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Show HN: I redesigned the USPS package delivery slip

156 points by alizauf 11y ago

markbao 11y ago
This is a thoughtful redesign. Although the organization of the redesigned form is stronger in some aspects and weaker in others (stronger in terms of how much sense it makes and the behavior flow, weaker in its visual organization), it's still a great improvement. The key issue is that it seems busy. I think the form could sacrifice the increased font size (and generally standardize the font size and the font styles) and instead add more lines and shading that would help separate the different parts of the form. I think using lines, like the original document, is a stronger and clearer organizing tactic than font size. For example, more obvious headers (all caps? white on black background?) would help people break down the steps of what needs to be done. But yeah, this is definitely an improvement, particularly on the UX side. Nice breakdown.
- hanniabu 11y ago
  Agreed. The original slips are very confusing. Not because they're actually confusing, but because visually the firm is very busy and has all these sub points and bullets. It more so flusters the mind. The redesign is much cleaner and easier to look at. Therefore being easier to process. This is something that is much less intimidating to look at and I would have no problem filling out while the original is daunting and seems like more of a chore, if not torture.
- alizauf 11y ago
  Thanks! Good suggestions.
level3 11y ago
I applaud the effort, but there are a few points about usability that you may have overlooked. 1. Entry spaces are now much smaller and requires smaller writing, particularly for names and addresses. I actually doubt that many addresses will fit. 2. By putting the checkboxes closer together, it makes it harder to tell them apart. The delivery person now has to be more precise when making marks, leading to reduced efficiency. 3. One of the biggest points is that everything the delivery person fills out should be on the same side, so they don't have to flip the sheet over, especially when they may be carrying a package in one arm.
- alizauf 11y ago
  Agreed that I could make the spaces for writing bigger. I might make another version with bigger writing spaces. Also, good point, re: 3.
BinaryIdiot 11y ago
This is a significant improvement though the form itself is still incredibly busy. I would much rather have something more tailored to my delivery than this generic thing that requires effort from everyone involved. This is a good solution for 2007 but 2015? This needs more automation. For instance USPS should know what type of delivery it is, customer name, sender, addresses and whether it's a final notice or not. Why can't the postman / postwoman press a button in their car that prints a sticker with everything already filled in (without labels even; just a custom made sticker without all of this busy text). Press button, slap the print out to the mailbox / house and you're done. Let the user call a number, text or go to a web site to setup the redelivery stuff.
- rmstwitterbot 11y ago
  Because government contractors are notoriously awful at technology being that they are selected via cronyism. This would be an expensive, proprietary label system requiring special proprietary ink and labels that would likely break after being used 50 times, and require an authorized repair contractor to fix it. A relative or friend of the executive at USPS who implemented this would receive the contract and just take the money. It would also need to interface with their daily operations "out for delivery" db which likely is also proprietary and extremely expensive to modify, and already under an existing long term licensing contract they have no intention of changing. Disclosure: this is how it worked at Postes Canada when I once worked there. All technology was long term licensed, through crony corps I had never heard of who only seemed to exist to receive money from CPC to sell extremely expensive systems that merely passed plain text to a db.
  - BinaryIdiot 11y ago
    This is how ALL technology changes happen in the government, unfortunately. I've done plenty of public contracting and a vast majority of the people involved are simply terrible mostly because when you're rewarded a contract in order to get all of the money possible you have to fill every empty seat which means a butts-in-seats mentality versus a lean or better team. But progress isn't made when we sit there with our thumbs up our butts either. Essentially you're saying USPS can never be improved because contractors suck and because it's hard. That's unacceptable. It's hard yes but it's possible.
joshvm 11y ago
For reference this is how Royal Mail does it in the uk: Side 1 has the relevant info time/date/what/etc http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Royal-Mail-delivery-card-.jpg http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-cont... Side 2 has contact information for your nearest post depot. Note that date/time is simply changed to 'hours' which saves space. Fees to pay is actually a separate form (it's rare for most people to get this, so why waste space on form 1?): https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/fee-to-pay-10-2015-220x309.jpg https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/fee-to-pay-10-... I think it's pretty clean and it's normally obvious what's happened/what you need to do. They follow a lot of the suggestions in the OP, for instance the who/what/where/when is obvious and at the top. Payment is another form, as above, and the options for getting your item are on the back. There's enough room for large entry boxes and nice whitespace/branding. It seems like that the USPS form is trying to handle every single possibility in one form which leads to a mess.
