Service Design Show Service Design Show

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.