Service Design Show

A big part of your job as a service designer is to make services easier. Easier to find. Easier to navigate. Easier to use. Why? Because this not only makes the life of your customer easier but also yours. As you know creating services that offer a coherent experience across the board comes with some implications. In order to accomplish this organisations have to work across silos and have adopt a long term perspective. Now imagine that you're just a small service design team in a large traditional organisation. How do you make this happen? How do you even make any meaningful progress? Well that's the theme for this week's episode with Iran Narges. Iran is the service design lead at the city of San Francisco. We talk about how to be successful as a service designer in challenging conditions, including covid. I think you'll be surprised which things make the biggest difference according to Iran. So if find yourself in a siloed organisation that's primarily focussed on short term results I'm sure you'll get some useful insights out of this episode. My goal with the Show is to help you be more impactful by understand what's underneath the surface of service design. And I think this episode is a great example of that. If you're read all the way to here make sure to leave a comment with the hashtag #commitment --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 118 03:00 Who is Iran 07:00 Question rapid fire 09:30 Why Service Design in local government 14:30 Bridging the silos 18:30 How do you make progress 26:15 What are the learnings 31:45 Service design in a pandemic 37:15 Which value do you bring 39:30 Reinforcing the fundamentals 43:30 The vision 46:45 Get in touch with Iran 49:00 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/iran-narges/ * https://digitalservices.sfgov.org/ * https://medium.com/san-francisco-digital-services --- [ 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 explain service design in a way that it actually clicks for other people? I know some people have give up on this but I don't think that's a smart strategy. Here's why. The multidisciplinary nature of service design requires you to collaborate with other people. You're not going to design a service on your own... So being able to get the message across about what you do and the value you bring is crucial. You might be wondering what is it that makes explaining service design so challenging? Well, combine two intangible concepts that not a lot of people really understand and you end up with service design. But there's hope! One very effective way to help people understand service design is by tapping into something the other person is already familiar with. How? By using a metaphor. In the past I've explained service design by comparing it things like a jazz band, organisational fitness and the operating system of your computer. There's an endless number of metaphors you can use to get the message across. I've teamed up with Robert Bau to inspire you with a few powerful metaphors that we really like. So if you want to get more people excited about what you do as a service designer, this episode is just what you need! --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 117 01:10 Who is Robert 03:00 Why metaphors? 06:15 The Jazz Performance 09:15 The Mountain Guide 18:30 The Soccer Team 23:15 Theatre 37:00 Organisational Fitness 41:45 Being Stuck in the Middle 46:45 The Chef Cook 52:30 What's your favorit 53:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * Episode 99: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5WNSWdocS4 * https://www.bauinnovationlab.com/blog/bringing-down-the-house-1 * https://www.bauinnovationlab.com/blog/the-mountain-guide-1 --- [ 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

Have you heard about design systems? It's a catchy concept that's been getting quite some attention lately from our friends at the digital UX community. And I think we as a service design community can get a lot of value out of it as well! Here's my simple understanding of a design system... The main idea is that a design system provides you with a standardised set of components and patterns. This standardised set allows you to deliver results more efficiently and with more consistency. In an online environment a component might be a button and a pattern might be the steps in the ordering process. Now I hear you thinking... I don't work with buttons and checkout flows. So how can I as a service designer benefit from a design system? That exactly the question I had as well! Fortunately, good friend of the Show and design systems ninja, Dan Mall was willing to come on and lay it all out for us. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 116 02:05 Who is Dan 03:45 Getting started with design systems 07:30 The use case for design systems 11:00 Where does a design system live 14:30 Design systems for services 18:30 Where to start 26:30 Patterns and components 31:15 Finding the right balance 33:45 Design sytems are culture 36:30 Systems as word 39:00 Who's job is it 41:30 Reasons why design systems don't get adopted 44:30 How to sell a design system 47:00 It's an ongoing journey 49:00 Recommended resources 50:50 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmall/ * https://superfriendlydesign.systems/ * https://superfriendlydesign.systems/classes/make-design-systems-people-want-to-use/ * https://bigmedium.com/ideas/boring-design-systems.html * https://shop.smashingmagazine.com/products/design-systems-by-alla-kholmatova * https://abookapart.com/products/expressive-design-systems * Thinking in Systems: A Primer - https://amzn.to/2WITxgx --- [ ENJOYED THE SHOW ] --- Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify --- [ YOUTUBE ] --- Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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 much does a service designer earn? That's what you can find out in the first global service design salary report. The report contains salary data from over 1000 participants across 53 countries. In this podcast exclusive episode you'll hear Linn Vizard and Marc Fonteijn talk about how and why the report came to be. You'll learn about some of the most interesting findings and patterns that emerged from the data. And of course how you can use the report to find the answers to the questions that are most relevant to you! --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.servicedesignjobs.com/salary-report/ --- [ ENJOYED THE SHOW ] --- Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify --- [ YOUTUBE ] --- Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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

