redesign: the post office

As I stood in line at the local post office this afternoon, muttering under my breath at all the people in front of me -- in particular: the guy with the lamp that he decided to wrap only after reaching the counter; the woman with the home business who showed up with three sacks full of badly wrapped t-shirts to ship; and the two aging grandmothers who, separately, wanted the clerk to show them every single stamp design in the catalog -- I was reminded yet again of why I hate the post office so much, and why I only go once or twice a year when I have no other choice.

The only good thing about the experience is that it gives me a chance to daydream about how I'd redesign the place to make it more efficient. Here's my plan:

First, get rid of the one-line-fits-all-needs model. Break it up. When you walk in, you should see several clearly marked areas of the post office. Need stamps? Over here. Need to mail a letter or some documents? Over there. Need to send a package? That counter. Need bubble wrap? The packing table. Don't know what you need? The info desk. Right away, the wait time is reduced because you don't have to stand behind every single person in the building.

Next, rely more on self service. You shouldn't need to stand in line and talk to a clerk just to buy some packing tape. At the packing table, slide your credit card through a slot in a vending machine and pick your own supplies. Likewise, the majority of people don't need to talk to a clerk to send an international, express, or oversized letter. They just need to know what their mailing options are and how much each costs. How about a scale and a quick way to find out how much postage I need? (And no, I don't mean leave a scale on a table in the corner like they do now; the "quick way to find out how much postage I need" is critical.)

Finally, use technology. In the scale example above, why not let me set my letter on a kiosk that automatically measures the weight, scans the address, and gives me all my mailing options on a touch screen? Once I select an option and pay, the kiosk prints out a mailing label and I'm on my way. A similar kiosk system would work just fine for stamp buyers who want to see what else is available besides the American flag booklets. Now, your grandmother can flip through the entire catalog on a touch screen. Want to see more stamps with birds? Easy. Like the kittens? Here's more. What are other grandmas getting? We'll show you.

Of course, change requires incentive. And a postal service that has a $5.4 billion deficit is not about to invest in an overhaul of its customer service centers -- at least, not when it doesn't have to worry about competition. (It's the same problem with the DMV.)

Maybe then the biggest change the postal service can make to become more efficient is to open up standard mail delivery to competitors. Isn't the US long past the point where it needs to nurture the postal communications network? At this point, if a private firm can find a way to get a letter to my relatives' mailboxes faster and cheaper than USPS can, why not let it?