PPJ - FEDERICA BRUSCHI STAGE 2: TEAM 1 - JORRO MSC INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT & DESIGN INNOVATION
DISCOVER
DESK RESEARCH & ETHNOGRAPHY
RESEARCH
DEFINE
UNMET NEEDS
INTERIM REVIEW
USER JOURNEY
PAIN POINTS
OPPORTUNITIES
DEVELOP
E-VENTURE
CONCEPT & TEST
USER TEST
REFINE
DELIVER
FINAL PRESENTATION
contents OVERVIEW
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brief
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DISCOVER
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define
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develop
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deliver
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final thoughts
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resources
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OVERVIEW I enjoyed working on this project for two reasons. The first is that I had the opportunity to learn something new, immerse myself in a topic, EVs and the challenges associated with them, which I did not know at all. Secondly, this was the first time I was asked to focus on business-related issues. So, I found myself having to deal with a project for a company whose goal was to address its strategic objectives and “quadruple bottom line”. One thing about this project was that I found myself working with a group of non-design students. I already had experience as a project manager in mixed groups of both design and business students; However, I never experienced working with one of those in such a complex project as a service design one. My group relied on me to be the group leader as I was the only designer. So, I proposed following the double diamond to develop our project and use an agile workflow to determine the tasks that were to be done and in progress and divide the workload equally.
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REFLECTION ON GROUP WORK
It was challenging to work together for several reasons. At the start of the project, and for several weeks later, the group was not keen to meet for more than a day per week. Therefore, all the work was done individually and then discussed together during our zoom call. I find this method time-consuming. It does not allow immediate feedback and a collective generation of ideas, which I consider vital in working together and in a design brief. During our weekly meetings and within the group in general, another member and I led the conversation. We always asked for the opinion of the other members and for their feedback on what we were doing. However, trying to include them in the decision making was difficult due to their little speaking. Despite these challenges, we managed to deliver a solution that connects the business requirements of a company and the latent needs of the end-users.
OVERVIEW: MIRO BOARD
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brief The Scottish Government intends to phase out the need for new petrol/diesel vehicles by 2032, and legislations outlawing these vehicles in Europe and UK are soon to be in place. In this project, we were asked to focus on how the providers of Electric Vehicles (EV) charging points might innovatively grow alongside this transformation to increase their brand visibility and CSR and become synonymous with this change in the UK. Our tutors launched the brief in collaboration with Jorro, Scotland’s largest EV charge point provider, whose value is to educate consumers and assist them in making the most sustainable choice considering existing technologies and their own needs and budget. The key question was:
“What are the innovative proposals that should enhance Jorro’s service provision by contributing to the company’s ‘quadruple bottom line’ value set and what other markets will become possible for such companies to tap into in future?”
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DISCOVER AN EXPLORATORY PHASE WHERE INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATION ARE GATHERED. GOALS:
• IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM, OPPORTUNITY OR NEEDS •
TO BE ADDRESSED THROUGH DESIGN BUILD A RICH KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE WITH INSIGHTS
Following receiving the brief, we had a week to capture a general idea about the topic before meeting the client. So, we started a general analysis focused on four main categories.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY AND FUTURE TRENDS
CHALLENGES OF ADOPTING AND USING EVS
FUTURE MOBILITY TRENDS
The primary function of this desk research was to acquire as much information as possible on EVs and get helpful insights that might inform our decisions at a later phase of the project. Those reports and data were fundamental in understanding the context of the project. Furthermore, they also allowed us to assemble a list of questions to ask Jorro, as we required to understand the company’s role better, how it can have a more significant impact in the future of mobility, and how it interacts with other stakeholders in the EV panorama.
