“… is the systematic development of form and functionality of services from the viewpoint of the customer using methods of design. The goal is to design ser-vices, which are on the one hand useful, usable and desirable for the customer and on the other hand effective, efficient and singular for provider.” Prof. Birgit Mager /Service Design Network
This quote from Birgit Mager describes the main outcome of service design. The method puts the customer in the centre of our thinking, but nevertheless keeps the provider in mind, so that we design the perfect, creative solution for both of them.
The main process stages of service design can be shown through the picture of the “double diamond”:
Discover and define
The first stages are “discover and define”, where the topic which is given by the client is the initial starting point. During these stages researching and gathering data are the main points that will be performed.
Before starting with the phase, it is very important to clarify the topic again with the client, so that the direction is clear. Sometimes it happens that the client says something completely different, then what is really necessary or wanted in the end. To make this step more successful use visual tools like a target as well.
After clarifying the goal, a lot of exploration will be performed to understand the target group and the needs as good as possible. Common Tools like stakeholder maps and personas, but also empathy maps are good starting point to identify the right target groups. After that a customer journey map will be created to identify the touchpoints and see the possible pains but also benefits for the customer. However, the most important step is to perform a lot of interviews with the target groups. Primarily those will be performed on a qualitative basis but can also be backed up by quantitative ones. With all this information available, insights can be created, and the scope will be narrowed done to certain quintessence with which will be continued in the next two phases.
Develop and deliver
After narrowing done the scope to a certain problem, creative solutions need to be developed. During this process a wide field of creativity methods can be used to perform this step, for instance: Brainstorming, 633 brainwriting, random inputs (pictures, words, things…) Very important is that during these steps, there is no right or wrong or any other obligations, because otherwise the solution could be to usual in the end. After that the most promising ideas will be chosen, and proto-types will be created, who will in the end be presented to the client.
Although this was a rough walkthrough to the service design process it gives a comprehensive overview of the necessary tasks and steps within the process. On last remark regarding the team is very important. The core team fulfilling the pro-cess should be very diverse, so that it is possible that a bigger amount of different thoughts and opinions run into the final solutions.
Sources:
https://www.service-design-network.org/, 19.05.18
https://guides.service.gov.au/service-design-delivery-process/get-started/, 19.05.18
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