(Remote) Service Design: A Transformation Case Study
Summary
Alana Washington will illustrate how rapid iteration, 100s of virtual post-its, and a bit of design therapy helped transform our service model during a global pandemic.
Key Insights
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Uber Freight faced rising shipper challenges in 2021 due to pandemic-driven demand and increasing costs.
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Alana found that 80% of service problems stemmed from poor teamwork rather than technology or process deficits.
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Leadership’s trust and runway were crucial for initiating large-scale cross-functional workshops.
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Service blueprinting was used to create empathy between teams by visualizing frontstage and backstage roles.
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Psychological safety, clarity, dependability, meaning, and impact are five essential conditions to enable high-performing teams.
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The three-day workshop involved 60 people, co-created two service blueprints, identified six systemic challenges, and generated 150 solution ideas.
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The team chose to focus on the volatile pre-pick use case to pilot solutions with clear SLAs on tracking, scheduling, proactive communication, and coverage.
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After 90 days, the pilot showed double-digit NPS improvements, better operational efficiency, improved margin, and on-time carrier arrivals.
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Effective change requires continuous communication of progress and creating informal spaces for shared reflection.
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Organizational transformation focused on changing team collaboration and culture more than just fixing service outputs.
Notable Quotes
"Demand is ultimately outstripping supply, and carrier rates are rising, pushing up prices for shippers."
"I knew that probably 80% of the problem was about teamwork and maybe 20% was about stuff we needed to build."
"Good service is the careful orchestration of many systems and systemic change means we all have to work together."
"A high performing team achieves really complex things together all bound by a common goal."
"One thing that sets high performers is psychological safety: do people feel safe to raise a flag when something’s not working?"
"Service blueprinting was a deeply empathy-building activity because each role had to help another walk in their shoes."
"We identified six big rocks and ideated on 150 plus potential solutions, then voted on nine concepts to move forward."
"We picked the pre-pick use case because it’s the most volatile part of the process and the most within our control."
"After 90 days, we had double-digit improvement on our NPS and a decreased operations cost per load."
"Organizational change is less about the what and more about the how, showing the organization how to change."
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