Service Design Show Service Design Show

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

How can service design help in times of crisis? This is one of the questions Max Tkachuk and I explore in this episode. 

Max lives in Kyiv and is an active member of the service design community in Ukraine.

Being a first-hand witness of the war, Max sees how both the local and international service design communities respond to the situation.

In this episode you'll learn about:


The state of service design in Ukraine.
If service design is relevant in times of crisis.
What can we, as an international community, do to help.
Which role could service design play after the war.
What lessons you can take away from all this.

Despite the terrible situation, it's encouraging to hear that at the same time, many good things happing in Ukraine. 

I would invite you to listen to this conversation and see how you can potentially contribute, no matter how big or small.

Sometimes service design is thought of as a nice to have addon. For me, this chat with Max once again shows that it can (and should) be at the heart of how any service is delivered.

Thanks for being part of this community, and keep making a positive impact!

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] -—

00:00 Welcome to episode 150
01:45 Who is Max
03:00 60 second rapid fire
07:00 Call to action
08:45 Topic of today
09:30 Historic context
17:00 Design education
22:00 Demand in the local market
25:30 Situation today
30:00 Response of the design community
33:15 How can the community help
36:00 The barriers to integration
39:00 Leveraging international design
44:45 What I do
48:15 Join service.so
52:00 Closing thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxtkachuk/
https://t.me/maxitkachuk
https://service.so

https://prjctrfoundation.com
https://www.ted.com/talks/philippe_starck_design_and_destiny

--- [ 3. DONATE ] ---


https://u24.gov.ua/
https://zgraya-help.com/

There's an intriguing mystery to the backstage... Think about it for a moment. People love to see what happens inside the kitchen of a Gordon Ramsey restaurant. Or to follow a sports team into the locker room before and after a game. 

We want to look over the shoulder and get an inside glimpse. See things that are usually hidden from the general public. We want to see beyond the frontstage. Well, I've got exciting news, because today we're going to do just that. Not for a restaurant or your favorite sports team but for a leading service design consultancy.

To celebrate their 4th anniversary with the community, the team from Harmonic Design agreed to sit down with me for an uncensored ask-me-anything episode.

In this episode, you'll hear the team react to questions like:


What is your strategy for finding new clients?
What is the most challenging part of your work?
What does it take to get hired at a service design consultancy?
What is the biggest failure you made in a project?
What is the most important thing you look for in a client?
What is the future of agencies?
And many more...

The team promised me the truth and nothing but the truth. I would say listen to the episode and find out if the team managed to live up to their promise.

As you'll see and hear, this is a format we haven't done on the Show before. So let me know if this is something that you enjoy and we should do it more often!

My first encounter with Harmonic Design founder Patrick Quattlebaum was for an interview on the Service Design Show back in episode #115. Ever since our first interaction, Harmonic Design has been a great partner of the Show. I want to use this opportunity to send out my appreciation and gratitude for how they are contributing to the service design community and helping it mature.

[ 1. EPISODE GUIDE ]

00:00 Welcome to Show
04:30 Meet Shreya
05:15 Meet Stephen
05:45 Meet Kerri
06:45 Meet Tucker
07:45 Finish the sentence: communicating the value
11:30 Lightning round: Shreya
13:45 Deep dive: what skill does some need to demonstrate
19:30 Finish the sentence: misconceptions
22:00 Lightning round: Stephen
24:00 Deep dive: how do you get to know the full problem space
32:00 Finish the sentence: our strategy to find new clients is
34:15 Lightning round: Kerri
36:15 Deep dive: how do you scope a project
44:00 Finish the sentence: the most fun part of your work
47:00 Lightning round: Tucker
49:15 Deep dive: the future of agencies
54:00 Finish the sentence: recommendations
59:00 Closing thoughts

[ 2. LINKS ]


https://thisisharmonic.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrimdesignpro/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreya-dhawan/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuckerwitter/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-taylor-3847aa4/

[ 3. BOOKS ]


Orchestrating Experiences - https://amzn.to/3MK5oU5
The Experience-Centric Organization - https://amzn.to/3PGyntK
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - https://amzn.to/3Nt2KSE
Brave New Work - https://amzn.to/3NAcTgz
The Design Philosophy Reader - https://amzn.to/3NOJteP

I used to say that 50% of service design is about communication. Today I think the percentage might be even higher...