CURRENT POLICIES IN THE UK
DESK RESEARCH
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Research? Not only through desk research but also through ethnography. There are multiple techniques for ethnographic research (e.g. shadowing, observation, …). However, due to COVID-19, we had to focus on online interviews. INTERVIEWS
The problem with this is that we could not observe people interacting with EV charging points and understand their behaviour and pain points in utilising the service. To overcome this, we had to carefully plan and execute our interviews to get as many helpful insights as possible and have a detailed understanding of the service. As designers, we have to remind ourselves that
“we are not the experts! The people we are interviewing are the experts” (PORTIGAL, 2013)
Therefore, it is necessary to be objective and embrace how users see the world without making assumptions. We generated a script with several questions concerning different shifts that the interview might have (e.g. experience driving an EV, charging process at home versus in public areas, adopting a more sustainable electricity provider…). We managed to talk to several people, which had different ways of interacting with charging points and using their EV. It gave us a comprehensive view of possible scenarios and approaches to the service. Although with different perspectives, our interviewees had common visions regarding the pain points of using EVs for long-distance commutes and using different charging providers, each with their app and their way of charging the service fee. Of course, it is crucial to focus on both the problems they face and the positive aspects and touchpoints of their experience.
INTERVIEWS DEBRIEF
Being an active listener of our respondents helped us to choose the right questions to ask. It was essential to let the interview develop without jumping from a theme to another to ask all our question in the 40-minutes slot we had. This method often drove us to out-of-script questions that were equally important to gain insights that led us to unique findings and opportunities.
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KEY FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS
OBSERVATION
We used interviews as the primary ethnographic method. Although, we also observed some of the charging points around us. In doing so, we confirmed that some of them are not situated near facilities, and drivers were spending their time on their phone while remaining in the vehicle.
STAKEHOLDERS
We started gathering all the possible stakeholders, and we roughly visualised the primary connections within them. It was not easy to do that at this early stage but knowing who is involved gave us a starting point for more deep research on the EV panorama in Scotland.
EV CHARGING POINTS
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define OPENING OUT AND EXPLORING THE CHALLENGE TO IDENTIFY PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES. GOALS:
• ANALYSE THE OUTPUTS OF THE DISCOVER PHASE • SYNTHESISE THE FINDINGS INTO OPPORTUNITIES
Re-organising all the information required lots of effort. Working in teams online and in different time zones takes out a lot of time from actual work. Moreover, to have the big picture and all the findings gathered in the same place, one has to wait for each team member to upload the research on the Miro board before the weekly meeting as most of the decisions should be taken all together. After reviewing all the information gathered, I asked myself what the role of the national transport agency (Transport Scotland) is within the more extensive EV transformation. So, I re-read a report by the same agency where they set out a Roadmap to accelerate the uptake of EVs for the period 2017-2020, which is:
a comprehensive strategy to achieve a vision to free Scottish towns, cities, and communities from the damaging emissions of petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles by 2050. […] (we) look forward to continuing to work together to make Scotland one of the best places in the world to drive an EV.
I sent an email to Transport Scotland to ask for a short call to ask some questions and gain insights from this stakeholder. We could not interview anyone from the agency, but we still received a response that clarified some key aspects.
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VISUAL MAP OF OUR FIRT MEETING WITH JORRO
TIME TO START THINKING VISUAL! PERSONAS
With the information gathered, we created different personas based on the scenarios we were interested in analysing more deeply. Our personas represent two private individuals and two different types of constructors, and they are presented on the following page.
JOURNEY MAP
We built draft journey map of the process of charging EVs and install an EV charging point for both a private individual and a company. The journeys were split into three stages: before, during and after the service. It included post-its for every step of the journey: activities, touchpoints, pain and gain points and direct citations from the interviews. I usually draw the journey maps on paper, as it allows me to visualise things quickly and easily make changes. On the contrary, for this project I used to visualise information directly on Miro, to allow everyone in my team to see what I was working on.
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USING A PUBLIC CHARGING POINT
BUSINESS INSTALLING A CHARGE POINT
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FINAL USER JOURNEY
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DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES
By combining user journeys, insights, and desk research, we were able to brainstorm and then narrow down some design opportunities. Then, after presenting the research and work done so far to both GSA staff and Jorro, we could select two of them to bring forward. The decision was made after an analysis of case studies, as there were already services and policies addressing some of the opportunities generated; and it considered what for the team was the most promising future scenario to address the key question of the brief and the direction which Jorro would like to take in the future. Jorro showed interest in the opportunity leaning towards tourism. However, we urged the need to include other stakeholders to form a partnership (Transport Scotland and Visit Scotland) and therefore combining opportunities together.
