Intro to Service Design

Service design is a way of designing services to improve both the user and provider experience. Think of buying a product online, going to the doctor, or ordering food at a restaurant. They are all examples of experiences that can be improved with service design. Service design involves thinking about how different parts of any service work together and meet the needs of both users and the business. This could include things like ease of use, helpfulness of staff, and speed of service.

The goal is to make services more enjoyable and functional, which can, in turn, improve loyalty, save money, and improve a brand's reputation. When customers have two e-commerce websites selling the same products at the same price, it is the quality of service design that influences them to shop on one site over the other. Factors such as website layout, user experience, customer support, and delivery options all contribute to their decision.

Naturally, service design is about more than just designing a user interface. It considers users' needs and behaviors, as well as business goals, processes, and systems. It includes disciplines like UX design, interaction design, and service innovation, and can be used in many industries like healthcare, finance, transportation, hospitality, and government.

Service design may be a distinct discipline that has emerged relatively recently, but its roots can be traced back up to a century ago and can be summed up with this timeline:

• Early 20th century: Industrial designers like Raymond Loewy and Henry Dreyfuss begin applying design principles to improve consumer goods.
• 1960s: The shift towards services in the economy leads to the recognition of the need to apply design principles to services.
• 1980s: The term "service design" is coined by Lynn Shostack, and the first service design agencies are established in Europe.
• 1990s-2000s: Service design evolves as a discipline with the growth of the service economy and digital technologies.^[1]

Today, service design is an established field with a growing number of practitioners and academic programs. It is recognized as a key approach for improving the quality and efficiency of services and is used in a wide range of industries. With the continued growth of the service sector and the increasing importance of customer experience, service design is likely to continue to evolve and play a critical role in the design of services in the future. Not to forget, modern service delivery is now more dependent on digital technology than it has ever been in the past.

Service design encompasses 3 components that must be designed and integrated to create a total user experience:

• People: People refer to anyone who creates or uses the service. This includes employees, customers, partners, and even fellow customers encountered throughout the service.
• Props: These are physical or digital artifacts, including products, necessary for performing the service successfully. This includes physical spaces like storefronts, teller windows, and conference rooms. It could also include digital environments, web pages, blogs, social media, digital files, physical products, and collateral.
• Processes: These refer to any workflows, procedures, or rituals performed by employees or users throughout the service. Examples include placing an order at the counter, resolving issues over support, or bagging up physical products.^[2]

Goods and services were clearly distinguished in traditional economics in the past. Goods were physical items like groceries and clothes. Services were often intangible or instantaneous exchanges like haircuts or babysitting.

Today, there is no longer such a clear distinction. There is now what we call a goods-services continuum that offers a combination of the two.^[3]

An example of the goods-services continuum is the purchase of a car. While the physical car is a tangible good, the overall experience of owning a car involves a combination of goods and services. These can include services like car maintenance and repairs, roadside assistance, and insurance. In addition, many car manufacturers offer digital services like in-car entertainment systems and remote car monitoring via mobile apps. The user experience of owning a car involves a combination of goods and services that are increasingly intertwined.

Services are only becoming more complex by the day. This signals an increasing need to focus on good service design that improves the experience of everyone involved in the exchange of services.

It is important to examine the types of value that services deliver to customers to better understand what sets them apart from products. According to the authors of Service Design From Insight to Implementation, services can be grouped into 3 primary spheres:

• Care: This type of service is focused on caring for people or things. Examples of care services for people include hospitals, law firms, nurseries, accounting firms, dry cleaners, and car workshops.
• Access: Access services provide customers with temporary use of something, or a part of something, that they could not obtain on their own. This includes services like railways, schools, and cinemas, and utilities like water, gas, and electricity. It also includes the internet and subscription services like Spotify and Netflix.
• Response: Response services are those that respond to people's needs. This type of service is usually a mix of people and things that are able to assist customers. Examples include a store assistant helping you find something or an exterminator helping with a bug problem. Response services can also be anticipated, and people may buy the right to them in advance through insurance policies, social welfare, or by choosing a brand experience that provides responsive service.

These 3 values frequently intersect in various fields. For example, a food delivery service not only provides the convenience of ordering and speed of delivery but also ensures the quality of the food being delivered. It is important to note that a service may not fit exclusively into a single category. Rather, its core values may shift depending on the situation or need of the customer.^[4]

Service designers create service systems that are a combination of products, people, and processes that work together to meet a customer's needs. Their job is to create efficient, effective, and customer-centric services. They do this by understanding users’ needs and designing the service experience accordingly.

Service designers typically work with a team that includes researchers, business analysts, and other stakeholders. They begin by conducting research to understand users’ needs and pain points. They may also analyze market trends, business goals, and the competitive landscape to inform their design decisions. Based on this research, they create service blueprints, which map out the different touchpoints in the service system and the interactions between customers and the service provider. They may also create user personas, customer journey maps, and service prototypes to test and refine their designs.

Throughout the design process, they work closely with stakeholders to ensure that the service system aligns with the organization's goals and vision. Once the service system is implemented, they continue to monitor and improve it based on customer feedback and changing business needs.

Service design is a versatile approach that can be applied across various industries to create user-centric services. Understanding the applications of service design can open up opportunities to design impactful services in different contexts. Here are some examples of the applications of service design in various fields:

• Healthcare: Improving the patient experience in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings by designing services that are patient-centric.
• Banking and finance: Creating user-friendly digital banking interfaces, streamlining customer onboarding processes, and designing personalized financial services.
• Transportation: Designing seamless and user-friendly transportation services, such as public transportation systems, ride-sharing apps, and mobility-as-a-service platforms.
• E-commerce: Building user-friendly and personalized online shopping experiences, optimizing checkout processes, and enhancing customer support services.
• Hospitality and tourism: Designing every touchpoint, from the booking process to check-out, with a focus on user needs and expectations.
• Education: Building engaging and effective learning experiences, both in traditional classrooms and online learning environments.

While the aerospace industry may not have the same direct patient interactions as hospitals, service design can still be valuable in improving the overall customer experience, operational efficiency, and safety within this industry.

Ethical considerations in service design ensure that services are responsible, inclusive, and transparent. Here are some pointers to keep in mind while designing a service:

• User privacy and data protection: Handle user data with care and ensure that it is collected, used, and stored in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This includes obtaining informed consent from users, being transparent about data practices, and protecting user data from unauthorized access or misuse.
• Accessibility and inclusivity: Strive to create services that are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities or diverse needs. This may involve designing for different abilities, languages, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Social impact, environmental sustainability, and equity: Consider the potential impact of your services on society, the environment, and different stakeholders. This may involve conducting impact assessments, evaluating the social and environmental footprint of services, and designing services that contribute positively to societal well-being.
• Fairness, transparency, and accountability: Ensure that services are designed with clear accountability mechanisms and avenues for user feedback and redressal.

Integrating ethical considerations in service design guarantees a positive impact on users, businesses, and society at large.