in light of the client brief “to identify opportunities around urban mobility in barcelona”, the following service design concept seeks to uncover a new way of mobility in barcelona. the concept is a result of observations, analysis and understanding of consumer needs, which lead to translate them into the following mobility business opportunity.
in collaboration with
shared transportation and depot
service design
insights
the first attempt to analyse mobility in a shared context inevitably let to car sharing systems. potential users however provided in co-creation sessions the following insights:
"when i go surfing, i have to rent a car. i cannot use car sharing systems with my surf board.”
car sharing insights in barcelona
on a daily basis: it is not suitable for daily commuters, due to individual schedules at university and work.
on an occasional basis: car sharing has limitations in terms of bringing stuff along.
insights car ownership
people in barcelona are often not willing to pay the costs of a car, its ownership is losing importance.
bringing
people in barcelona move around the city with a lot of stuff: laptops, portfolios, sports equipment, ...
there are limited time frames, in which you are allowed to bring bikes on fcg and renfe trains.
"i cannot bring my bike on the train. gates at the stations are too narrow and my bike gets stuck.”
the gained insights of having difficulties to bring a surfboard along triggered the idea of further investigation of bringing items along on a journey.
living conditions in the city of barcelona
the majority of flat layouts in barcelona do not have storage facilities for big, bulky items.
due to high rental prices and living costs in barcelona people tend to live in small spaces.
"in my home i have no space to keep my surfboard. so I just put it behind the sofa or on the balcony. i don’t think it looks nice though.”
having understood the personal affection of people towards their items led to an investigation of how people in barcelona keep these beloved items in their flats.
living conditions in suburbs
many people, who previously lived in barcelona, moved to the suburbs due to high rental costs within the city.
daily commuters from the suburbs of barcelona have difficulties to bring bulky stuff along, as public transport is not prepared to accommodate these items.
"when the rent for our flat in el born was drastically increased, we had to move to terrassa. now i commute to work every day.”
the gained insight of living in smaller spaces led to an investigation of rental and living costs in barcelona. it shows, that during difficult economic times cheaper flats in the suburbs often represent the only possible option for affordable housing.
empty ground floor buildings
an average of 13 % of commercial spaces in barcelona are currently not rented. in non-touristic areas, like sant andreu, this figure can be up to 25 % (source el país).
"my commercial space has not been rented for some time now. and during this crisis barcelona is full of vacant shops.”
having understood the difficult economic times for private people, led to an investigation how the situation for small local businesses is like. it shows, that barcelona has an enormous amount of empty commercial spaces at the moment.
concept
the following service design concept builds on the accumulated insights, making it a unique pilot project for barcelona.
vanja is a new service that provides pick-up points spread around the city of barcelona where your belongings are kept. whenever you need your “thing” you send a message, and it is carefully packed and safely sent to a pick-up point close to the place where you go to.
the system of vanja implies the following key factors:
vanja provides a convenient and accessible service, which is operated by mobile phone.
the annual membership fee has two options: barcelona services: within the province of barcelona.
catalonia services: all over catalonia.
vanja also provides professional packaging ensuring a safe transportation.
iItems within the vanja system are insured during transportation and depot.
items are transported by electric or human traction vehicles.
the key benefit for vanja users is easy and convenient access. the vanja system therefore is determined to spread its pick-up points as far across the city of barcelona as possible. two options of pick-up points are planned: first stations run by vanja and carrying the vanja logo. second by vanja partners. these are existing businesses having depot capacities and are willing to cooperate with vanja.
implementation strategy
vanja in barcelona
vanja in catalonia
actors map
the actors map is a powerful tool to show the flow of values within a system. in its centre is the service provider vanja. consumers deliver their items, which they do not necessarily need at their homes, to a vanja pick-up point, pay for the service and receive all the benefits previously explained. vanja gains its pick-up points from local, commercial space owners, who rent out their premises. at the same time vanja gains additional space, and a wider network spread throughout the city, by having partners. these partners provide available depots and receive a percentage of vanja’s business carried through them. vanja needs complementary services, like insurance and transportation agencies for backup purposes. these additional services also cause additional costs. the ajuntament de barcelona could play a supporting role in this network, as vanja is determent to revitalize the city by renting abandoned shops.
josep and margarita vila live in el clot in a small flat and have three kids: laia, sandra and bernat. they are agile and enjoy activities together during weekends - especially cycling. they usually go to la barceloneta for a ride. although they would love to go farther away but unfortunately their car is too small to bring all their bicycles along and they cannot afford to rent a bigger vehicle each time they would like to go outside of town. their bikes are stored in the basement of their building which makes them quite inaccessible.
personas
this is how the vilas currently move around catalonia. they are not very happy, because they would love to go for cycling trips outside of the city, but they cannot bring all the bikes along.
with vanja the vilas can go on cycling trips outside of the city. their bikes are kept at a pick-up point in barcelona. whenever they decide to go on bike ride outside of the city, they send a message with the required pick-up point, and the bikes are brought this place. after the cycling tour they can also return their bikes there.
"since we are five even simple activities, like going for a bike ride, became complicated. there is no way i can bring the whole family, plus the bikes anywhere else.”
margarita vila
"i have to carry my keyboard between university, job and concerts. often I have troubles on public transport and my back hurts after a while. at home my flat mates are sometimes mad, because my two keyboards occupy a lot of space.”
roco burnell
roco burnell is an engineering student at upc in zona universitatira. he plays the piano in a band. he has two keyboards, one for practicing at home and one for concerts and band rehearsals. roco has to carry the keyboard with him during the day. roco is initially from lleida. in el raval he shares a flat with two other students. the weekends he mostly spends at his parents’ house. in order to earn some extra money he works 3 times per week in a bar, where he serves tables. he goes by metro within the city and by train outside of town, because he cannot afford a car.
this is how roco currently moves around the city. he has to bring his keyboard along for the whole day. from the early morning, when we goes to university, to the afternoon when he goes to his side job, until he finally arrives to the concert he is playing at in the late evening.
with vanja roco moves around the city without his bulky keyboard. the day before he chose a pick-up point close to the place of the concert, where he can pick up and drop off his keyboard.
the user journey gives a detailed overview of the touch points vanja users experience, while using the service.
roco's user journey
service blueprint
business model canvas
swot analysis
next steps
the service concept of vanja focuses on addressed needs by potential users in barcelona. by providing pick-up points around the city, vanja is going to be easy accessible and users have the opportunity shift the burden of carrying bulky stuff along. after having registered, items which are used in different places, but are not necessarily needed at home, can be brought to a vanja pick-up point. there the items is registered, professionally packed and ready to be send to any other vanja pick-up point. whenever users need their items, they simply need to send a message, and it is carefully packed and safely sent to a pick-up point of choise. a convenient side effect of the service concept is that storage space in homes is increased, as vanja also acts as a depot.
lecturer