveys go out regularly, so that we never lose sight of the quality of our Buyers’ experience

Research Challenges

At the beginning of this research study, the user experience had yet to be built out. The most we had were app screens in Figma and a backend infrastructure for conducting jobs. In order to pull these pieces together into a comprehensive user experience, I had to get crafty. I wizarded the user experience by manually progressing the app flow via CLI and triggering expressions on the robot. I had very little experience with the software at the beginning of this study, but by the end I knew the system inside and out!

Serve in the Media

Time's 100 Best Inventions 2019

TED Talk: A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food

Sean Hayes and Ellen Are All About the Apps for Day 4 of 12 Days!

Postmates’ Delivery Robots Have A Phantom Babysitter