- tolien 11y ago
  Worth pointing out for the people complaining about lack of space that IME the postman writes at most a surname in the Name field and an abbreviated address (e.g. "42 Fake Street"), ignoring the postcode altogether - so the Address field is effectively double-height or so.
- 3princip 11y ago
  A Serbian Post example: http://i.imgur.com/pqmUdYE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pqmUdYE.jpg I hate getting these, if I'm waiting for a package it means I have to wait another day and pick it up myself, if it's addressed to another family member and they're not around, the package is basically returned as they refuse to hand it over at the post office (understandable but inconvenient). But generally the post is fascinating, I order lots of stuff from China and while it does take a few weeks to arrive, nothing has been lost/stolen yet, I can track packages half-way around the world and it costs me almost nothing. Logistically it's amazing.
  - the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
    I think postal services in all of Europe are heavily improving as a result of all the internet orders. They started rolling out pin locked boxes here which you can install for a fee at home and they put the package in there and then throw the one-time use pin into your mailbox. I think this sort of stuff has potential. //EDIT: these things: https://www.post.at/en/personal_receive_mail_collection_box.php https://www.post.at/en/personal_receive_mail_collection_box....
jrockway 11y ago
The author has the same post office as me. I've never even managed to get something redelivered even when filling this form out, or filling it out online. That seems to be the bigger problem. I would just make the form say, "You can get this thing at the post office tomorrow. If you don't pick it up by XXX, it will be crushed into a cube."
- alizauf 11y ago
  Ha.
mintplant 11y ago
You may want to make it clearer from the get-go that the two images at the top are your re-design and not the current form.
- csmattryder 11y ago
  Thanks for your comment, I went through the entire article asking "Where's the redesign?", and had to come to the comments hoping somebody's linked to it in some way. I really don't think that the OP's redesign does anything new, it just seems to be "I removed some stuff that's there for some very specific edge cases and wrote a Medium post about it". Maybe it's because I'm used to Royal Mail's parcel slips, I don't know. But it looks just as confusing as before.
Theodores 11y ago
This is why the world thinks we need designers... In this case I think a designer is needed, the layout falls short in conventional layout terms - grids, use of white space, things just lining up properly. Give it another go, take on board what people have said here about it looking to busy and get the form to have function and look good! You can do the bit that some manager would hand over to a designer, that designer not necessarily as good as you at understanding the task, or the 'how it works' bit of design.
- alizauf 11y ago
  I do think I'm going to give it another try, thanks. And agreed--I have more of a background in UX, but this was my first go at paper layout design. There is definitely much to improve.
nipponese 11y ago
Will probably get some downvotes for the raw criticism, but your redesign is a regression in usability for both the carrier and the recipient: In the actual, the fields where the poor guy/girl actually has to write are large spacious to allow the delivery person to write quickly (and sloppily). Also, notice how Final Notice is bigger than the rest of the text? That's because it's important. This is one example of confusing typographical priority. I'll just stop there.
- timc3 11y ago
  Totally agree. I found it just as confusing as the original yet I can see that it’s going to be even harder for someone to quickly fill out when they don’t have a proper desk/writing surface to fill this out on.
- LoSboccacc 11y ago
  same considerations here. everything in the same font size makes important information disappear, plus there is no call action.
- cowsandmilk 11y ago
  That was my immediate reaction. Carrier fills this out often without a good surface to write on. The space to write is appropriate for a designer who has perfect tiny handwriting.
- blowski 11y ago
