Good Services

1. Services are ubiquitous yet often misunderstood

Services are everywhere. From how we book our holidays, to how we save money and get access to healthcare.

Services defined. A service is simply something that helps someone do something. This definition encompasses a wide range of activities, from booking a holiday to accessing healthcare. Services exist in the background of our lives, connecting various aspects and facilitating important moments. They are the interface through which we experience much of the world.

Evolution of services. The way we access and use services has evolved significantly over time:

• Pre-internet: Services were often accessed in person or through written correspondence
• Postal service invention: Enabled remote access to services
• Telephone era: Allowed for real-time inquiries and complaints
• Internet age: Merged product and service, creating seamless user journeys

2. Good services are designed with user needs in mind

A good service is good for the user of the service, good for the organisation providing it, and good for society as a whole.

User-centric design. Good services prioritize the needs and goals of their users. This means understanding what users are trying to achieve and designing the service to help them reach that goal efficiently and effectively. User research is crucial in this process, as it helps identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Holistic approach. A truly good service considers three key aspects:

1. User benefit: Does it meet the user's needs in a way that works for them?
2. Organizational benefit: Is it profitable and easy to run?
3. Societal benefit: Does it have a positive impact on the world and society?

3. Consistency and familiarity are crucial for service success

Make things open: it makes things better.

Balancing innovation and familiarity. While it's important to improve services, drastic changes can confuse users. Services should work in ways that are familiar to users, based on their previous experiences. However, this doesn't mean never innovating – it means carefully considering how new features or processes are introduced.

Consistency across channels. Good services maintain consistency across all touchpoints:

• Digital interfaces
• Phone support
• Face-to-face interactions
• Written communications

Ensuring this consistency requires collaboration and communication across different teams and departments within an organization.

4. Inclusive design benefits all users, not just those with disabilities

There's no such thing as a 'normal' user.

Designing for diversity. Inclusive design considers the full spectrum of human diversity, including abilities, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference. By designing for edge cases and those with specific needs, services often become more usable for everyone.

Types of inclusivity to consider:

• Physical accessibility
• Cognitive accessibility
• Language and cultural inclusivity
• Socioeconomic inclusivity
• Technological accessibility

Benefits of inclusive design:

• Increased user base
• Improved user satisfaction
• Legal compliance
• Innovation through constraint

5. Services should be agnostic to organizational structures

Services in the internet age don't obey organisational boundaries.

User-focused structure. Users don't care about internal organizational structures; they care about achieving their goals. Good services are designed around user needs, not organizational silos. This often requires collaboration across departments or even between different organizations.

Breaking down silos. To create seamless services:

• Share data appropriately between teams and organizations
• Align processes and policies
• Use consistent language and terminology
• Foster a culture of collaboration and shared goals

6. Effective services require minimal steps and clear explanations

A good service requires as few steps as possible to complete.

Streamlined processes. Good services minimize the number of steps required for a user to achieve their goal. This doesn't always mean fewer interactions, but rather ensuring that each step is necessary and valuable to the user.

Clear communication. At each stage of the service:

• Explain what's happening and why
• Set clear expectations for what comes next
• Provide context for decisions or requirements

Balance efficiency and user control. While minimizing steps is important, ensure users have appropriate control and visibility over important decisions within the service.

7. Good services adapt quickly to changes in users' lives

A good service should respond quickly and adaptively to a change in a user's circumstance.

Anticipating change. Users' lives are constantly changing. Good services are designed with this in mind, making it easy for users to update their information or adapt their use of the service as their circumstances change.

Types of changes to consider:

• Direct changes (e.g., address, phone number)
• Indirect changes (e.g., life events that may affect service usage)

Responsive design. Build flexibility into services to accommodate changes without disrupting the user experience. This may involve:

• Easy-to-use self-service options for updates
• Proactive communication about potential changes
• Adaptive interfaces that respond to user context

8. Encouraging positive behaviors benefits users, staff, and society

A good service encourages safe, productive behaviours from users and staff that are mutually beneficial.

Aligning incentives. Design services to encourage behaviors that benefit all stakeholders – users, staff, the organization, and society at large. This involves careful consideration of:

• Business models
• Staff incentives and KPIs
• User interface design and interactions

Avoiding dark patterns. Resist the temptation to use manipulative design techniques that benefit the organization at the expense of users. Instead, focus on creating value through transparent, ethical service design.

Empowering staff. Ensure that frontline staff have the tools, knowledge, and authority to provide excellent service. This may involve:

• Removing rigid scripts or inflexible policies
• Providing comprehensive training
• Giving staff the autonomy to make decisions in users' best interests

9. Transparency in decision-making builds trust and user satisfaction

When a decision is made within a service, it should be obvious to a user why this decision has been made and clearly communicated at the point at which it's made.

Clear explanations. When services make decisions that affect users (e.g., eligibility, pricing, recommendations), the reasoning behind these decisions should be clearly communicated. This builds trust and helps users understand their options.

Algorithmic transparency. As services increasingly rely on algorithms and automated decision-making:

• Explain the factors considered in decisions
• Provide opportunities for human review or appeal
• Regularly audit algorithms for bias or unintended consequences

Empowering users. Give users control over their data and how it's used within the service. Provide clear options for opting in or out of data collection and explain the benefits and drawbacks of these choices.

Last updated: October 3, 2024