OVERVIEW

72 hours, 6 international Hyper Island students and 1 UX brief from Volvo: How might Volvo enrich truck drivers' "last mile delivery" work through a mobile app whilst operating connected and electric trucks? This Hackathon was all about team building, evaluation and the big idea.

CHALLENGES

After a quick but intense research including calling truck drivers for an interview and listening to topic related podcasts as a bed time story, we got three core insights: Truck drivers don't like being told what to do, are constantly under time pressure and have to face unpredictable problems every day. With these insights we rewrote our brief and asked ourselves: How might Volvo enrich Truck drivers' daily "last mile distribution" experience by assisting them throughout the delivery process?

SOLUTION

May I introduce you VIA? VIA is the Volvo truck drivers' personal assistant. Despite managing the cargo and planning the best routes, she takes on the truck drivers' sense of community. She does that by connecting to other nearby trucks and notifies their drivers if there is a package in one truck that would be more suitably delivered by another nearby truck on their route.

COLLABORATION

To team up with people I didn't know, was exciting and gave us the possibility to use our team building tools in the most efficient way. 
Furthermore we asked Jonathan, founder of Hyper Island, for feedback. His words were mind-blowing and pushed our concept to the next stage.

Ready to go! VIA, the voice assistant, makes a truck drivers' morning relaxed.

An accident or some chickens on the road? VIA knows the fastes routes.

Where is this box in my truck? VIA manages the cargo.

Driving across the whole city for just one package? VIA connects to other nearby trucks and notifies their drivers to take the package with them.

IMPACT

This means, that not only the driver would save time and gas but also Volvo's VIA would revolutionize the "last mile delivery" and challenge services such as DHL or the public mail.

KEY LEARNING

Challenge the brief! Working in this special environment I have learned that challenging the clients' brief is not only key to stand out in a pitch situation but also often necessary to create the best solution. The next time I aim to go further. I want to hear the client say: You are right, but we are not ready for this solution.