  I actually agree with what you've written, but I downvoted you because I hate reading comments that say things like "I will probably get some downvotes". If you think you're going to be downvoted, ask yourself why and consider rewriting it in such a way that people won't downvote you. For example, in your comment here, to make it less downvotable you could say: * What do you like about the redesign? There must be something positive you can say, even if it's just "it definitely looks more visually appealing" or "I understand that you were trying to improve usability by putting more information on the same side". * Do you have any evidence that supports your counter-argument? If not, you're just two people with opinions, and since you're not a well-known authority on usability it's just noise. * What would you suggest doing to fix the problems you've said here while also fixing the problems that the OP identified? Or do you not agree that those problems are really problems?
huuu 11y ago
This is the same as the post some time ago about "Why designers can’t stop reinventing the subway map": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10534321 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10534321
sschueller 11y ago
Here is the one the Swiss post uses: http://www.balsthal-collector.ch/holderbank/digitale-fotos/image?view=image&format=raw&type=img&id=7977 http://www.balsthal-collector.ch/holderbank/digitale-fotos/i... And here is the new one: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRR5bTwUYAE9Tkm.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRR5bTwUYAE9Tkm.jpg:large
- the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
  I tried to find images of the Austrian one but I have not missed a package in a long time since they started sending out push notifications and put packages into wall mounted boxes. Looks very similar though.
- cstuder 11y ago
  Note on the new one the right side: You can go online and directly instruct the post office on how to proceed (Hold it for me, try a second delivery, forward...) Additionally I like their email service: Get a mail as soon as somebody sends any package to your address. Get a second mail as soon as it is delivered. https://www.post.ch/en/customer-center/all-online-services/benachrichtigungen-abonnieren/info https://www.post.ch/en/customer-center/all-online-services/b...
  - alizauf 11y ago
    The USPS has some online steps you can take once you get the slip, but I like the idea of proactively emailing you.
pduszak 11y ago
> It took me nearly ten minutes of flipping the card back and forth and back again to tentatively figure out how to get it redelivered. It took me carefully looking at both sides for 10 seconds..
- angdis 11y ago
  Whether it is 10 seconds or 10 minutes (clearly hyperbole), the point is that these notifications are difficult to interpret because of poor design. As the attempted re-design and the commentary shows, this is not an easy problem. It takes some serious effort and consideration of many use-cases. Instead of someone trying to "Steve-Jobs" a redesign, perhaps the best thing to do would be to devise a process for coming up with a new design. To do something like this "right" requires actual study with users-- not just a designer applying his/her talents. FWIW, I think the OP's redesign is more clear, but that's just my limited viewpoint, it doesn't mean that it would be successful over all possible use-cases.
mhb 11y ago
Why does it need to be jammed into that size of paper? Making it bigger would relax the most significant design constraint. Maybe it is this size for some reason; maybe not.
chinathrow 11y ago
Initial reaction to the first two images: "Curious on how he/she would redesign that non-intuitive layout." Ouch :(
- powerslide 11y ago
  Same here, I thinking the first images were the original form.
  - jdiez17 11y ago
    Me too. I actually scrolled back and forth a couple of times thinking I missed something (I only skimmed the text).
- buster 11y ago
  Same here. I thought the first images are the "bad" ones and didn't get it.. I couldn't even fill out the "new" form, with those tiny spaces.
KaiserPro 11y ago
I would say that your use of checkboxes is off. There shouldn't be any need to explain that if a check box is ticked then this sentence applies. Royal mail have got it down to a pretty good art: http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Royal-Mail-delivery-card-.jpg http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-cont... and earlier: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKsGEgLdzMc/S-kztysmnJI/AAAAAAAAAL4/7JGTTAX7OHA/s1600/Royal+Mail+failed+page+2.gif http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKsGEgLdzMc/S-kztysmnJI/AAAAAAAAAL... The main issue I have is that there is too much space devoted to telling you stuff you already know. You know the destination address because thats why you have the card. More importantly there isn't a space for a tracking number. (I assume the USPS has some sort of tracking.) surely that's the most important thing? Dear _______ We missed you, Your package __________ was: []too big []needs payment []needs signing for and is now back at the post office. [] I will try again AM/PM [] The package will need collecting Date_______ Time_______ Notes: _______________________ _______________________ On the back collection information. Much more simple, readable and compact. The flow of information is from top to bottom, most important who its addressed to, next why its not been delivered, then when its being delivered (if at all) Date and time of attempt, extra notes.
- level3 11y ago