Just think about all those moments where you need to collaborate with someone to get something done. Yes, that's like always.

***
Learn more about the Circle:
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle/
***

Sometimes what you need is the attention from your co-worker other times, it will be time or money from your CEO.

Whatever the case is, when you fail to show the benefits your work has for the other person, you won't get very far as a service design professional.

But as you know, communicating benefits is easier said than done. Let's take the common journey map, just as an example.

Should you show the entire map with all its richness and potentially risk losing people in the complexity? Or should you just show a small part of it but risk that people will oversimplify things?

This balancing act between what you tell, how you tell it, and when you tell it happens all the time. And it's one of those things that can make or break your day, project, and sometimes even career.

As this is such an important topic, we decided to explore it in more depth in our recent Circle community session. We discussed ways that help you find that perfect balance in your story. And also things definitely you want to avoid when communicating the benefits of your work.

In this episode, Heydn Ericson, who hosted the session, shares the most important guidelines that emerged in our session with you.

You'll hear, that there are many small and practical things you can do to increase the chance that you'll land your message. It's empowering once you have the awareness.

Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

--- [ EPISODE GUIDE ] -—

00:00 Welcome to the Show
03:00 Who is Heydn
03:45 Why this topic
09:30 Getting specific
11:15 Do we need this
13:15 Is it on us
15:30 Signs of success
18:30 Study their PowerPoint
22:45 Make it digestible
31:00 Little stories
36:30 How are you seen
39:15 Part of our identity
42:00 Advice for introverts
43:15 Quick recap
46:30 Closing thoughts

--- [ CIRCLE ] -—

Join our community of in-house service design professionals at the Circle.

www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/

Every service design project starts with an initial conversation. From there, you build trust, confidence, and the relationship to do great work. But getting that first conversation started can often be one of the hardest things.

Especially when you consider that many organizations still aren't aware that service design exists, let alone how they can benefit from it. Of course, you could sit back and wait for the moment when the organization is ready.

But this approach will mean that while waiting, you'll miss out on many great opportunities to put your skills to good use. So is there an effective way you could proactively get your foot in the door and pitch service design to an organization that doesn't know it needs it?

Yes, there is! And it's more than one...

In this week's episode, Matthew Marino, founder of the Paris-based studio User.io, shares the different approaches they have been experimenting with over the years. You'll learn about the use of concept projects, the trojan horse approach, and how to compound outcomes.

All are great additions to your toolbox and will surely help you open more doors.

The examples Matthew shared encourage me. In the end, you can turn everything into a design challenge, even pitching service design.  That makes it way more fun, and you already have the skills to solve this challenge successfully.

Enjoy the conversation, and thanks for being part of this community.

--- [ GUIDE ] -—

00:00 Welcome to episode 149
03:00 Who is Matthew
03:55 60 second rapid fire
06:35 Episode theme
08:20 Service design doesn't fit
10:35 Good entry points
14:05 Sustaining change
20:20 The fuzzy part of design
23:50 Connecting the dots
28:50 The concept car
39:50 Compounding projects
44:20 How to get invited
46:35 Learn the language
50:35 Evaluating projects
53:35 Wrapping up
55:05 Relevant resources
55:50 Closing thoughts

--- [ LINKS ] ---


https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmarino/
https://user.io/en/work/refact-en/
https://user.io/en/work/service-lab-framework-en/
Good Services (book): https://amzn.to/3kV4V55

--- [ 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