INITIAL BRAINSTORMING OF OPPORTUNITIES
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OPPORTUNITIES PROPOSED AND (HIGHLIGHTED) CHOOSEN
a partnership for tourism
develop DEVELOPING THE INDIVIDUAL SERVICE COMPONENTS IN DETAIL AND ENSURE THESE LINK TOGETHER. GOALS:
• DEVELOP THE BRIEF INTO A SERVICE FOR IMPLEMENTATION • DESIGN SERVICE COMPONENTS AS PART OF A HOLISTIC •
EXPERIENCE TEST CONCEPTS WITH END USERS
After the feedback received, we further explored the opportunities to cluster our main insights and generate some ideas. After a few days of brainstorming and discussion, we came up with a rationale, a purpose, and a ‘How Might We’ question. These three elements worked as guiding lights for the rest of the project, and everything we were doing from that moment had to be coherent with the abovementioned elements. We took the North Coast 500 as an example to develop our project within a defined area, but of course, such a service can be implemented anywhere.
RATIONALE (TOP) AND PURPOSE (LEFT)
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HOW MIGHT WE IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE OF TRAVELLING ON LONG-DISTANCE TRIPS FOR TOURISM WITH AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE?
It was time to start generating possible solutions. As a designer, I immediately started elaborating on possible scenarios and ways of use in my mind. We individually came up with future scenarios to pinpoint what would have led us to a realistic solution, functional to what we were trying to solve. The primary purpose was to generate ideas quicker, as we would have discussed them with the team later. GENERATION OF SCENARIOS
I acknowledged the potential benefit that tourism can bring to local businesses and economies. Therefore I kept that in mind while generating future scenarios trying to include these stakeholders in the process. This can be seen in my initial concepts that involve: • Book a charging point from a private and have a converation while waiting. Book a charging point from a small business and taste or discover local products while your car is charging. • The Scottish Government provides green itineraries for tourists promoting the adoption of EVs and amplifying the charging points network in remote areas. • Jorro creates a package to support local businesses in strategic areas to install charging points and generate revenues. The latter has a potential for suburbs redevelopment as well; however, designers must be objective and be wary not to fall in love with their ideas. Even if I found this idea promising and fascinating to develop, I knew it was not in line with the purpose of our project, and I discarded it. This phase created some frustration within the group because everyone had a different vision of the final output and how much Jorro should have been involved in what we were designing. Therefore, we kept reminding ourselves of the purpose we choose to follow for our project.
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BOOK A CHARGER FROM A PRIVATE OR A SMALL LOCAL BUSINESS
HOLIDAY DRIVING AN EV IN SCOTLAND (GREEN ITINERARY)
JORRO SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES
The team voted on the ideas they found more reasonable, merging similar ideas to refine some concepts. This generation of scenarios and the following discussion led to possible touchpoints, then classified in a matrix by level of difficulty and impact.
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Arrange all our ideas in order of potential impact and level of difficulties helped concentrate the efforts on those ideas more likely to be beneficial for the user and its experience, which were also more manageable and reasonable to implement. Further detailed scenarios of these ideas were implemented, and we stated some essential functions and aspects that the new service must include to be functional.
A complete journey map of the service was generated and soon redefined to create a service blueprint. At this stage, we checked the overall flow experience and refined the design specifications. Our first ideas on the final service involved implementing existing apps like ZapMap, creating online platforms or anything highly interactive. However, we were still missing those offline touchpoints that would allow the user to discover Scotland and enjoy the surroundings without necessarily waiting in the car for it to be fully charged.
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We had little time to develop and test our prototypes. Unfortunately, we could not access the people we interviewed earlier in the process. Hence, I created two rough prototypes of the website, both with paper and digital, and a paper prototype of the app. We agreed to test these with friends and EV owners we knew.
