Key Takeaways
1. Customer Experience is Paramount
As customers, it seems that we are less influenced by the core offering than by the layers of experience around it.
Beyond the Core Offering. In today's market, customers value the overall experience as much as, if not more than, the core product or service itself. Factors like staff interaction, ease of use, and the overall environment significantly impact customer satisfaction. Organizations must shift their focus from solely optimizing the product to enhancing the entire customer journey.
The Digital Revolution. The digital age has empowered customers with more choices and information, amplifying the importance of a positive customer experience. Social media allows customers to share their experiences widely, making word-of-mouth more influential than traditional advertising. Companies that excel in customer experience outperform the market, demonstrating a clear link between customer satisfaction and business success.
Organizational Silos. Many organizations struggle to deliver exceptional customer experiences due to internal silos. These silos reflect functional divisions within the company, optimizing for efficiency within each department rather than for the customer's end-to-end journey. Breaking down these silos and fostering cross-functional collaboration is essential for creating seamless and satisfying customer experiences.
2. Service Design: A Holistic Approach
Service design choreographs processes, technologies and interactions within complex systems in order to co-create value for relevant stakeholders.
Mindset, Process, and Toolset. Service design is more than just a set of tools or a process; it's a mindset that prioritizes the customer's perspective. It involves a design-led approach, combining iterative cycles of research and development with a flexible toolkit borrowed from various disciplines. This holistic approach considers the entire value ecosystem, addressing the needs of all stakeholders, not just the end user.
Beyond Aesthetics. Service design goes beyond aesthetics, focusing on the functionality, usability, and desirability of a service. It challenges and reshapes everything from operations to the business model, ensuring that the service not only looks good but also works effectively. It's not simply about "putting lipstick on a pig" but about fundamentally improving the entire system.
Service-Dominant Logic. Service-dominant logic views tangible goods as merely distribution mechanisms for service provision. Customers seek value co-creation, expecting organizations to help them solve problems and achieve their goals. This requires organizations to provide an experience that meets their emotional needs and exceeds their expectations.
3. Tools for Understanding and Visualizing
Service design tools are mind hacks that help us reframe problems in a way that humans can handle better.
Research Data. Research data is the foundation of service design, providing empirical evidence to inform decisions. It can be divided into raw data (unfiltered observations) and interpreted data (researcher's analysis). Recognizing whether the content of tools used in service design is based on assumptions or based on research helps you to understand how solid and credible a piece of work is.
Personas. Personas are archetypal profiles representing specific customer or user groups, based on research and data. They help teams empathize with customers, understand their needs, and make design decisions from their perspective. Personas should be regularly updated to reflect changing customer behaviors and preferences.
Journey Maps. Journey maps visualize the customer experience over time, highlighting key touchpoints, emotions, and pain points. They help teams identify gaps in the customer journey and explore potential solutions. Different types of journey maps exist, including current-state, future-state, customer, and employee journey maps.
4. The Iterative Nature of Service Design
With this strong emphasis on iterations of research, prototyping, and even implementation, service design projects have a firm foundation in reality.
Continuous Improvement. Service design is not a one-time fix but an ongoing process of refinement and adaptation. It involves iterative cycles of research, ideation, prototyping, and testing, allowing for continuous improvement based on real-world feedback. This iterative approach ensures that the service remains relevant and effective over time.
Embracing Failure. Iteration requires a willingness to experiment and accept failure as a learning opportunity. By starting with small, cheap attempts and experiments, organizations can identify what works and what doesn't, adapting the process along the way. This iterative approach makes decision making in service design a low-stakes activity.
Adaptability. The iterative nature of service design makes it well-suited for today's volatile and uncertain business environment. It allows organizations to respond quickly to changing customer needs and market conditions, ensuring that their services remain competitive and valuable.
5. Collaboration: The Key to Breaking Silos
Because the tools of service design have been filtered through a design mentality, they are visual, fast, lightweight, and easy to grasp.
Cross-Functional Teams. Service design thrives on collaboration, bringing together people from different departments and backgrounds to work towards a common goal. This cross-functional approach breaks down silos and fosters a shared understanding of the customer experience. By working together, teams can create more holistic and effective solutions.
Common Language. The tools of service design, such as journey maps and personas, provide a common language for collaboration. These visual and accessible tools allow people from different disciplines to communicate effectively and co-create solutions. This shared language promotes understanding and alignment across the organization.
Boundary Objects. Service design tools act as "boundary objects," facilitating communication and collaboration between different specialists. These objects can be interpreted in different ways by different specialists, allowing them to work together successfully without having to fully understand each other's worlds. This makes cross-functional cooperation easier and more productive.
6. Prototyping: Testing and Refining Ideas
Prototypes evolve into pilots, and then into implemented new offerings – and along the way there is always iteration.
