Case Study · Postmates | NewDealDesign

Last Mile Delivery

Fresh home delivery is no longer an urban legend but a routine. In such a competitive market, Postmates approached us to tackle one of its most pressing challenges — making urban autonomous delivery into a welcome reality.

Creating an Icon

"If there's ever going to be an emoji for a rover on the sidewalk, it better look like Serve."
— Bastian Lehman, Co-Founder & CEO, Postmates

Putting our spin on the traditional shopping cart — the ultimate e-commerce symbol — we designed a robot with a wink, delivering an animated experience with your pizza and coke.

Socially Aware

The most demanding aspect of Serve is its ability to assimilate onto our city sidewalks, respecting the human landscape. Serve's socially aware navigation brings together design and technology in an entirely new way for sidewalk rovers.

AI: Approachable Intelligence

Educated by prototypes running the (mean) streets of San Francisco’s SOMA district, we were tasked with giving Serve a true animated character: a distinct behavior combining form, function, voice, vision and movement into a seamless ‘being’. Serve's digital & physical behavior is a language touching multiple interaction points as well as the personality it projects to the public as a positive presence on the sidewalk.

Using a touchscreen and expressive eyes, customers interact with Serve. If they need human assistance, they can press the call button to interact with a remote pilot.

The most advanced set of sensors including Velodyne Lidar and uses NVIIDA XAVIER processor.

The 360 degree light ring on top, communicating movement, is visible from any direction for both pedestrians and drivers.

Part of the Neighborhood

A variety of “skins” — made of vinyl wrap — express Serve’s personality and uniqueness. Skins could be swapped easily for different locales to help weave Serve into the neighborhood in a culturally relevant way.

Making It Real

Jointly developed by Postmates and us, Serve became a reality through fast and pragmatic product development. A bent aluminum chassis wraps around tying the drive train together while a simple rotational molded volume sits on top forming the payload.

Engineering and Industrial design work hand in hand making design intent as close to reality as possible.