Service Design Show

There's a really interesting new podcast on the block. It's called Designing the Robot Revolution. And the first episode is titled: Why Every Service Designers' Dream Should Be To Work In Manufacturing. Yeah, I know what you're thinking :) So obviously I had to get these fellow podcasters on the Service Design Show to hear more about their story. In this episode you'll hear Jacob Magnell and David Griffith-Jones share what inspired them to start a podcast about this somewhat surprising angle on service design. I would say that if you want to stretch your perspective on service design then make sure you tune into this conversation. And who knows maybe it will inspire you to start working in manufacturing after all ;) It's great how Jacob & David are exploring uncharted territory within our field. Stories like these really help us to build more and stronger bridges. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 145 02:45 Who is Jacob 03:30 Who is David 04:00 60 second rapid fire 08:45 How did the podcast start 13:00 What is it all about 20:00 Service design in a industrial environment 24:30 Favorite topics 29:45 It's about the blind spots 33:00 Learnings from creating a podcast 36:45 The wishlist 38:15 How can we help 41:45 Recommended resources --- [ LINKS ] --- Designing the Robot Revolution Why every service designers dream should be to work in manufacturing David (LinkedIn) Jacob (LinkedIn) The wisdom of listening (book) Nudge (book) The power of ten (podcast) Industrial IoT spotlight (podcast) Freakonomics Radio (podcast) --- [ 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

Okay, here's a sensitive question... How comfortable are you with strategically influencing stakeholders? If this question feels a bit creepy stay with me a bit longer. This is really important. Because what if I told you that knowing how and who to influence is a key success factor for every service design professional? So it's no surprise that this is a topic that keeps coming up in our Circle community sessions. In our recent session we did a deep dive into this topic. We explored which tools and methods people actually use to cultivate influence inside their organizations. As you'll hear in this podcast episode we really get down to the most practical level, the nitty gritty stuff.  Yes, the things that actually help you do a better job the next day. So click the link below to discover what it's all about. Discussing influence can quickly feel very heavy and serious. But what I enjoyed about the conversation with Ben was that we were able to have some fun and take the heavy load off it without dumbing it down. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did! --- [ EPISODE GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to the Show 03:30 Who is Ben McCammon 06:15 Why would you want to cultivating influence 10:30 What is at stake 17:15 This is your job 21:00 What do we mean with cultivating influence 22:45 The mighty stakeholder map 32:45 Building profiles 45:00 Making it a habit 51:00 Connecting the dots out loud 59:00 Consider saying yes 1:03:00 Don't be shy --- [ CIRCLE ] --- Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle. www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/

Service design isn't enough... This sentiment has been expressed on the Show many times before. And I agree. The challenges organizations face these days are too complex to be solved by (service) design alone. But here's the strange thing. Although we pride ourselves on bringing a holistic user perspective to the table, this holistic perspective is often missing when it comes to our own field. We still have many blind spots when it comes to collaborating with other business disciplines. Just think about what your relationship is to HR, IT, operations, marketing, sales, support, strategy, etc. This lack of alignment and integration with other parts of the business is unnecessarily limiting the good you can do. In this episode of the Show I talk to Clara Llamas about how we can break free from these limitations... without turning service design into a Frankenstein monster. I guess the point is that we as a community often carry a very heavy (and unhealthy) responsibility of having to deliver great services, almost by ourselves. Well, we really need to stop that way of thinking and find better ways to share the workload. If you're interested to learn how, click the link below and find out. Be prepared. There are some very thought provoking questions in this episode :) Enjoy and keep making a positive impact! [ 1. GUIDE 📺 ] 00:00 Welcome to episode 144 03:30 Who is Clara 04:15 60 second rapid fire 06:15 How did it start 08:15 The current boundaries 13:00 Where can we grow 15:00 How did we get here 19:15 The perspective shift 22:00 The opportunities 26:45 Where are we in the chain 30:00 Organizing the house 34:30 What's missing 39:30 Taking the first step 42:30 What does this mean 47:00 Silent design 49:00 Final thoughts [ 2. LINKS 🔗 ] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarallamas/ - Capitalism without Capital (book) - https://amzn.to/3C5B1mH [ 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!

What does it take... How do you enable a design team to deliver their best work? As the VP of Design at Capital One, Jamin Hegeman is thinking about this on a daily basis. He is tasked with the big responsibility of making sure that his 700+ design colleagues are able to make a positive contribution to the business and its customers. In this week's episode you'll hear the journey Jamin has been on over the last few years. How he transitioned from being a design practitioner at a respected consultancy to now being a design leader at a major corporate. We talk about the need for designers to understand how things get done inside an organization. And how Jamin gained a new perspective on what success looks like. This conversation has some great insights on what it takes for design(ers) to be more impactful. Even if you're currently not a VP ;) It's a great privilege to be able to pick the brains of people like Jamin. And that they are willingly taking the time out of their busy schedule to share their experiences with us! Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact! --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 143 03:45 Who is Jamin 05:15 60 second rapid fire 07:00 How to become a VP of Design 11:15 What does success look like? 15:30 Being visible 20:30 Lessons learned 25:30 Good design leadership 29:15 Agency versus in-house perspective 34:15 Operationalizing design 38:30 Sense of accomplishment 43:30 Fighting the right battles 50:00 The impact of scale 51:15 What's next 52:00 Closing thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaminhegeman/ * Design Justice (book) - https://amzn.to/3sFzWxz --- [ 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