Rapid Experimentation. Prototyping is a core activity in service design, allowing teams to test possible solutions quickly and cheaply. It involves creating scaled-down versions of services or products to gather feedback and refine ideas. This iterative process helps to identify potential problems and improve the overall design.
Different Types of Prototypes. Service prototypes can take many forms, from simple sketches and storyboards to more elaborate simulations and pilots. The choice of prototype depends on the specific design question being addressed and the stage of the design process. Low-fidelity prototypes are useful for exploring initial concepts, while high-fidelity prototypes are better for evaluating the user experience.
Real-World Testing. Prototypes should be tested in real-world contexts whenever possible. This allows teams to gather authentic feedback from users and identify potential challenges that may not be apparent in a lab setting. By testing prototypes in the field, organizations can ensure that their services are truly meeting the needs of their customers.
7. Implementation: Making the Design Real
To create valuable experiences, service designers must get to grips with the backstage activities and business processes that enable the frontstage success, and address the implementation of these processes.
Beyond the Concept. Service design doesn't end with a concept or prototype; it extends to the implementation of the design in the real world. This involves translating the design into tangible actions, processes, and systems. Successful implementation requires a deep understanding of the organization's capabilities and resources.
Change Management. Implementation often involves significant organizational change, requiring careful management and communication. It's essential to involve employees in the implementation process, providing them with the training and support they need to adapt to new ways of working. Addressing their concerns and empowering them to take ownership of the new service is crucial for success.
Holistic Approach. Implementation requires a holistic approach, considering all aspects of the service, from frontstage interactions to backstage processes. It involves aligning the organization's structure, technology, and culture to support the delivery of the new service. By taking a holistic view, organizations can ensure that the implementation is successful and sustainable.
8. Embedding Service Design in Organizations
Service design is not only useful to create value for the “end user” or “customer.” It addresses the entire value ecosystem, and might focus on offerings aimed at end users, other businesses, internal partners, or colleagues.
Cultural Transformation. Embedding service design requires a cultural shift within the organization, fostering a customer-centric mindset and a willingness to experiment and iterate. This involves promoting collaboration, breaking down silos, and empowering employees to take ownership of the customer experience. It's a long-term process that requires commitment from all levels of the organization.
Starting Small. Introducing service design can be overwhelming, so it's best to start with small, manageable projects. These projects can serve as proof of concept, demonstrating the value of service design and building momentum for wider adoption. By starting small, organizations can learn and adapt the process to their specific context.
Continuous Improvement. Service design is not a one-time project but an ongoing process of continuous improvement. Organizations must establish mechanisms for gathering feedback, monitoring performance, and iterating on their services. This requires a commitment to learning and adaptation, ensuring that the organization remains responsive to changing customer needs and market conditions.
Last updated:
FAQ
What’s "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn about?
- Comprehensive service design manual: The book is a hands-on guide for applying service design thinking in real-world projects, covering the entire process from research to implementation.
- Emphasis on practical application: It moves beyond theory, focusing on actionable methods, tools, and facilitation techniques for practitioners.
- Co-creation and collaboration: Created with input from over 200 reviewers and 96 co-authors, it reflects diverse perspectives and real-world relevance.
- Bridging theory and practice: Through detailed case studies and expert insights, it connects service design frameworks with actionable steps for organizations.
Why should I read "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn?
- Actionable, step-by-step methods: The book provides detailed instructions for service design activities, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
- Real-world case studies: It features examples from industries like aviation, healthcare, and technology, illustrating how service design solves complex challenges.
- Focus on collaboration: Readers learn how to break down organizational silos and foster cross-disciplinary teamwork for better customer and employee experiences.
- Guidance on change management: The book addresses the critical implementation phase, offering strategies for embedding service design in organizations.
What are the key takeaways from "This Is Service Design Doing"?
- Human-centered and iterative: Service design is about understanding people’s needs, co-creating solutions, and iterating through prototyping and testing.
- Holistic and systemic approach: The book stresses designing for the entire service ecosystem, including backstage processes and organizational culture.
- Practical facilitation skills: It offers techniques for running effective workshops, managing stakeholders, and building safe spaces for innovation.
- Sustainable organizational change: Readers learn how to embed service design into company culture, processes, and leadership practices.
How does "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn define service design?
- Multi-faceted definition: Service design is a mindset, process, toolset, cross-disciplinary language, and management approach for creating seamless service experiences.
- Rooted in design thinking: It applies creative and practical design processes to innovate or improve services, balancing customer and business needs.
- Focus on co-creation: Service design choreographs processes, technologies, and interactions to co-create value for all stakeholders.
- Emphasis on real-world context: The approach grounds research and prototyping in actual user environments and organizational realities.
What are the core principles and mindset of service design in "This Is Service Design Doing"?
