Tiny interventions - Service design
Pandemic shift - virtual product line
PROJECT TAGS
Crisis Strategy | Resilient design | Design innovation | Agile methodology
ROLE
Problem identification, Intervention design
PROJECT DETAILS
Product Lead, Strategy
Oye happy
4 weeks
OUTCOME
New product strategy, New product line, Blue Ocean Innovation
Navigating COVID-19 Lockdown Challenges
In early 2020, as COVID-19 led to a nationwide lockdown in India, the bootstrapped e-commerce gifting company I worked for faced significant challenges. With physical delivery halted, we confronted critical questions about the future of the business:
How long would this disruption last?
How could we maintain cash flow and meet financial obligations during the lockdown and beyond?
PROJECT VISION
To continue facilitating surprises during the pandemic complete lockdown in India
Innovative Shift: Adapting to Virtual Surprises
The lockdown compelled us to innovate. With in-person surprises no longer viable, we shifted our focus to the virtual space, driven by the following insights:
Leverage strengths: We leaned into our core skills—creating innovative surprise concepts and fostering a community passionate about surprising others.
Seamless transition: By adapting our unique offerings for virtual delivery, we retained the essence of our business while evolving to fit new circumstances.
Virtual Surprise Categories: Reimagining Customer Favorites
We reimagined our popular surprise concepts into virtual categories:
Social Surprises
Personal Surprises
Surprises from Strangers
Remote Execution Strategy: Delivering Virtually with Efficiency
To ensure effective virtual delivery, we developed remote-friendly modes for our surprises, such as:
Delivery: Email, calls, and messages
Operations: Designed for easy execution within a remote work setup, ensuring continuity and efficiency
Bestselling Virtual Surprise Ideas
To engage customers, we created virtual surprise options from our existing concepts as well as new concepts that have an aspirational value that became popular choices during the lockdown:
24-Hour Virtual Hamper: A digital "hamper" delivered over 24 hours, featuring a series of thoughtful messages, mini-gifts, and surprises sent at intervals, creating an all-day experience for recipients.
Calls from Strangers: Recipients would receive uplifting calls from friendly strangers, spreading positivity and creating memorable, unexpected interactions.
Mails from Strangers: Thoughtful, personalized messages from strangers sent via email, offering heartfelt surprises to brighten the recipient's day.
Project Success Metrics
Our quick adaptation to virtual surprises led to strong outcomes across multiple dimensions:
Quick Turnaround Time
Within 3 weeks of the lockdown, we launched a pilot run with the first 10 virtual surprises. This included developing the product concepts and creating the operational setup required for smooth execution.
New Product Line Created
The virtual success paved the way for a new, hybrid product: Week-Long Surprises, where recipients receive virtual surprises for a week, ending with a physical gift on the final day.
Revenue Generation During Lockdown
Despite a nationwide halt on physical operations, our pivot enabled steady revenue. Over the 4 months of lockdown, Oye Happy sold more than 3,000 virtual products, demonstrating the effectiveness of our reinvented business model.
Continued Success
The virtual surprise products continued to sell well on our website even after the lockdown was lifted, proving the sustained appeal of virtual and hybrid surprise options alongside physical deliveries.