  There are a couple of cases where the destination address is valuable to ensure that the package is delivered to the right person. 1. Particularly in apartment buildings where postboxes are next to each other, the slip may not be placed in the correct box. If I receive a slip that's intended for a neighbor, it would be helpful to know the correct address (since I probably don't know all my neighbors' names) 2. If the address is my address but not my name, then it's either a mistake by the sender or it's intended for a former resident, and I can inform USPS. If the address wasn't on the slip, I would just assume it was meant for a neighbor.
  - KaiserPro 11y ago
    Fair enough, It'd be worth putting in the first line of the address at least. Not too much extra space taken up.
atdt 11y ago
One piece of feedback: I'd argue that it isn't important to specify the type of parcel. Recipients usually already know what type of mail they're getting, especially if the sender is identified. Good job, though! I enjoyed the writing, too.
ajdlinux 11y ago
What is it with the US government and having indecipherable forms? I've had a few dealings with CBP, IRS and such, and every time I try to read and comprehend a US government form, I notice that they all seem to be designed to have as little spacing as possible. They're very fond of using lines as dividers between fields (rather than around just the response box) and then putting them as close together as possible so it becomes a confusing, uneven mess. Sure, the form takes up fewer pages, but it's ugly as heck. In Australia, OTOH, while the questions on one's paperwork are still just as tricky, at least it's usually clear which question you're answering and how the form is meant to flow.
ck2 11y ago
The reason why the USPS forms look so ancient is because they are so ancient. Their budget has been destroyed over the years by Congress so there is no money for things like redesigning forms and reprinting them. I've watched my main post office slowing implode on itself because all of USPS income is going back into funding future imaginary employee retirement funds (due to congressional law designed to destroy them).
- jschwartzi 11y ago
  USPS has no budget from Congress. They're the only government agency in the US that is required to break even using the money they collect from fees.
  - ascagnel_ 11y ago
    Congress passed a law in 2006 stating that the USPS must pre-fund benefits. It didn't allocate any money for it, though. It's the equivalent of your credit card company saying "we think we'll end up lending you $1m over the lifetime of the card, so can you pay us back all of that up front?"
    - ceejayoz 11y ago
      As with defunding the IRS, the intent likely being to ruin them financially so they can point to the USPS and say "See? Government can't run anything properly! Let's give the business to my friend over here..."
      - ck2 11y ago
        Actually with USPS it is more insidious than that. Congress wants to force USPS to allow private corporations access to your mailbox and replace USPS entirely with privatized services. Then congresspeople can use their re-legalized inside trading to invest in those private corporations ahead of time with the knowledge they are about to pass the law to make it legal.
    - flubert 11y ago
ableal 11y ago
> aliza.aufri.ch/tig Devious. I don't think I've come across a personal URL like that before.
joe_momma 11y ago
I don't like the redesign, it's less intuitive and has no hierarchical priority. Not exactly sure how this made the top 30.
swingbridge 11y ago
I got one of these sorts of things one time. It told me to go to a post office nearby to pick up a package. When I went there they didn't have my package and the following exchange occurred: "Why did you come to this post office?" "Because your form says to come to this post office. See right here on the slip..." "This isn't your post office you need to go to (post office a few miles away)" "OK, so why did you guys tell me to come here?" "Sir if you want your package you have to go to the other post office." "Whatever, thanks" It's constant screw ups and interactions like this that generally cause me to avoid the USPS whenever possible.
plusbryan 11y ago
Great post! I dream of a day when this will be a pull request on a government repo so that USPS could more easily adopt it. Imagine average citizens working together to solve problems that they face every day....
- alizauf 11y ago
  I love that idea.
scopecreep 11y ago
My postman can't even be bothered to properly fill out the current one. How adding more questions to the thing will help that problem is unclear to me.
- thecosas 11y ago
  Part of this redesign is making it easier for the mail carrier as well: I decided to place all these sections at the top since you want to know this information first. I made it more readable by putting them within a single Mad-Libs style human-readable sentence. This is the main section the mail carrier will need to fill out, too, so it should also make her job quicker to have all the writing in one place.
nigge_rs 11y ago
How did this take her 10 'flips' to figure it out? I figured it out with one glance...
eecks 11y ago
I have to ask why bother apart from a personal exercise for yourself. I have no idea why this got over 150 points on HN. You could do this with anything.. Facebook, HN, my kitchen, a newspaper. Some things could be better but don't need to be.