- Human-centered and co-creative: The process involves understanding and engaging all stakeholders to co-create valuable solutions.
- Iterative and experimental: Encourages rapid prototyping, learning from failure, and refining ideas through continuous feedback.
- Holistic and systemic: Considers the entire service ecosystem, including touchpoints, backstage processes, and organizational culture.
- Collaborative and adaptive: Promotes cross-disciplinary teamwork and flexible adaptation to project needs and complexity.
What is the service design process framework in "This Is Service Design Doing"?
- Four core activities: The process centers on research, ideation, prototyping, and implementation, forming the backbone of service design projects.
- Iterative and non-linear: The framework supports cycles of divergent and convergent thinking, allowing teams to explore and refine solutions.
- Flexible tailoring: The process is adapted to the project’s people, goals, and resources, rather than following rigid steps.
- Managing uncertainty: It is designed to work effectively in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments.
What are the basic service design tools introduced in "This Is Service Design Doing"?
- Research data: Collects and interprets qualitative and quantitative data to understand user needs and contexts.
- Personas and journey maps: Uses fictional archetypes and visualizations of user experiences to build empathy and guide design.
- System maps and prototypes: Visualizes stakeholder relationships and creates early experiential forms to explore and communicate ideas.
- Business Model Canvas: Links service design to organizational strategy by sketching and analyzing business models.
How does "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn approach research in service design?
- Beyond assumptions: Research uncovers real user motivations, behaviors, and contexts, enabling empathy and insight-driven design.
- Iterative research loops: Plans research as a sequence of loops, refining questions and methods based on emerging findings.
- Method triangulation: Combines desk research, ethnography, interviews, and workshops for richer, more reliable data.
- Data synthesis and visualization: Uses tools like research walls, personas, and journey maps to make sense of complex data and communicate insights.
What ideation methods and advice are provided in "This Is Service Design Doing"?
- Diverse ideation techniques: Includes brainstorming, brainwriting, bodystorming, and analogy-based thinking to generate and deepen ideas.
- Cards and checklists: Uses ideation cards and checklists to focus sessions, break thinking patterns, and ensure comprehensive coverage.
- Managing ideation sessions: Emphasizes preparation, participant selection, and balancing divergent and convergent thinking for effective idea generation.
- Decision-making tools: Recommends clustering, voting, and physical commitment to select and prioritize ideas while maintaining momentum.
How does "This Is Service Design Doing" describe prototyping in service design?
- Exploration and evaluation: Prototyping is used to explore options, test hypotheses with users, and communicate concepts to stakeholders.
- Experience vs. imagine-like prototyping: Differentiates between direct user interaction (experience prototyping) and scaffolding thinking when direct interaction isn’t possible.
- Diverse prototyping methods: Presents techniques like investigative rehearsal, cardboard prototyping, paper prototyping, and Wizard of Oz.
- Iterative and risk-reducing: Encourages early, low-fidelity prototyping to reduce risk and uncertainty before investing in full-scale solutions.
What strategies does "This Is Service Design Doing" recommend for managing stakeholders and co-creators?
- Clear communication of roles: Explains why stakeholders are involved, what’s expected, and how their input impacts the project.
- Onboarding and engagement: Stresses careful onboarding, regular updates, and avoiding a "co-create-and-forget" mentality.
- Conflict management: Uses boundary objects and prototypes to reduce early conflicts and recommends conflict resolution training for teams.
- Continuous involvement: Encourages ongoing engagement and feedback to build trust and commitment throughout the project.
What are the best quotes from "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn and what do they mean?
- “If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000 meetings.” — Highlights the power of prototypes to communicate ideas efficiently and foster collaboration.
- “Designing a service is never done. It’s only over when you go out of business.” — Emphasizes the ongoing, iterative nature of service design and the need for continuous improvement.
- “Talk to your fing customer!”* — A blunt reminder that authentic user engagement is essential for meaningful innovation.
- “We always want whatever we are doing to be instantly good... invite them to aim for average. It enables them to get that essential sh!tty first draft out.” — Encourages embracing imperfection early to foster creativity and progress.
- “The goal of facilitation... is content driven and not process driven.” — Stresses that facilitation should focus on achieving meaningful outcomes, not just managing the process.
Review Summary
This Is Service Design Doing receives high praise from readers, with an average rating of 4.35/5. Reviewers appreciate its comprehensive approach, practical tools, and real-world case studies. Many consider it an essential reference for service designers and professionals involved in product development. The book is lauded for its holistic perspective, offering insights into methodologies, facilitation techniques, and prototyping. While some find it occasionally verbose or complex, most agree it's a valuable resource for both newcomers and experienced practitioners in the field of service design.
About the Author
Other books by Marc Stickdorn
Download PDF
Download EPUB
.epub digital book format is ideal for reading ebooks on phones, tablets, and e-readers.
