Informed Delivery

In the winter of 2016/2017, I led a team at MRM//McCann tasked with providing a new direction for USPS

First step? Determine the audience.

Leveraging data supplied by USPS and supporting research undertaken by our team, we were able to determine a set of personas likely to take advantage of a more visible and actionable approach to mail.

Second, we determined what their audience might expect. We concluded that as the barrier between the professional and the personal grows thinner, audiences expect the conveniences of one digital experience to be present in all others. To that end, we surveyed portal experiences both inside (UPS) and outside (Delta Airlines) the industry.

Then, we considered our resources. When starting any project, it helps to know what materials you have to-hand.

Most interesting fact we learned? That USPS generated 1000s of digital images of every piece of mail in their system, every single day, each image supported by a ton of metadata.

We knew we had to propose a solution that met today’s needs, but also the needs of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. What if those images could give users a glimpse into the future, even if the future was just a couple hours away?

The consumer portal we launched several months later was called Informed Delivery, a service provided as a website and (for a few years) a stand-alone application.