On episode 7 of the Service Design Show Adam Lawrence once said this.. "If you can only do one thing in the entire design process, do research." I don't have to convince you of the importance of proper user research. It's the lifeline of our work. Unfortunately in a lot of organisations research is still seen as something that just slows everything down. It can be hard to get buy-in and support to actually do proper research. Recently I sat down with the Circle community to discuss this challenge. And it quickly became clear that the struggle is real. Everyone in the community had their own story of how company culture stood in the way of them just doing their work. When started to look at the solutions and workarounds people had found to get over these cultural barriers, 6 best practices emerged. And in this episode the Show you're going to hear what these best practices are. What I enjoy about the Circle is that it's a space where people aren't afraid to share the dirty secrets of our work. It's a refreshing alternative to all the polished case studies we otherwise see. --- [ EPISODE GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to the Show 03:30 Who is Taylor 04:00 Who is Tim 05:00 What are cultural barriers 06:30 Evaluating services 09:45 Where are we today 12:00 The struggles 14:00 The consequences 18:15 Make it into a habit 21:00 Reframing what research is 21:30 Quantifying qualitative research 23:30 Don't ask for permission 28:15 Create psychological safety 30:45 Getting over egos 36:30 Identify your champions 41:15 Tools & budget 44:00 Closing thoughts --- [ CIRCLE ] -— Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/

What would you say is one of the most daunting design challenges of our time? I hope our climate crisis at least crossed your mind. As Cat Drew argues, we as a service design community play a key role in helping to solve this crisis. Cat is the Chief Design Officer at the UK Design Council and currently championing the Design for Planet initiative. In this week's episode of the Show we talk about the opportunities designing with the planet in mind brings to organizations. And how the organizations which keep on ignoring their responsibility will be left behind. Cat shares a lot of encouraging examples of services where planet was part of the design brief. But no matter how hard you want to use design to shape a better world... If the client who is hiring you doesn't care, it's going to be a very hard task. So you need to encourage and inspire your clients to make the planet part of the design brief. It's not easy, but there are some great resources that help you do this and you'll learn about them in this episode. As a service design community we need to lead by example. Designing with the plant in mind is not a choice. It's a responsibility. This conversation with Cat hopefully inspires you to look beyond the current borders of service design! --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 142 02:45 Who is Cat 03:40 60 second rapid fire 05:45 What is the UK Design Council 11:15 What is Design for Planet 14:15 Cats personal journey 17:00 Awarenes within service design 21:45 Encouraging examples 27:30 Roadblocks and challenges 35:30 How to get started 39:30 The business opportunity 42:00 What is missing 44:45 Taking responsibility 46:30 The plan ahead 48:15 Recommended resources 51:00 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * Design for Planet Film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEkInJzvv84 * Design for Planet festival - https://www.designforplanet.org/ * Design for Planet fellows - https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/design-council-announces-design-planet-fellows * Design Council medium blog - https://medium.com/design-council * Salford Wetland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC-yjQemBmU * Systemic Design Framework - https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/resources/guide/download-our-systems-shifting-design-report and animation https://vimeo.com/665550484 * The climate framework https://www.climateframework.com/ * Circular Design hub - https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/* Circular-design and Circular Economy Hub - https://ce-hub.org/ * https://leap.eco/ --- [ 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