156 points by alizauf 11y ago

This is a thoughtful redesign. Although the organization of the redesigned form is stronger in some aspects and weaker in others (stronger in terms of how much sense it makes and the behavior flow, weaker in its visual organization), it's still a great improvement. The key issue is that it seems busy. I think the form could sacrifice the increased font size (and generally standardize the font size and the font styles) and instead add more lines and shading that would help separate the different parts of the form. I think using lines, like the original document, is a stronger and clearer organizing tactic than font size. For example, more obvious headers (all caps? white on black background?) would help people break down the steps of what needs to be done. But yeah, this is definitely an improvement, particularly on the UX side. Nice breakdown.

hanniabu 11y ago
Agreed. The original slips are very confusing. Not because they're actually confusing, but because visually the firm is very busy and has all these sub points and bullets. It more so flusters the mind. The redesign is much cleaner and easier to look at. Therefore being easier to process. This is something that is much less intimidating to look at and I would have no problem filling out while the original is daunting and seems like more of a chore, if not torture.
alizauf 11y ago
Thanks! Good suggestions.

level3 11y ago

I applaud the effort, but there are a few points about usability that you may have overlooked. 1. Entry spaces are now much smaller and requires smaller writing, particularly for names and addresses. I actually doubt that many addresses will fit. 2. By putting the checkboxes closer together, it makes it harder to tell them apart. The delivery person now has to be more precise when making marks, leading to reduced efficiency. 3. One of the biggest points is that everything the delivery person fills out should be on the same side, so they don't have to flip the sheet over, especially when they may be carrying a package in one arm.

alizauf 11y ago
Agreed that I could make the spaces for writing bigger. I might make another version with bigger writing spaces. Also, good point, re: 3.

BinaryIdiot 11y ago

This is a significant improvement though the form itself is still incredibly busy. I would much rather have something more tailored to my delivery than this generic thing that requires effort from everyone involved. This is a good solution for 2007 but 2015? This needs more automation. For instance USPS should know what type of delivery it is, customer name, sender, addresses and whether it's a final notice or not. Why can't the postman / postwoman press a button in their car that prints a sticker with everything already filled in (without labels even; just a custom made sticker without all of this busy text). Press button, slap the print out to the mailbox / house and you're done. Let the user call a number, text or go to a web site to setup the redelivery stuff.

rmstwitterbot 11y ago
Because government contractors are notoriously awful at technology being that they are selected via cronyism. This would be an expensive, proprietary label system requiring special proprietary ink and labels that would likely break after being used 50 times, and require an authorized repair contractor to fix it. A relative or friend of the executive at USPS who implemented this would receive the contract and just take the money. It would also need to interface with their daily operations "out for delivery" db which likely is also proprietary and extremely expensive to modify, and already under an existing long term licensing contract they have no intention of changing. Disclosure: this is how it worked at Postes Canada when I once worked there. All technology was long term licensed, through crony corps I had never heard of who only seemed to exist to receive money from CPC to sell extremely expensive systems that merely passed plain text to a db.
- BinaryIdiot 11y ago
  This is how ALL technology changes happen in the government, unfortunately. I've done plenty of public contracting and a vast majority of the people involved are simply terrible mostly because when you're rewarded a contract in order to get all of the money possible you have to fill every empty seat which means a butts-in-seats mentality versus a lean or better team. But progress isn't made when we sit there with our thumbs up our butts either. Essentially you're saying USPS can never be improved because contractors suck and because it's hard. That's unacceptable. It's hard yes but it's possible.

joshvm 11y ago

For reference this is how Royal Mail does it in the uk: Side 1 has the relevant info time/date/what/etc http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Royal-Mail-delivery-card-.jpg http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-cont... Side 2 has contact information for your nearest post depot. Note that date/time is simply changed to 'hours' which saves space. Fees to pay is actually a separate form (it's rare for most people to get this, so why waste space on form 1?): https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/fee-to-pay-10-2015-220x309.jpg https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/fee-to-pay-10-... I think it's pretty clean and it's normally obvious what's happened/what you need to do. They follow a lot of the suggestions in the OP, for instance the who/what/where/when is obvious and at the top. Payment is another form, as above, and the options for getting your item are on the back. There's enough room for large entry boxes and nice whitespace/branding. It seems like that the USPS form is trying to handle every single possibility in one form which leads to a mess.

