Building FedEx's E-commerce Proposition
The Brief
Data Gathering
Insights Library
Developing the solution
Wrap Up
Overview
Segmentation
Personas
Customer Journey
Service Blueprint
Workshops
Interviewing
Ethnography
Surveys
Quantitative / Qualitative Usability Testing
Conclusion
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#1 The Brief
Background
FedEx has primarily concerned itself with B2B shipping needs. As they shift their attention to other sector they need to develop digital capabilities to better serve those audiences. I was assigned to the SME e-commerce team as the third member, after the Product Owner and Portfolio Lead. A designer and team of developers followed a few months after. With the gap until we start developing, this was the perfect opportunity to generate insights.
The main idea was to develop an integration system to automatically transfer a recipient's order to FedEx for a quick and efficient shipping service.
Challenges
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Scope for exploratory research at FedEx was typically shallow. Exploratory and reactive research was the norm.
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Team had never worked with a researcher before.
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I was new to FedEx and logistics.
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People did not know what I would generate or how they would use it.
#2 Data Gathering
In order to quickly understand the audience and develop a significant level of insights before the development team began, I ran various workshops with the team to outline our assumptions about the topic. This was used as the basis of research and align the team.
Within a few weeks, we had put a research proposal and was given the green light. We scheduled stakeholder interviews to outline the success and their motivations for the project. Based on this, I was able to craft an interview guide to conduct the interviews with their clients.
Major discoveries
🎯 Based on these interviews we were able to significantly narrow the scope and add solid direction to the portal.
💡 The client intended for the portal to help staff do their day-to-day activities. I identified that the portal was not necessarily to improve efficiencies, but to create transparency between PPB and their clients.
👁 In the client's day to day life, they would sort through mountains of documents and contacts, and have these transferred through various channels (email, fax. drop box, etc). They wanted us to standardise these processes.
Successes
Sourcing huge amounts of information
There was a large amount of qualitative data gathered for this project
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Interviewed over 60 people from 15 countries from across the globe
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Conducted multiple site visits
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Managed a qualitative interactive survey with 400 respondents from seven countries
#3 Insights library
Developed key strategic outputs to assist the product and design teams in understanding the audience. These are updated on a regular basis as we gather new insights. All development decisions are based in user research.
Segmentation
Personas
Customer journeys
Service blueprint
#4 Developing the solution
As the designs and actual product were developing, there was a consistent need for validation. Every new development was tested multiple times. We employed a mix of quantitative and qualitative usability tests. This not only ensures we get the product right, but fosters a culture of testing and learning.
During the qualitative testing, we focused on understanding assessing the concepts and assess if they met our customer's expectations. During the quantitative testing, we A/B tested variations of solutions, assessing them for efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. This allowed us to incrementally improve our solution.
Putting it into practice
With this in mind, we collaborating with their marketing team to create a change management strategy.
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Identifying champions and giving them material to create a positive buzz
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Spotting detractors and dispelling any fears they may have
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Generating training videos and bringing in early feedback from the team so they feel like their voices are heard
#5 Wrap Up
Within six months the project went from zero to MVP. This was seen as lightning quick at FedEx. The research conducted also contributes to the wider e-commerce team. I held global research knowledge sharing sessions with around 50 people.
This project is an example of how creating a user-centred project is quicker and beneficial for the end user. If there are ever disagreements, these are put to testing with the end-user validating our assumptions. This way we can develop a product that serves the business and user needs alike.