Service Design Show

Here's a question you might not think about daily... How is service design practiced in China? I'm always eager to learn about the (subtle) differences in how our field is perceived within different cultures. Why? Because seeing that there are other ways to approach things enriches my perspective and keeps me grounded about my way of working. The goal isn't to copy what's being done in other places but rather to understand its reasoning and philosophy. That's why I was excited to have a conversation with Zichian Xiong recently on the Show. He currently lives and works in the USA, but Zichuan was also at the forefront when service design started to emerge in China. As he's seen both worlds, Zichuan is in a great position to articulate the relevant similarities and differences. To get a good understanding of these similarities and differences, you'll hear about: Who is driving the design movement? (it's not consultancies) Which kinds of services are being designed in China and which ones aren't? What is the state of design education? Investing the time to listen and learn from stories like this, which give you a broader understanding of our field, is good practice for any professional. They help you to get out of your comfort zone and might hold the clue to connect the dots or spark a completely new insight. I found this an eye-opening conversation, with much more to be explored. So it's exciting to think about where design could be heading in the next 5 years. --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 158 03:00 Who is Zichuan 04:15 Lightning round 07:45 Zichuans backstory 11:45 The context of service design in China 18:00 Perception of services 24:45 Design in China 27:15 The implications 32:00 Only two industries 37:00 State of design education 41:30 The next frontier 47:45 The one thing you need to know 52:30 Final thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/zichuan-xiong-94aa3b13/ --- [ 3. NEXT STEP ] --- Looking for more? We've got you covered. Click the link below to join the Service Design Show community. https://servicedesignshow.com/subscribe/ You'll get access to inspiring stories and practical advice that helps to level up your service design career!

I could have seen this coming... That's the last thing you want to say when your project isn't going well. To minimize this risk, you'll need to identify red flags early on and work to create conditions for success. But it's challenging to talk about these topics with internal stakeholders before your project begins. People are eager to start; it makes sense. And you don't want to be seen as the one who is delaying things unnecessarily or putting roadblocks up. Before you climb a mountain, it's wise to take advice from someone who's done it before so that you don't get stuck halfway on your journey. In this case, you're the one who's climbed the mountain of a service design project, and your internal stakeholder is eager to embark on their first trip. So how do you make it evident that you're doing your internal stakeholder a service by addressing the conditions for success early on? You're helping them avoid common pitfalls and saving them the embarrassment of cleaning up the mess when things go sour. Well, in this episode, you'll hear three examples of how service design professionals have successfully managed to create the space to have these conversations with their stakeholders. One of my takeaways is that you need to have a clear process and structure in place that guides you through the tough questions at the start of a project. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc --- [ EPISODE GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to the Show 04:00 Who is James 04:45 Why this topic? 08:45 What gives it away? 10:15 Do we need this? 12:15 Ignition conversation canvas 21:00 Kick-off workshop 24:00 Increased accountability 25:15 The learning mindset 28:00 The value is in the process 29:15 Framing service design 31:15 Knowing what's relevant 36:15 Slow down 39:30 The green flags 42:00 You want to hear it's important 44:15 Just do this one thing 47:15 Closing thoughts --- [ CIRCLE ] --- Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle. www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/

No, it's not the latest shoes... What does it take for a professional athlete to perform at their best? Sure, she needs to have talent and be in top physical shape. But that's not enough. The top performing athletes are, for example, rigorous regarding their sleep, diet, and mental well-being. These things are the foundation for them to deliver a world-class performance. Now, I have a weird assumption. A design professional and an athlete might have more in common than meets the eye. I bet you that the top-performing design professionals also have a set of rigorous habits, routines, and rituals that allow them to deliver their most impactful work. I want to test this assumption in what might become an entirely new series on the Show. And who would be a better candidate for the first conversation about this than Chris Do? Chris Do is an educator and content creator who daily impacts the lives of thousands, if not millions, of creative professionals. So I invited Chris to get down and personal. In this episode, you'll hear Chris talk about his relationship with aspects like mental health, physical health, and goal setting. Basically, we're trying to demystify what allows Chris to do what he does on a fundamental level. So if you want to learn more about the life of a professional "design athlete" and what that means for you, don't miss this one! This might sound a bit like clickbait, but I got amazed more than once during this conversation. Chris does some things that are entirely different from what I would describe as common sense :) Enjoy the episode! --- [ GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 157 07:20 Who is Chris 09:00 Lightning round 11:00 Habits, rituals and, routines 13:00 Setting meaningful goals 17:15 Calibrating your internal compass 20:00 Nurturing reflective thinking 23:30 Expanding self-awareness 30:00 The morning routine 34:15 Looking for problems 38:00 Knowing who you are 43:30 The end of the day 46:00 Typical workday 48:15 Importance of breaks 49:15 Defining productivity 54:45 Finding a sense of accomplishment 59:15 Process versus outcome 1:02:45 Replacing harmful habits 1:06:15 Productivity habits 1:08:15 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisdo/ * https://www.youtube.com/c/thefuturishere Books * How to Tell a Story - https://amzn.to/3e9KZeW * What's Your Problem - https://amzn.to/3edrbaB * The Compound Effect - https://amzn.to/3BafqL7 Podcasts * https://radiolab.org * https://themoth.org/radio-hour --- [ SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] --- Get your clients, colleagues, managers and CEOs as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence

Navigating the often tricky waters of service design requires more than just hope. Effective communication with stakeholders is crucial for gaining buy-in. Discover the importance of connecting service design to measurable business outcomes and mastering storytelling. Learn how to create both customer and business cases, and why early involvement in conversations is key. Explore strategies to foster collaboration and celebrate small wins, ultimately driving impactful change within organizations.