tolien 11y ago
Worth pointing out for the people complaining about lack of space that IME the postman writes at most a surname in the Name field and an abbreviated address (e.g. "42 Fake Street"), ignoring the postcode altogether - so the Address field is effectively double-height or so.
3princip 11y ago
A Serbian Post example: http://i.imgur.com/pqmUdYE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pqmUdYE.jpg I hate getting these, if I'm waiting for a package it means I have to wait another day and pick it up myself, if it's addressed to another family member and they're not around, the package is basically returned as they refuse to hand it over at the post office (understandable but inconvenient). But generally the post is fascinating, I order lots of stuff from China and while it does take a few weeks to arrive, nothing has been lost/stolen yet, I can track packages half-way around the world and it costs me almost nothing. Logistically it's amazing.
- the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
  I think postal services in all of Europe are heavily improving as a result of all the internet orders. They started rolling out pin locked boxes here which you can install for a fee at home and they put the package in there and then throw the one-time use pin into your mailbox. I think this sort of stuff has potential. //EDIT: these things: https://www.post.at/en/personal_receive_mail_collection_box.php https://www.post.at/en/personal_receive_mail_collection_box....

jrockway 11y ago

The author has the same post office as me. I've never even managed to get something redelivered even when filling this form out, or filling it out online. That seems to be the bigger problem. I would just make the form say, "You can get this thing at the post office tomorrow. If you don't pick it up by XXX, it will be crushed into a cube."

alizauf 11y ago
Ha.

mintplant 11y ago

You may want to make it clearer from the get-go that the two images at the top are your re-design and not the current form.

csmattryder 11y ago
Thanks for your comment, I went through the entire article asking "Where's the redesign?", and had to come to the comments hoping somebody's linked to it in some way. I really don't think that the OP's redesign does anything new, it just seems to be "I removed some stuff that's there for some very specific edge cases and wrote a Medium post about it". Maybe it's because I'm used to Royal Mail's parcel slips, I don't know. But it looks just as confusing as before.

Theodores 11y ago

This is why the world thinks we need designers... In this case I think a designer is needed, the layout falls short in conventional layout terms - grids, use of white space, things just lining up properly. Give it another go, take on board what people have said here about it looking to busy and get the form to have function and look good! You can do the bit that some manager would hand over to a designer, that designer not necessarily as good as you at understanding the task, or the 'how it works' bit of design.

alizauf 11y ago
I do think I'm going to give it another try, thanks. And agreed--I have more of a background in UX, but this was my first go at paper layout design. There is definitely much to improve.

nipponese 11y ago

Will probably get some downvotes for the raw criticism, but your redesign is a regression in usability for both the carrier and the recipient: In the actual, the fields where the poor guy/girl actually has to write are large spacious to allow the delivery person to write quickly (and sloppily). Also, notice how Final Notice is bigger than the rest of the text? That's because it's important. This is one example of confusing typographical priority. I'll just stop there.

timc3 11y ago
Totally agree. I found it just as confusing as the original yet I can see that it’s going to be even harder for someone to quickly fill out when they don’t have a proper desk/writing surface to fill this out on.
LoSboccacc 11y ago
same considerations here. everything in the same font size makes important information disappear, plus there is no call action.
cowsandmilk 11y ago
That was my immediate reaction. Carrier fills this out often without a good surface to write on. The space to write is appropriate for a designer who has perfect tiny handwriting.
blowski 11y ago
I actually agree with what you've written, but I downvoted you because I hate reading comments that say things like "I will probably get some downvotes". If you think you're going to be downvoted, ask yourself why and consider rewriting it in such a way that people won't downvote you. For example, in your comment here, to make it less downvotable you could say: * What do you like about the redesign? There must be something positive you can say, even if it's just "it definitely looks more visually appealing" or "I understand that you were trying to improve usability by putting more information on the same side". * Do you have any evidence that supports your counter-argument? If not, you're just two people with opinions, and since you're not a well-known authority on usability it's just noise. * What would you suggest doing to fix the problems you've said here while also fixing the problems that the OP identified? Or do you not agree that those problems are really problems?

