Designing the Intangible: an Introduction to Service Design

Designing the intangibleAn introduction to service design

Jennifer Bove & Ben Fullerton

1. What?2. Why?3. How?4. Case studies5. What makes a good service experience?6. Any questions?

2 definitions:

“Service design: A method for designingexperiences that reach people through manydifferent touch-points, and that happen over time.”

from: http://servicedesign.org/service_design/

http://servicedesign.org/service_design/

http://servicedesign.org/service_design/

“Service design can be both tangible and intangible. It can involve artefacts and other things including communication, environmentand behaviours. Whichever form it takes, itmust be consistent, easy to use and have strategic alliance.”

from: “Total Design: Managing the Design Process in the Service Sector”. W & G Hollins, 1990

Let’s unpack those statements a bit.

“Intangible.”

“Many different touch-points.”

“Over time.”

image courtesy of live|work Studio Ltd. - http://www.livework.co.uk

What else?

Services are produced at the same momentas they are consumed - the customer is a “co-creator” of the service.

Services can be constantly monitored againstsuccess factors and incrementally improved“on the fly”.

"e “service industry” accounts for around 75% of the Western economy (currently!)

But services are rarely designed with thesame care and attention to detail as products.

Better designed services lead to greatercustomer loyalty - from customers who pay more! - and more efficient business processes.

Service envy!

And by promoting use over consumption - encouraging people to use services rather than products - we also promote sustainability

Service design isn’t a new discipline.

"e thinking, tools and methodologies come from interaction design - for so$ware and products - so the process looks somewhat the same...

small man courtesy of live|work Studio Ltd. - http://www.livework.co.uk

Design research:Internal (to the business) and external (to the customer and the world the service willexist in)

Example deliverables might include:

Personas

Service Ecology

courtesy of live|work Studio Ltd. - http://www.livework.co.uk

Essentially, design for opportunities:unmet customer and business needs.

Example deliverables might include:

Service Blueprint


Experience Prototype


Storytelling (Scenarios)

Touch-point Specifications

Go into production.

Release and monitor.

Techniques for doing this include:

RATER (SERVQUAL):

ReliableAssuranceTangiblesEmpathyResponsiveness

Take learnings from this back intodiscovery, iterate, and improve!

3 examples of real world services designed in a customer-centric way

Case Study 1“My BAA”live|work, London, UK

“Raise awareness of the BAA brand in the mind of the traveller.”

We visited Heathrow.

We talked to passengers.

“"at’s BAA.”

We created personas

We created a framework based onthe existing customer journey

We used that framework to generate service propositions

"en we illustrated what thosepropositions might look like

We also created businessrationale and principles

And finally, we walked our personasthrough their new travel experience.

Case Study 2“Favor Link”IDII, Italy

“Make the day to day life of the working mother just a little bit easier”

We interviewed working moms

We mapped their routines

"en we analyzed their days

We created user scenarios

And designed a service concept

We created an experience prototype

And created interface designs

We tested the application with mothers

Case Study 3Streetcarlive|work, London, UK

“Improve the customer experience of a great idea.”

We mapped and evaluated the existing experience...

...and highlighted “pain points” where the experience could be improved.

We created a service blueprint to describe how the service should behave.

...and that helped to focus on thosetouch-points that needed improving.

Following these improvements, Streetcar became the fastest growing car club in Europe.

1. What?2. Why?3. Case studies4. What makes a good service experience?5. Any questions?

6 opportunities for designing service quality

1. Responsiveness

Design for different circumstances.

Services are multi-functional

2. Consistency

Tangible evidence tells customerswhat kind of service to expect.

3. Adaptable

Services should anticipate potential fail points.

4. Tailored

A service can learn from customer behavior and anticipate needs.

5. Efficient

Getting the internal business processes right will create a more consistent customer experience.

6. Rewarding

Service loyalty can be designed into the details.

another example of a reward

1. Responsive2. Consistent3. Adaptable4. Tailored5. Efficient6. Rewarding

1. What?2. Why?3. Case studies4. What makes a good service experience?5. Any questions?

Designing the Intangible: an Introduction to Service Design

Business

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