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deliver THE SERVICE IS LAUNCHED AND ADDRESS THE NEEDS IDENTIFIED IN THE DISCOVER PHASE. THE FINAL CONCEPT IS TAKEN THROUGH FINAL TESTING AND FINALISED. GOALS:
• FINALISE PROTOTYPES • DEFINE SERVICE’S BROADER IMPACT • PREPARE FOR PRESENTATION
We called our service E-VENTURE. It allows users to book their holidays discovering Scotland with an EV. By booking essential services beforehand (e.g. EV-friendly hotels, charging points near landmarks and local businesses…), the impact of range anxiety while driving long distances will be overcome. E-VENTURE consists in a website, an app, and printed billboards. All the artefacts work synergically to let the user discover the surroundings.
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WHY E-VENTURE?
SCREENSHOT OF WEBSITE
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LINK TO EXTERNAL PARTNERS
The app allows users to book an additional charging station if needed, provide feedback on charging stations they already used, and benefit from perks at local business such as discounts or unique experiences.
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Through it, E-VENTURE allows the user to track their environmental impact and the economic savings of using an EV to encourage green mobility. This feature falls into the education of users; however, we considered it vital to the user experience, as it is a visual representation of the ecological and social impact the user has.
The offline map is situated next to the charging points. It is the best way to benefit from the spare time given by the charging and to discover local gems.
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SYSTEM MAP
Finally, the broader impact of our service is translated on Jorro’s ‘quadruple bottom line’, where we summarised the values created across the experience. E-VENTURE and its partners promote a more sustainable tourism, helps to reduce the range anxiety and make long-distance trips by EV more reliable. The partnership between Jorro and Transport Scotland allows to allocate charging points more effectively and create a sustainable profit not only for Jorro but generating additional revenues for the tourism industry and local Scottish businesses.
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‘QUADRUPLE BOTTOM LINE’ FROM FIRST Q&A
BENEFITS OF E-VENTURE ON THE ‘QUADRUPLE BOTTOM LINE’
final thoughts This project got me thinking about my role as a designer and researcher. During my university career, I found myself designing several times without considering a bottom line that would also impact the economic component and the needs of a company. Even though we only had to talk to the company once about the direction the project was going in, it was inspiring to work for Jorro because they care a lot about corporate social responsibility and how their work can positively impact society. REFLECTION ON THE OUTCOME
I would have liked to develop the business and economic side of the project, such as a business model canvas. On the design side, there are aspects of the idea development and refinement of off-line touchpoints that can be refined and explored further. In doing so, E-VENTURE’s user experience can become even more complete and engaging. Therefore, I would like to implement the project in the future and explore its possibilities. Still, this project was gratifying for what I learned as an individual. I strengthened my primary research skills while conducting the interviews, and I gained a further understanding of Service Design within the business context and constraints.
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resources BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• Barnett, J., 2021. What Makes Service Prototyping Different?. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://medium.com/@jonbarnett/what-makes-service-prototyping-unique-8fa7d0af5149>. • Kalbach, J., n.d. Mapping Experiences, 2nd Edition. • Meroni, A. & Sangiorgi, D. (2011) Design for services. Farnham: Gower. • Portigal, S., 2013. Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. Sebastopol: Rosenfeld Media. • Sangiorgi, Daniela (2011) ‘Transformative Services and Transformation Design.’, International Journal of Design
LINKS
• Transport.gov.scot. 2021. Switched On Scotland Phase Two: An Action Plan For Growth. [online] Available at: <https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/39317/sct05174317501.pdf>. • EDF, 2021. Electric Adventures. [online] Youtube.com. Available at: <https:// www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXeIrBe86r_LYPZtBkNo7Xgb9L2KuhFZO>. • EO Charging. 2021. Electric Vehicle Charging Around The World | Case Studies. [online] Available at: <https://www.eocharging.com/case-studies>. • Servicedesigntools.org. 2021. Service Design Tools | Communication methods supporting design processes. [online] Available at: <https://servicedesigntools. org> • Thisisservicedesigndoing.com. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com>
PROTOTYPES
• Website. Available at: < https://xd.adobe.com/view/2fcecdfa-12bd-43fe8594-b914081959df-7a9d/?fullscreen&hints=on> • App. Available at: < https://xd.adobe.com/view/48d9defd-d915-4e10-b1a8eb61df79650f-1d8a/?fullscreen&hints=on>
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