Embedding design into an existing organization often feels like... trying to cram a square peg through a round hole. Right? In our attempts we often need to bend and shape design in ways that make it lose some of its most important qualities. Just think about how the holistic nature disappears when design becomes siloed across different departments. Which almost always happens. … and then people wonder why design isn't delivering on it's promise :-/ I recently had the pleasure to interview Naomi Stanford for the Show. Naomi is an authority in the field of organization design (just published her 8th book). In the conversation you’re about to hear we discuss the role of legacy and heritage, whether embedding design should be a top down or bottom up approach and whose responsibility is it anyway. As I found out myself, if you're a service design professional and haven't been exposed to organization design then you're absolutely missing out. Naomi is a great storyteller and brings up tons of inspiring examples on how these two fields strengthen each other. Click the link below to get in on all the details. I always love conversations with people who are on the fringes of service design. They expand my idea of what's possible. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 141 04:55 Who is Naomi 07:45 60 second rapid fire 10:45 A different way to look at design 14:15 The relationship to management 17:15 Look at how work gets done 22:30 What's the downside 25:15 The role of incentives 27:45 Making the leap 32:15 Corporate rebels 39:15 When leadership needs to step in 43:00 What are you going to do 46:15 Showing the organisational benefits 50:00 Embedding change 53:00 Recommended resources 55:15 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://naomistanford.com/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-stanford-54373b2/ * The Every (book) - https://amzn.to/33NTAPg * Tempered Radicals (book) - https://amzn.to/3KlbHNj * https://www.openlawlab.com/ * https://naomistanford.com/2021/11/08/organisation-design-odile-the-organisation-designer/ * https://naomistanford.com/2021/11/22/organisation-design-odile-the-organisation-designer-part-2/ * https://naomistanford.com/2021/12/06/organisation-design-odile-the-organisation-designer-part-3/ * https://naomistanford.com/2021/12/20/organisation-design-odile-the-organisation-designer-part-4/ * https://naomistanford.com/2008/10/26/organizational-horseholding/ * https://naomistanford.com/2017/12/27/designing-brave/ * https://naomistanford.com/2018/02/14/organization-design-a-toolkit-of-toolkits/ * https://naomistanford.com/2021/12/13/the-right-word/ --- [ 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 do you keep growing as a mid / senior level service design professional? It's mostly likely less and less through formal theory and education. Once you reach a certain level of maturity in your craft suddenly the small details and nuances start to make a big difference. But you won't find those things on Google. These learnings are hidden in the lived experiences from other professionals and communicated through rich stories. Until recently there wasn't a place where you could get exposed to these stories on a regular basis. That's why in the summer of 2021 I started an experiment called the Circle. The Circle is a community of and for in-house service designers. We gather on a monthly basis to learn from each other around different topics. The goal with the Circle was to create a safe space where it's okay to talk about the messy parts of our work. A place where you can go deep into the practice. Yes, nerding out on service design if you will :) Now, half a year later, it was time to evaluate this experiment and define it's next iteration. Of course this happened in co-creation with the current participants. In this short podcast episode you get a sneak peak inside the Circle. You'll learn what's working and what isn't. The exciting plans we have for this year. And if a community like this could be right for you. If you're currently not working in-house and still made it to the end of this email... let me know if you'd be interested in a community like this but for independent and agency folks. --- [ CIRCLE ] -— Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/

What is it that truly matters? Let's go back to the moment you first learned about service design. You know, when you entered the rabbit hole. There is so much to learn and to explore. It can easily become very complex and overwhelming. But if you want to become a service design practitioner you have to start somewhere. Right? You have to find a way to develop your skills without getting discouraged about all the things you don't know yet. And you know what the worst part is when you're getting started? That you always get the answer "It depends" when you seek advice from experienced service design professionals. Of course they are right. There is no fixed recipe on how to use the tools, methods and frameworks. But that doesn't really help you move forward. So how do you figure this stuff out as a working professional who is transitioning into this field? Today I want to share a unique story with you. Usually the guests you hear on the show already have some kind of track record in service design. You rarely hear the stories of people who are just getting started. And that's exactly what this episode is about. Herb Sawyer is at the start of his journey into service design. And he came onto the Show to share his experience so far. What I find so valuable about this conversation is that it inspires you to adopt a beginner's mind again. I hope that after listening to Herb's story you'll start thinking about the things you take for granted in your practice today. Things that maybe deserve more of your attention. We started with the question "What is it that truly matters?". This episode gives you some practical guidance on how to figure out what the answer is for you. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 140 05:15 Who is Herb 06:00 Rapid fire question round 09:30 Becoming one of them 13:45 How did we get here 19:30 Applying for a service design job 27:00 What's still missing 32:00 Tools versus process 34:30 How to grow and get better 39:30 The a-ha moments! 44:15 The challenging parts 47:45 The big questions 50:00 Fast forwarding one year ahead 52:00 Words of advice 56:15 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbsawyer/ ============ Learn how to Sell Service Design with Confidence https://servicedesignshow.com/selling/ ============

"Design and business only work together if there is common ground." That's one of the quotes from the conversation I recently had with David Dunne. But finding this common ground is easier said than done. These days it's still the school of management that's driving most companies. And I think you'll agree that design and management don't necessarily share the same world view, beliefs and approaches. These differences create tensions. These tensions prevent both sides from achieving the best possible outcomes. What David Dunne and his colleagues are doing is creating a shared language around these tensions (they refer to them as double binds). This shared language is essential! Because that helps to make these tensions tangible. And once they are tangible it becomes much easier to create mutual understanding and find constructive ways to work with each other. In this episode David shares the 6 double binds he uncovered through his research. I'm sure you'll recognize a few ;) Want to finally break through some of that stubborn resistance you meet when trying to embed design within your organization? Then this episode is just for you! --- [ EPISODE GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to the Show 04:15 Who is David Dunne 06:00 What are double binds 08:45 Why is this important 10:30 Creativity in organisations 12:30 Examples of double binds 14:45 How do you know you're in a double bind 20:00 General principles to the solutions 27:00 Humility and reflection 28:45 Other examples 30:30 Who needs to hear this 33:45 Lessons from the Circle 35:45 What is the risk 39:00 Reaching out to David 39:30 Open questions 41:30 Closing thoughts --- [ CIRCLE ] -— Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/