huuu 11y ago

This is the same as the post some time ago about "Why designers can’t stop reinventing the subway map": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10534321 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10534321

sschueller 11y ago

Here is the one the Swiss post uses: http://www.balsthal-collector.ch/holderbank/digitale-fotos/image?view=image&format=raw&type=img&id=7977 http://www.balsthal-collector.ch/holderbank/digitale-fotos/i... And here is the new one: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRR5bTwUYAE9Tkm.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRR5bTwUYAE9Tkm.jpg:large

the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
I tried to find images of the Austrian one but I have not missed a package in a long time since they started sending out push notifications and put packages into wall mounted boxes. Looks very similar though.
cstuder 11y ago
Note on the new one the right side: You can go online and directly instruct the post office on how to proceed (Hold it for me, try a second delivery, forward...) Additionally I like their email service: Get a mail as soon as somebody sends any package to your address. Get a second mail as soon as it is delivered. https://www.post.ch/en/customer-center/all-online-services/benachrichtigungen-abonnieren/info https://www.post.ch/en/customer-center/all-online-services/b...
- alizauf 11y ago
  The USPS has some online steps you can take once you get the slip, but I like the idea of proactively emailing you.

pduszak 11y ago

> It took me nearly ten minutes of flipping the card back and forth and back again to tentatively figure out how to get it redelivered. It took me carefully looking at both sides for 10 seconds..

angdis 11y ago
Whether it is 10 seconds or 10 minutes (clearly hyperbole), the point is that these notifications are difficult to interpret because of poor design. As the attempted re-design and the commentary shows, this is not an easy problem. It takes some serious effort and consideration of many use-cases. Instead of someone trying to "Steve-Jobs" a redesign, perhaps the best thing to do would be to devise a process for coming up with a new design. To do something like this "right" requires actual study with users-- not just a designer applying his/her talents. FWIW, I think the OP's redesign is more clear, but that's just my limited viewpoint, it doesn't mean that it would be successful over all possible use-cases.

mhb 11y ago

Why does it need to be jammed into that size of paper? Making it bigger would relax the most significant design constraint. Maybe it is this size for some reason; maybe not.

chinathrow 11y ago

Initial reaction to the first two images: "Curious on how he/she would redesign that non-intuitive layout." Ouch :(

powerslide 11y ago
Same here, I thinking the first images were the original form.
- jdiez17 11y ago
  Me too. I actually scrolled back and forth a couple of times thinking I missed something (I only skimmed the text).
buster 11y ago
Same here. I thought the first images are the "bad" ones and didn't get it.. I couldn't even fill out the "new" form, with those tiny spaces.

KaiserPro 11y ago

I would say that your use of checkboxes is off. There shouldn't be any need to explain that if a check box is ticked then this sentence applies. Royal mail have got it down to a pretty good art: http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Royal-Mail-delivery-card-.jpg http://cdn1.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/images/blogs/wp-cont... and earlier: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKsGEgLdzMc/S-kztysmnJI/AAAAAAAAAL4/7JGTTAX7OHA/s1600/Royal+Mail+failed+page+2.gif http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKsGEgLdzMc/S-kztysmnJI/AAAAAAAAAL... The main issue I have is that there is too much space devoted to telling you stuff you already know. You know the destination address because thats why you have the card. More importantly there isn't a space for a tracking number. (I assume the USPS has some sort of tracking.) surely that's the most important thing? Dear _______ We missed you, Your package __________ was: []too big []needs payment []needs signing for and is now back at the post office. [] I will try again AM/PM [] The package will need collecting Date_______ Time_______ Notes: _______________________ _______________________ On the back collection information. Much more simple, readable and compact. The flow of information is from top to bottom, most important who its addressed to, next why its not been delivered, then when its being delivered (if at all) Date and time of attempt, extra notes.