Jillian Powers, Global Head of Responsible AI at Cognizant, is passionate about ethical technology. She discusses the crucial role service design professionals play in ensuring AI is developed responsibly. Jillian emphasizes understanding AI's inner workings without needing a math background. She highlights the need for transparency in high-stakes fields like healthcare and warns against biases in data. With personal insights and practical advice, she inspires designers to incorporate human perspectives in AI to create positive societal impacts.

Wouldn't it be great if... Delivering a great customer experience wasn't just a "nice to have" when there's time left but an actual strategic priority that guides decision-making? I'm sure you know many examples of (expensive) service failures that could have been prevented if the voice of the customer had been part of the conversations inside the company. Of course, this is precisely one of the things we try to achieve with service design. The problem is that we often don't yet have the authority to drive critical decisions. So no matter which arguments we bring forward when push comes to shove, in the end, it's always going to be the "HiPPO" in the room that calls the shots. Wolfram Thurm and his team were also running into this challenge. It was hard for them to get the value of design across so that other business stakeholders would see the benefits for them. Consequently, many times decisions were made that weren't in favor of the customer and the business. To the frustration of everyone involved. Fueled by this frustration and the opportunity to improve, Wolfram set out to find a way to structurally have better conversations inside the organization. After quite a journey, they managed to design a company-wide tool that now allows everyone to make better decisions faster. In this episode, Wolfram shares everything about the tool they created, how they use it, and the struggles they had to overcome to get here. --- [ GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 155 03:30 Who is Wolfram 06:30 Lightning round 10:00 What are design principles 12:00 Where did it start 17:45 Living the principles 22:45 What's in it for them 26:00 Bottom up or top down 29:30 When do you use them 34:30 The Gojek design principles 37:30 Supporting case studies 40:00 The workshop 43:45 Who owns this 47:45 Second iteration 51:45 Are there shortcuts 57:00 Where do you start 1:00:30 Finding the mandate 1:04:30 Key advice 1:06:45 Closing thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfram-thurm-1337b2a7/ Creative Confidence (book) - https://amzn.to/3aIB26U The Shape of Design (book) - https://amzn.to/3RG8zz8 --- [ CIRCLE COMMUNITY ] --- Learn more about the community for in-house service design professionals. https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

Who doesn't want this... To come up with smart solutions for relevant challenges that are immediately embraced by the end-users. Well, in this week's episode of the Show, Victor Udoewa shares a radical approach to the design process that increases the chance you'll actually accomplish this. But first, let's quickly look at why solutions don't get adopted. It's often not due to bad intentions. Many times it has to do with the fact that a wrong judgment call has been made about what's important. Because as a design professional, you're -implicitly- imposing your ideas, values, and norms onto the process. You are in a strong position of power, whether you like it or not. The problem is that this leads to solutions derived from a single -often mainstream- worldview.  Again, this isn't something that professionals set out to do. It happens because of the nature of the current design process. So is there something we can do about this? According to Victor, there is! We, starting with the design professional, have to give up power. The community and the users must lead the design process, from start to end, from top to bottom. But can this truly be done, or is it just wishful thinking? And is there still a role for the professional designer when this happens? Victor has a thing or two to say about these and some other key questions. So if you'd also like to work on more meaningful challenges and come to more impactful solutions, click the link below and soak in this inspiring conversation. It's great to get people on the Show who challenge our common design practices like Victor. And to be able to share these stories with you. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact :) --- [ GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 154 04:45 Who is Victor 05:30 Lightning round 08:45 The episode take-away 09:45 What is radical participatory design 15:15 Victor's journey 19:15 The benefits 24:00 Barriers to adoption 27:15 The response from the design community 31:45 The role of the design professional 37:45 Where does it start 41:45 The tensions 45:45 What are good challenges 52:45 The evolution 55:45 Taking the first step 1:01:45 A smart hack 1:02:45 What awaits you 1:05:15 Closing thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/udoewa/ Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples - https://amzn.to/3yHlYht Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods - https://amzn.to/3ObjtcZ Sand Talk - https://amzn.to/3O4Linp Indigenous Research Methodologies - https://amzn.to/3P6NwEh Applying Indigenous Research Methods: Storying with Peoples and Communities - https://amzn.to/3PcgJxt --- [ BOOKS ] --- Designs for the Pluriverse - https://amzn.to/3P7pDMK Stand Your Ground - https://amzn.to/3RvkvDN Fledgling (fiction, Afrofuturism) - https://amzn.to/3AKbsc9 Art of Gathering - https://amzn.to/3IJum4P Black Futures - https://amzn.to/3AWw4Oe Latinx Rising (An anthology) - https://amzn.to/3uLxs2q A Promised Land - https://amzn.to/3PnjDPC His Name Is George Floyd - https://amzn.to/3yGi1cV Soul of a Woman - https://amzn.to/3IBUtdP The Sum of Us - https://amzn.to/3PrGLMV Thinking in Systems - https://amzn.to/3nZoCdN The Bennet Women (fiction) - https://amzn.to/3P908um --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course

