Service Design Show

What does it take to unlock the full potential of service design? That was the burning question in my recent conversation with Jung-Joo (JJ) Lee. As you know, service design's true value goes beyond delivering specific artifacts or running workshops. However, the prevalent narrative around service design in recent years suggests that it is a codified process with specific outcomes that can be applied to almost any situation. While this storyline might make it easier to initially "sell" service design, it doesn't consider the systemic value being created, the need to contextualize service design to fit diverse cultures, and the time it takes to deliver meaningful outcomes. When we stick to this one-dimensional narrative, we end up doing service design on a surface level, wondering why the underlying issues we're trying to address remain unimpacted. The longer we maintain this approach, the greater the risk of service design being dismissed as another short-lived fad: "We've tried it. It doesn't work." As service design professionals, it's up to us to change this narrative. And that's precisely what this episode is all about. JJ, who has witnessed firsthand how people adopt the "textbook" version of service design, shares practical tips on holding yourself and your clients to higher standards. Join us as we delve into ways to contextualize service design for diverse cultures, move beyond a process-oriented approach, and focus on creating intangible value. It might not be easy or pain-free in the beginning, but in the end, everyone wins. Although we explore cultural differences between countries and continents, the lessons we discuss in this episode apply to all companies and organizations, regardless of location. Let's keep making a positive impact together! - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 175 05:45 Who is JJ 08:30 Lightning Round 12:15 The plurality of service design 19:15 Understanding of SD in Asia 23:15 Story from South Korea 26:00 What was missing 29:15 Role of design maturity 35:00 What does this mean for us 39:15 The end of the double diamond 42:00 Evolving our practice 47:30 Have more courage 51:30 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jung-joo-lee-154660a/ To Have or To Be? (book) - https://amzn.to/3H4i7jN --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Explore our community for in-house service design professionals. https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

As service designers, we often face the challenge of sustaining momentum for change after the initial excitement of a project. It's easy to get caught up in the research and ideation phase, but true success only comes from making a tangible impact on our customers. If you've ever struggled with getting your insights to stick, you're not alone. Recently, Lisa Salamone hosted a session in our Circle alliance where members shared their experiences on sustaining momentum. We discussed practical tips on how to increase the chances that people follow through on your work. By applying these tips and strategies, we can ensure service design doesn't become mere "corporate entertainment" and makes a real difference. So I invited Lisa for a chat on the Show to share the key takeaways from that session with you. One thing that stuck with me from this conversation was the importance of how you start a project. Going slow to go fast is crucial. Enjoy the episode, and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome 03:00 Who is Lisa 04:15 What's in store 05:30 How do you recognize this 08:00 What can you gain 09:15 The challenge 12:30 How did we get here 14:30 Is it our job 17:00 Setting up for success 19:45 Understanding the problem space 23:00 What is the Circle 25:00 Finding advocates 32:15 The beginners mind 34:30 Reusing existing knowledge 37:30 Lesson learned 40:30 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-salamone/ --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle

Have you ever thought about... what a sustainable service looks like? Nowadays, we have a pretty good idea of what sustainability means for products, but I would argue not so much for services. The language around sustainability resides very much in our material world. We talk about carbon emissions, reducing waste, and moving towards circularity. But services aren't made up of atoms. Our design "materials" are things like time, experiences, relationships, processes, etc. So this brings us back to the question of how do you design services that serve our planet just as much as they serve our organizations and customers? In this episode, Anna van der Togt, Lead Sustainability at Livework, shares how they approach this topic. Join us to explore what sustainable insurance might look like and how it would change the relationship between service providers and their customers. We also discuss how to get your clients to open up about investing in sustainable services. Because most of them won't be able to articulate right now that they need or want this. As you'll hear, there are still many unanswered questions, which makes exploring this topic so interesting. :) Here's a question to get your mind going: As a service design professional, you also deliver a service to your clients. How can you rethink your own practice to make it more sustainable? Enjoy the conversation, and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 173 05:30 Who is Anna 07:15 Lightning round 11:15 Where are we today 16:15 Is there waste in services 20:15 Which levers do we have 23:45 Suppliers and customers 27:00 What's missing 29:15 How did we get here 32:15 Design materials of services 34:30 Reactions of clients 39:30 Sustainable service examples 43:15 How could the conversation change 44:45 The role of service design 46:45 What is holding us back 49:15 Looking down, up and wide 52:30 Impact on our practice 54:45 Questions to think about 56:15 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/avdtogt/ The Value of a Whale (book) - https://amzn.to/3UEuc4Q --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle

How do you scale service design from 10 to 100 inside an organization? That’s what you’ll hear in this conversation with Doug Powell. But first, let me tell you a personal story. My car was leaking oil. It started with small drips but got worse over time. The idea of having to take the entire engine apart wasn’t something I was looking forward to. So we tried to “solve” the issue by tightening nuts, double-checking every seal, and adding fresh oil. As you might have guessed, the problem of course didn’t go away. The car still drove, but my driveway was getting messier by the day, and the fact that I knew that I wouldn’t want to take it for a long drive didn’t sit well with me. So after putting up with the band-aid solutions for a while, it was time to do the unavoidable and take the engine apart. It was messy, it wasn’t cheap, but it had to be done. The good news is that I’m still driving that car today. Similarly, many organizations have “leaking engines” in the form of career frameworks that have grown organically over time and don’t account for the role of service design. And before you say that those are just documents HR likes to look at, let’s not underestimate how important these career frameworks are. They determine salaries, promotions, and responsibilities. So while it’s tempting to keep improvising and avoid the hassle of updating career frameworks, this approach only works for so long. Eventually, you’ll need clarity and structure to scale your team and attract new talent. That’s where Doug comes in. In our conversation, he shares lessons from standardizing and formalizing design roles, responsibilities, and titles at IBM and Expedia. You’ll also hear about HR's role in this process and how you can turn this seemingly unsexy task into a design challenge that excites everyone. Regardless of whether you’re a small or a big team, the insights Doug shares will help you be one step ahead when trying to scale service design… rather than having to fix things when they eventually break down. For me, this conversation was a good reminder that the success of service design within an organization isn’t so much about knowing how to get the most out of our tools and methods. Instead, it’s about making it part of the organizational operating system. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc P.S. If you’re open to sharing (parts of) your career framework, I’d love to collaborate and grow the maturity of our practice. Just reach out to me! --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 172 06:00 Rapid fire question round 10:00 Topic of today 12:00 The backstory 19:00 What is a career framework 24:00 Where can we improve 26:30 Partnering with HR 31:00 It's up to us 33:30 Designer career playbook 39:30 Connecting to existing systems 44:30 Things that need fixing 48:15 Being the outsiders 50:15 From 10 to 100 51:30 Sharing knowledge 55:30 Lessons learned 58:15 The opportunity 59:30 How might we 1:01:15 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglaspowell330/ * Notes on an Execution (book) - https://amzn.to/3Zt5g0I * Design Career Frameworks: The Messy Plumbing of Scaled Design Programs (article) - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/mubuc --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

I almost can't believe it... Colleagues for the entire org are lining up and asking for service design. That's what Niamh Parsley said when I asked her about the biggest change that happened in the last two years.  Niamh is the Senior Design Manager at the world's #1 music streaming service, Spotify. When Niamh joined Spotify, only she and one colleague were waving the service design flag. But today, over 50 design professionals across every area of the company are spreading the practice. How did they do it without hiring an army of service designers? In this episode, Niamh shares how they grew service design inside Spotify, the challenges they faced, and their goals for the upcoming years. You'll learn about the critical role of the internal community, the breakthrough caused by the career framework, and surprising tactics that made service design famous. If you're on a similar journey to grow demand for service design within your organization, you'll definitely want to hear Niamh's insights! I'm grateful to Niamh for sharing her story with us so openly and providing a peek behind the curtains of a high-profile company that impacts our daily lives. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 171 04:30 Who is Niamh 05:30 Lightning round 07:15 Niamh's journey 12:15 The article 15:30 How is SD organized 18:30 Internal guild 24:30 Career framework 30:15 Challenges 36:00 Impact on staffing 37:30 Biggest win 42:00 What's next 46:15 One piece of advice 47:30 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/niamhmp/ https://spotify.design/article/backstage-tickets-to-the-world-of-service-design-at-spotify Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design (book) - https://amzn.to/42jAWby --- [ 3. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] --- Learn how to get buy-in for service design from your clients, stakeholders and co-workers. https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence

I'm sure you know them. Services that made you smile, made you feel special, made you feel... human. Unlike the bland and ordinary services that quickly fade from our memory, they are the services that we remember and look forward to. The secret behind these exceptional services is the emotional connection they create with their users. But creating this emotional connection isn't easy. Luckily, there's a proven "tool" that can help you do it - rituals. Think for a moment about the rituals in your life, whether it's your morning coffee or your weekly dinner club. These moments are important to us, big or small. And our lives are filled with these moments. So, why not design our services with these moments in mind? But how... In today's episode, we're joined by Ted Matthews, a researcher, and expert in rituals as a tool for service design. Ted believes that rituals offer us the opportunity to design memorable services that make a lasting impact on the lives of our users. In this episode, we explore the power of rituals and how you can leverage them in your design process to create unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned service designer or just starting out, seeing the power of rituals is something that you can't unsee. So, let's embrace it as a community and keep making a positive impact. Thanks for your time, and enjoy the conversation :) - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 170 06:00 Who is Ted 08:00 Lightning round 13:00 Rituals as a design material 17:30 Habits, routines, and habits 22:00 Rituals in the context of services 28:00 Crafting experiences 34:30 Designing for the collective 39:00 Extraordinary ordinary experiences 42:30 How much is too much 46:00 Ethical questions 49:30 Is it different 51:30 Most common questions 54:00 Recommended resources 56:00 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- Ted's PhD (in=depth and difficult) - https://aho.brage.unit.no/aho-xmlui/handle/11250/2758408 Chapter 9 of this book (easier overview but reductive) - http://www.experience-centric.com Rituals for Work (book) - https://amzn.to/3y7QIbz Rituals for Virtual Meetings (book) - https://amzn.to/3yksE5L Ritual design tool kit - https://interactionfoundry.com/rdt On consumption rituals - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666318302496 --- [ 3. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] --- Learn how to get buy-in for service design from your clients, stakeholders and co-workers. https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence

Okay, take a guess... Which services are probably the most challenging to design? I argue that it's the services that your users don't explicitly ask for. Wait, what?! Who designs services that their users don't ask for? Well, your government does. A lot. Think of public services like collecting taxes, keeping your street clean, and providing quality education, and helping to alleviate poverty. These are often the "forgotten" services that are so important in order to maintain the wellbeing of our cities and countries. It’s one thing to make sure these services are available, but a completely different challenge to improve the experiences of these forgotten services.  Our guest, Sally Halls, has taken on this challenge and is using service design to bridge the gap between citizens and policy-makers.  In this episode, we'll explore how to design services that people haven’t explicitly asked for, how to bring the public's voice into policy-making, and the impact service design professionals can have on the public sector. Sally also shares her experience with service design and how it can be used to benefit the public sector. The insights from this episode can be used in any sector. If you're dealing with abstract or high-level goals in your work, then you'll surely pick up a few nuggets of wisdom from this conversation. Enjoy! - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 169 06:00 Who is Sally 07:00 60 second rapid fire 09:30 Three types of services 14:30 Preventative service misconceptions 18:30 Specific challenges 23:00 Taking the first step 25:30 How to find fulfillment 28:00 Evidencing services 30:45 What are arms length services 35:00 Is this still our work 37:45 What is the most difficult 40:15 Mistakes and pitfalls 44:30 What do you wish you had known 46:30 Recommended resources 47:15 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-halls-a3715417/ https://publicpolicydesign.blog.gov.uk https://openpolicy.blog.gov.uk/category/skills-tools-and-techniques/ https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit --- [ 3. BOOKS ] --- Hello World by Hannah Fry - https://amzn.to/3EcDZYH How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert - https://amzn.to/3IqWI5k Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman - https://amzn.to/3XzLwYt Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard P. Rumelt - https://amzn.to/3RZRZKZ --- [ 4. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] --- Learn how to get buy-in for service design from your clients, stakeholders and co-workers! https://www.servicedesignshow.com/confidence

What is the secret... How do you get non-designers to appreciate the value of service design? It’s also a question that keeps coming back over and over again. And I get it. Clients hold budgets, internal stakeholders have decision-making power, and you need your colleagues to pull projects off. If you don't get these people on board with your work, you risk paying a high price. However, when you know how to play the game well, you increase your chance of doing more meaningful and fulfilling work. Fortunately, selling service design to those around you isn’t some form of dark magic. It's simply a skill that can be learned and mastered. There are repeatable processes, proven frameworks, and dozens of practical tools to help you. Helping you get up to speed with all these tools, frameworks, and processes is what the Selling Service Design with Confidence program does. Recently, a group of service design professionals completed the program, and I invited them to share their key takeaways with you on the Show. In this episode, you’ll hear how it helped them to: Position service design in a tech-led environment. Get clients to invest in user research. Find clients when you’re just starting out. Establish your role inside a multinational. And much more... This is a great episode for anyone who wants better, more productive conversations with non-designers, whether that’s your clients, stakeholders, or colleagues. It not only makes your work more enjoyable but also helps you to become a more mature professional. Enjoy, and as always, keep making a positive impact. - Marc --- 1. GUIDE --- 00:00 Welcome to the episode 03:30 The graduates 04:30 Caroline (agency) 12:00 Halyna (agency) 21:00 Sapna (freelancer) 29:00 Andy (agency) 39:15 Yulia (founder) 47:00 Daniel (in-house) 55:00 Closing thoughts --- 2. Selling Service Design with Confidence --- For more information and instructions on how to apply head over to: https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence

Journey Mapping is, without a doubt, one of the most important tools we use. We spend a lot of time and effort to create the most impactful maps we can.  It’s all part of the job: * Dozens of workshops * Hours doing user research * And weeks of sensemaking. The perfect journey map. Success! But what comes after the map?  Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s used... and then stowed away.  The map becomes single-use artifacts, forgotten. Used once, then too difficult to keep updated for when a new design challenge comes along. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And this brings us to our guest for this week's episode: Florian Vollmer. I dare to say that Florian has cracked the code when it comes to managing journeys on a large scale. How large? His team works with 100+ journey maps and 500+ innovation opportunities globally. I couldn’t imagine it was possible when I first heard that. But today, Florian not only brings our stowed-away journeys back to life but integrates them with a hundred more. Effectively breaking down silos and fueling collaboration. Avoiding rework and overcoming internal resistance. No easy task. Florian needed to find the connection – something that tech, business, CX, and every other department would embrace. In this episode, you'll hear how Florian transitioned from journeys as (very useful) single-use artifacts to being the backbone of ongoing CX innovation. We’ll learn about: - How you can build a repository of journeys even when you don’t get the explicit task to do so. - What the key criteria are for selecting the right journey management tool? - And how you need to tweak the service design process when you want to reach 100% journey coverage. No matter where you are in your service design journey (no pun intended), this conversation has the potential to take it to the next level! I really enjoyed the pragmatism in Florian's stories. Sometimes you need to let go of common practices and just do whatever it takes. Enjoy the conversation. - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 168 03:45 Who is Florian 06:45 Lightning round 09:45 Operating at scale 13:15 What do you manage 14:30 Who is the team 16:00 How did it start 21:00 Finding broader adoption 26:00 Where do you find the time 28:15 What is the brief 31:15 Beyond service designers 34:00 Importance of tools 40:15 Crossing the tipping point 42:45 Simplifying complexity 46:45 Lessons learned 49:00 Taking more time 50:45 Meets sustainability 52:15 Big questions 55:15 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/florianvollmer/ * Thinking in Systems (book) - https://amzn.to/40lcJAB * DMI article - https://www.dmi.org/page/ADMC2022proceedings (pdf - page 254) --- [ 3. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] --- Get your clients, colleagues, managers and CEOs as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence

Journey mapping is reaching its limits. Sure, journey maps and mapping work fine at a small project or team level.  But it quickly breaks down when you want to organize around the journey, at a bigger company scale. In order to do this, you need something that goes beyond mapping. But before we dig into what that is, let's look at why journey mapping breaks down: Everyone has their way of doing it; there is no standard. It's hard to get an overview across multiple journeys. Identifying and prioritizing opportunities is a challenge. Tracking progress and impact isn't part of the process. Adoption slows down as most tools aren't made for business users. And many other things... Now, this might sound strange, but I think these are good challenges to have. The fact that these challenges are becoming more pressing is a sign. A sign that the demand for a journey-centric way of working is growing inside companies. Something that we've been hoping and advocating for all these years. So what is the next step... How do you take your journey mapping game to the next level? Well, that's what Jochem van der Veer and I explore in this week's episode. As you'll hear, Jochem has a unique close-up view of how companies use journeys inside their business.  Want to help your company organize around the journey, beyond a single project or team? This conversation will get you heading in the right direction. What I found interesting is that we're seeing the contours of a new business approach and philosophy emerging. Makes me excited! Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact :) - Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to episode 167 04:45 Who is Jochem 06:00 Lightning round 08:30 Partnership with TheyDo 12:00 What is Journey Management 13:30 Mapping vs. management 17:15 Journey management stack 19:30 What is the problem 21:00 Product or service-centric 26:15 Maturity levels 32:00 Role of TheyDo 36:15 Governance 38:15 What is the right time 43:00 Journey Management Index 47:45 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/ https://www.theydo.com --- [ 3. JOURNEY MANAGEMENT INDEX ] --- Assess your journey excellence maturity level. Find opportunities for growth. Benchmark yourself against your colleagues and competitors. https://www.servicedesignshow.com/index