level3 11y ago
There are a couple of cases where the destination address is valuable to ensure that the package is delivered to the right person. 1. Particularly in apartment buildings where postboxes are next to each other, the slip may not be placed in the correct box. If I receive a slip that's intended for a neighbor, it would be helpful to know the correct address (since I probably don't know all my neighbors' names) 2. If the address is my address but not my name, then it's either a mistake by the sender or it's intended for a former resident, and I can inform USPS. If the address wasn't on the slip, I would just assume it was meant for a neighbor.
- KaiserPro 11y ago
  Fair enough, It'd be worth putting in the first line of the address at least. Not too much extra space taken up.

atdt 11y ago

One piece of feedback: I'd argue that it isn't important to specify the type of parcel. Recipients usually already know what type of mail they're getting, especially if the sender is identified. Good job, though! I enjoyed the writing, too.

ajdlinux 11y ago

What is it with the US government and having indecipherable forms? I've had a few dealings with CBP, IRS and such, and every time I try to read and comprehend a US government form, I notice that they all seem to be designed to have as little spacing as possible. They're very fond of using lines as dividers between fields (rather than around just the response box) and then putting them as close together as possible so it becomes a confusing, uneven mess. Sure, the form takes up fewer pages, but it's ugly as heck. In Australia, OTOH, while the questions on one's paperwork are still just as tricky, at least it's usually clear which question you're answering and how the form is meant to flow.

ck2 11y ago

The reason why the USPS forms look so ancient is because they are so ancient. Their budget has been destroyed over the years by Congress so there is no money for things like redesigning forms and reprinting them. I've watched my main post office slowing implode on itself because all of USPS income is going back into funding future imaginary employee retirement funds (due to congressional law designed to destroy them).

jschwartzi 11y ago
USPS has no budget from Congress. They're the only government agency in the US that is required to break even using the money they collect from fees.
- ascagnel_ 11y ago
  Congress passed a law in 2006 stating that the USPS must pre-fund benefits. It didn't allocate any money for it, though. It's the equivalent of your credit card company saying "we think we'll end up lending you $1m over the lifetime of the card, so can you pay us back all of that up front?"
  - ceejayoz 11y ago
    As with defunding the IRS, the intent likely being to ruin them financially so they can point to the USPS and say "See? Government can't run anything properly! Let's give the business to my friend over here..."
    - ck2 11y ago
      Actually with USPS it is more insidious than that. Congress wants to force USPS to allow private corporations access to your mailbox and replace USPS entirely with privatized services. Then congresspeople can use their re-legalized inside trading to invest in those private corporations ahead of time with the knowledge they are about to pass the law to make it legal.
  - flubert 11y ago

ableal 11y ago

> aliza.aufri.ch/tig Devious. I don't think I've come across a personal URL like that before.

joe_momma 11y ago

I don't like the redesign, it's less intuitive and has no hierarchical priority. Not exactly sure how this made the top 30.

swingbridge 11y ago

I got one of these sorts of things one time. It told me to go to a post office nearby to pick up a package. When I went there they didn't have my package and the following exchange occurred: "Why did you come to this post office?" "Because your form says to come to this post office. See right here on the slip..." "This isn't your post office you need to go to (post office a few miles away)" "OK, so why did you guys tell me to come here?" "Sir if you want your package you have to go to the other post office." "Whatever, thanks" It's constant screw ups and interactions like this that generally cause me to avoid the USPS whenever possible.

plusbryan 11y ago

Great post! I dream of a day when this will be a pull request on a government repo so that USPS could more easily adopt it. Imagine average citizens working together to solve problems that they face every day....

alizauf 11y ago
I love that idea.

scopecreep 11y ago

My postman can't even be bothered to properly fill out the current one. How adding more questions to the thing will help that problem is unclear to me.

thecosas 11y ago
Part of this redesign is making it easier for the mail carrier as well: I decided to place all these sections at the top since you want to know this information first. I made it more readable by putting them within a single Mad-Libs style human-readable sentence. This is the main section the mail carrier will need to fill out, too, so it should also make her job quicker to have all the writing in one place.

nigge_rs 11y ago

How did this take her 10 'flips' to figure it out? I figured it out with one glance...

eecks 11y ago

I have to ask why bother apart from a personal exercise for yourself. I have no idea why this got over 150 points on HN. You could do this with anything.. Facebook, HN, my kitchen, a newspaper. Some things could be better but don't need to be.