In March of 2017 BCG was approached by one of the world’s largest oil companies to help develop new distribution and delivery systems for Liquid Propane Gas (LPG) and Gasoline

 

Duration:
7 months

Team:
Project Manager, 2 UX designers, 2 business analysts

Location:
Abu Dhabi

My contribution:
Research design and management

 
 

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overview

  • I led the quantitative and qualitative research initiatives to validate and design opportunity for new Liquid Propane Gas (LPG) and Gasoline delivery systems. My responsibilities included:

    • Design, project management and execution of all quantitative and qualitative research

    • Selection, coordination and management of external recruiting and research agencies as well as internal team

    • Synthesis of insights, concept development

    • Client and stakeholder management

Objectives

  1. Test in-going hypothesis that gas-station inconvenience is significant enough to create demand for fuel delivery services; Surface other relevant pain points

  2. Collaborate with client and BCG business teams to identify strategic opportunity, target customer segments, and develop and test value propositions

  3. Deliver MVP for selected systems, execute Alpha and Beta tests

challenges

  • Running a comprehensive research initiative during Ramadan posed significant logistical challenges

  • Fear of espionage from other Emirates required a high level of secrecy, which complicated the research and testing process

  • Even with the help of local recruiting and research agencies, the team was drastically underprepared for the logistical, cultural and emotional challenges of operating in the Middle East

Outcomes

  • LPG delivery incorporated into Distribution App in early 2018

  • Gasoline delivery concept announced on March 4, 2018, 8 months before Dubai announced competing fuel delivery app CAFU in December of 2018.

 

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RESEARCH
methodology

March, 2017

The decision to investigate a fuel delivery service had been inspired by a number of hypotheses the team needed to quickly validate and build upon. Fear of espionage from other Emirates required a high level of secrecy, which prevented the team from directly discussing gasoline delivery with research participants.

 
 
 
 
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As research lead I designed and managed all quantitative and qualitative research initiatives. We employed a number of research techniques and testing cycles to continuously refine answers to the following questions:

Who should we target?
What should we offer them?
How do we encourage adoption?
How do we enable friction-free spending?

 
 
 
 

findings

End of May, 2017

After two months of intercepts, surveys, interviews and immersive participation, the team presented proposed MVP definitions to company leadership.

The business team presented a business case for a Propane delivery platform, while I and the rest of the user research team made a recommendation for the most strategic Gasoline delivery service.

 

 
 

MVP Development

From July - September the team built out fully functional software for the propane and gasoline delivery services.

 
 
 

OUTCOMES

October 2017

Propane delivery was incorporated into the Distribution App in early 2018. Gasoline delivery service was announced on March 4, 2018, 8 months before Dubai announced competing fuel delivery app CAFU in December of 2018.