There's no doubt about it... Over the last few years, design has gained a lot of momentum in the business space. It's encouraging to see that design is slowly but surely getting a seat at the table. But at which price has this raise come? And are we willing to pay this price? When you zoom out a bit, you'll quickly notice that it's often the "easy to digest" form of design that is praised, the form where the focus primarily lies on gaining short-term benefits and incremental improvements. While that's a space where design can add value, it's not the space where it shines, according to Tom Foster. In this episode with Tom, I talk about how you can regain the space and time again to work on bigger, dare I say, more meaningful challenges. Now, if you think that's going hard in your organization, mind that Tom has worked in many traditional sectors and is now back in finance. If it's possible there, it might also be for you :) Although I'm excited that design is making huge strides these days, it's sad to see that some of the depth and craft eroded from our practice. This conversation with Tom gave me hope that we'll be able to bring it back. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 153 03:15 Who is Tom 04:15 Lightning round 10:00 The problem with design 13:45 How did we get here 17:45 The place of design 25:00 Where does change start 30:15 The organizational middle layer 33:45 What's driving Tom 37:30 Step in the right direction 40:45 Sharing your vision 48:00 Escaping status quo 53:30 Signs of success 55:00 Lessons learned 58:00 What is the sum 59:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasfoster/ http://sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-service-design/ --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course

As a consumer, you use artificial intelligence daily.  Just open any app on your phone, and the chances are that AI is somehow embedded within it. The development of AI so far has been driven mainly by engineers and scientists. But have you ever wondered how service design help to shape this powerful new technology? Well, it's not a question that's on my mind daily... But after the recent conversation with Carly Burton, I'm definitely more aware of the opportunity in front of us. As the product lead for the AI platform at Meta, Carly is on a mission to bring more design(ers) into developing better AI. In this episode, you'll learn why this is important and what might happen when we fail to do so. There are still many unknowns and unanswered questions in this space. And that's precisely the space where design thrives. But we shouldn't wait for the moment that design gets invited into the conversation. So it's really up to us to proactively create these bridges. If you're curious how, then Carly has some inspiring examples that will get your mind going! What I find exciting about the intersection between AI and design is that it's still very much uncharted territory. There really couldn't be a better time to step in and shape it with your ideas. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 152 03:15 Who is Carly 03:45 Lightning round 06:45 How it started 08:45 Challenges & opportunities 11:00 What can design add 16:30 What's at stake 19:00 A common scenario 26:30 The bigger goals 32:00 Pitfalls to avoid 36:15 Accelerating adoption 39:00 Spotting the right opportunities 41:00 The time machine 44:45 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlymarie00006/ The power of habit (book) - https://amzn.to/3n8K93h --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course

How can you enable service designers to deliver their best work? That's coming up in a second but first, imagine this... A wedding where the bride and groom have to take care of all the logistics on the big day itself. Everything from arranging the tables to welcoming the band. There will be little time and space to focus on why they are truly there. Yeah, that's why we have masters of ceremony and wedding planners. These people do all the heavy lifting so that the couple can own the moment. Okay, so what does this have to do with design? A lot. Many organizations that hire service design professionals forget (or aren't aware of) that they need support. And this leads to all kinds of problems. Most notably, designers get frustrated by not being able to live up to their full potential, eventually leaving the organization before they can create any meaningful impact. Fortunately, there's a new field emerging that has acknowledged this problem and is developing strategies to cope with it. This field is known as DesignOps. In this episode of the Show you'll hear Michelle Walter, the head of DesignOps at ANZ Bank, share how they actively support their internal designers to thrive inside the organization. You'll learn which business incentive drove ANZ to set up and invest in this new practice. And what it took to get buy-in to grow it beyond its initial stages. Finally, Michelle talks about the two major initiatives that have emerged over the years as the key drivers for success that they are experiencing now. I'd say that every organization which hires service design professionals needs to hear this conversation. But maybe you should listen to it first and then forward it to the right person ;) If I got one thing from this chat with Michelle, DesignOps is a deliberate act that requires a lot of careful thought and planning. It's a true expertise and needs to be treated like one. Enjoy this look under the hood of DesignOps and as always, keep making a positive impact! --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 151 03:00 Who is Michelle 07:00 60 second rapid fire 09:00 Growing nurturing and inspiring 10:00 Where did the journey start 15:00 The initial question 19:00 The hiring wild west 21:00 What has changed 23:45 Building a community 29:15 A deliberate act 32:45 The evolution 37:15 Learning program 41:15 What made this work 49:00 Getting feedback 52:45 Lessons learned 56:00 What's next 58:15 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbwalter/ The Art of Gathering (book): https://amzn.to/3GDGBia --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs, and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course