Is it possible? Can you win a game of checkers while playing chess at the same time? What on earth do you mean Marc? Okay, let me rephrase the question. Can you deliver short term results through service design projects while at the same time helping your client to build the capabilities that will benefit them in the long term? I do strongly belief that you have to bring service design in-house. Otherwise you will get stuck at running superficial projects that don't really change the system. An external agency might be the fire starter at first but eventually the design and delivery of great services needs to be a core competence of every company. I know what you're thinking. Learning service design on the job through projects is a great idea in theory. In practice its a lot easier said then done though. For one, you will have to deal with the middle layer of the organisation which in most situations has quite a short term mindset. So when you advocate to build internal capabilities that will benefit the organisation in the long term there's a conflict of interests. But as I mentioned I don't think we really have a choice. We have to find a way to get this done. Someone who has been trying to solve this wicked design challenge for a long time is Patrick Quattlebaum. Together with his team at Harmonic design Patrick helps organisations to design great services, while at the same time helping them to adopt the service design way of working. This episode of the Show is packed with valuable lessons from someone who has been on the front line for a long time. So if part of your job is to help (internal) clients build service design capabilities... the insights you get from this episode will make your life a lot easier. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 115 04:15 Who is Patrick 05:00 60 second rapid fire 09:15 Why is building capabilities important? 12:30 Going into the operating model 16:00 Service and capabilities outcomes 18:15 Where do I start? 24:45 Can you teach this? 29:00 Demonstrating value 34:30 Can you be strategic and practical 40:15 Change hurts 46:00 Navigating the middle 48:30 Give it away 53:30 Practical advice 59:45 Set up for success 1:03:00 Get in touch with Patrick 1:03:45 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/ptquattlebaum/ * https://twitter.com/ptquattlebaum * https://www.thisisharmonic.com/ Books * Orchestrating Experiences - https://amzn.to/37RpOrf * The Searcher - https://amzn.to/3m8eqwh * The Trusted Advisor - https://amzn.to/2VUjQ3h --- [ MORE ] --- Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify YOUTUBE Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube INSTAGRAM Get an exclusive behind the scenes look of the Show. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/instagram --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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

Here's a challenge I think you'll recognize... How do you move design up the maturity ladder in an organisation? Back in the day when I would get called in for a project I knew the client wouldn't get a lot of value out of the design approach when we would just apply it on the superficial layers of a service. No surprise here. To have any meaningful impact on business and customers we needed to use design from strategy to implementation. The truth is that I often got quite frustrated about this process. Many clients weren't ready for this. And navigating through the organisational layers and the internal politics isn't what I signed up for (or at least I thought). But I also didn't want to get stuck doing work on the margins. Especially when you know which value you can contribute. This seems to be a common channel for many service designers out there. If this sounds familiar than this week's episode is just for you! I sat down with Homaxi Irani to discuss what you can do to successfully grow the influence of and appreciation for design within an organisation. Usually the conversations about this topic tend to stay quite abstract and high level. But as you'll hear Homaxi shares some very practical advice on things you can do tomorrow. So if you want to take design to the next level within your organisation make sure you don't miss this episode. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 114 02:40 Who is Homaxi 03:20 60 second rapid fire question round 05:30 Bringing design in to the broardroom 08:00 Why should we want to bring design into the boardroom 17:30 How to gain more influence 24:00 What is the secret sauce 28:30 Navigating the middle management swamp 34:00 Showcasing the value of design 42:00 Is design a risk? 50:00 How to move forward 59:00 The power of pragmatism 1:02:30 Get in touch with Homaxi 1:03:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/homaxi/ * Battle Scars by Dinaaz Lentin (book) - https://amzn.to/3fq5mkw * Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton (book) - https://amzn.to/35ZyUCv --- [ MORE ] --- Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify YOUTUBE Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube INSTAGRAM Get an exclusive behind the scenes look of the Show. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/instagram --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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 an in-house service designer you see so much potential to do good but often it feels like organisation is working against you. Preventing you to do the job you were hired for in the first place. You want to ask for objective advice, get someone's opinion or just share your frustration for a moment. But in many cases all the weight falls on your shoulders. You're the expert that everyone is looking up to. So what do you do? You join a campfire group of course. A what?! A campfire brings in-house service designers from different organisations together to help them grow as professionals. I've invited 5 people who are are part of such a campfire group to share their stories with you. In this episode they openly talk about challenges they face and also their tips on how to successfully navigate around them. Even if you're not working in-house I'm sure you'll get a lot of insights out of these stories! The registration for the next campfire group has just opened. So if you’d also like to be part of a supporting community and grow as a professional consider joining. You can find detail on how to apply on the page below https://www.servicedesignshow.com/campfire/ There's space for only 8 participants so if you’re interested don’t wait too long with submitting your application.

