After The Post Office : Re-Imagining New Services, New Contexts

After the post office is a product concept that is designed during the 3 years BA Hons. marketing course. This product design is an efficient concept design that will introduce new service contexts aiming to provide a service that can replace the conventional post offices. This concept follows few steps to accomplish its objective. The mobile segment is transported to the desired location by van and trolley is being used to move it. After reaching the destination, the mobile segment is pushed to the post box. The display monitor will show if the user would like to lock on with the box. This locking mechanism will make the box more secured.

James Salvidge own words :
In the UK today the introduction of new technology has meant that people have a far greater choice of how they access the post office services. Consequently, people are visiting post offices less, making the current service unsustainable. As a result the Post Office has already closed 500 post offices and has proposed the closure of 2500 more.

In the rural areas of the UK, the Post Office still plays an important economic and social role. So it is important that the services are not lost completely as this could make life for the elderly and poor increasingly difficult and also reduce the opportunities for social contact and communities to interact.

The project brief was to look at the role of the Post Office in a rural area and then to design a new service to be created in its place, one which was more sustainable and enabled the continuation of the postal services.

My concept was for a compact, automated post office unit which could be easily moved between villages, with each one being capable of supplying the services to around seven villages; saving materials and energy as fewer have to be produced

Following a timetable would allow the locations to be pre-arranged, the benefits of doing this are that larger villages, which have a greater need for the services, can be allocated more time and smaller villages less time. It also allows the people using the services to know when it will be situated in their village. As well as parcel and postal services, via a wireless internet connection it can provide users access to all the online post office services, including their insurance and bank services; allowing them to withdrawal their cash,pensions and benefits

By constructing the mobile section out of relatively lightweight materials and by incorporating a trolley into the structure of the design, it will easily moved by the employees of the royal mail. To ensure it remains in location, via the screen, authorised employees will be able to activate the internal locking mechanism, which will securely lock it onto the post box; at the same time it will automatically lower itself to the ground, preventing it from being moved.
It would be a financially viable solution to problem facing the Post Office because it removes the need for a permanent structure and does not need an employee to supervise it. It can be entirely maintained by the Royal Mail, using their vans to transport it before their daily collection of post and parcels.