Most service designers will say that their goal is to design solutions that have a natural fit in people's lives. Because those are the solutions that will be embraced by the users and thus make the impact we're seeking to create. One challenge you probably already have faced is that as a service designer you always come in as an outsider. Usually at the start of a project you know very little about the local context, culture or environment. Even if you're designing something which is close by like a service for the internal department next door. So designing a solution that fits is not easy. Of course doing good design research helps. But that's not enough. You need something else to make sure your solution fits into the context. In this episode Priyam Sharda shares what that is. I invite you to listen to the stories Priyam shares and think about how the lessons translate to your world. Think you'll be surprised how many parallels you'll be able to find. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 113 02:10 Who is Priyam 03:10 60 second rapid fire 05:30 Designing better health care 09:00 Partnerships are the secret 15:00 Challenging the narrative 18:00 The response to design 20:30 Enabling the enablers 26:00 Scaling services 33:15 Be part of the transformation 36:30 Just do what works 43:15 Redefining results 47:00 Get in touch with Priyam 47:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyamsharda/ * https://scopeimpact.fi/ * https://www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/ --- [ MORE ] --- Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify YOUTUBE Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube INSTAGRAM Get an exclusive behind the scenes look of the Show. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/instagram --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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 thought experiment. Let’s move away for a moment from thinking about designing the next service that’s delivered through a fancy mobile app… What if you had to design service that literally help to save children's lives? And you have to do it in a low tech environment with very limited resources. While at the same time managing traditional stakeholders with their own perspective on the desired solution. Sounds impossible? Well that’s what Gonzalo Rodion and Phearak Mak are up against every day. In this episode you’ll learn how they do it. How they successfully design solutions that are embraced by the end users in this challenging context. I know that at first this might sound like a very distant world from your reality. Especially if you’re in a corporate environment. But trust me at the end of the episode you’ll be surprised by just how many similarities there are. If anything the stories Gonzalo and Phearak share helped me to get out of the design bubble we sometimes tend to get caught in. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 112 02:00 Who are Gonzalo & Phearak 04:00 What is IDE 05:45 60 seconds question rapid fire 08:30 The Innovation Lab 11:00 The challenges around social innovation 14:30 Designing social behaviour change 27:00 Obvious solutions 29:15 Finding the real problem 40:20 Making a meaningful impact 43:15 The lessons learned 46:00 Showing the value 49:20 Get in touch with Gonzalo & Phearak 50:50 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.instagram.com/ideinnovationlab/ * https://www.facebook.com/ideinnovationlab * http://linkedin.com/company/ideinnovationlab * https://www.linkedin.com/in/gonzalo-rodino/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/phearak-maksay-7a073b87/ --- [ MORE ] --- Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify YOUTUBE Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube INSTAGRAM Get an exclusive behind the scenes look of the Show. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/instagram --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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 in an organisation isn't easy. Especially if that organisation is quite traditional, heavily regulated and not very open to change. But the guest in this episode still found a way to do that. The secret to success? Take people by the hand and gently guide them through the process in small steps. This might sound obvious but we tend to forget that the things that come natural to us feel very distant to others. But giving too much guidance means that people won't take ownership of the process. Give too little guidance and you'll lose people along the way. In this episode we're going to explore how you can find that perfect balance. After listening you will be better equipped to facilitate the transition to a more designerly way of working. Even when your organisation is traditional, heavily regulated or not open to change. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 111 02:10 Who is Angela 03:00 60 second rapid fire 05:40 The need for better services 12:25 This is holding us back 19:10 Helping people cross the chasm 32:10 Give guidance 37:40 Training your design muscle 45:00 Biggest advice 48:00 Get in touch with Angela 49:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaobias/ * https://www.twitter.com/yellowicepick * https://www.facebook.com/uxresearchfilipina/ --- [ MORE ] --- Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/spotify YOUTUBE Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube INSTAGRAM Get an exclusive behind the scenes look of the Show. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/instagram --- [ FREE COURSE ] --- 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