Service Design Show

Service Design Show
Service Design Show

Go beyond the basics of service design and learn what it truly takes to deliver services that make a positive impact on people, business and planet.

  1. Stop designing WITH your users! There is a better way. / Sloan Leo Cowan / Ep. #217

    4 DAYS AGO

    Stop designing WITH your users! There is a better way. / Sloan Leo Cowan / Ep. #217

    There's a problem with the current design process that often goes unnoticed... A problem that can lead to less-than-ideal outcomes or, even worse, harm certain communities. To understand this, we must acknowledge our huge responsibility as design professionals. We're often the only ones advocating for our users' needs, the voice of those who aren't in the room. It's a privilege we shouldn't take lightly. We make decisions, and judgment calls for the people we're designing for. Of course, we do our best with the best intentions, but we always will fall short. Why? Because we aren't the users. We don't live their lives or experience their struggles. Sure, let there be no doubt: having someone advocate for users is a good start, but it's not enough. We can do better; we must do better. Our guest, ​Sloan Leo Cowan​, helps us see what "better" looks like. The key is to move away from "designing for" or even "designing with" users and move towards "designing by" them. It means giving up control and power. Sound impossible? Sloan Leo shares practical examples of how they've achieved this in their work. This episode will show you a way forward if you care about creating more inclusive and equitable work. Stop designing WITH your users! There is a better way. As you'll hear, Sloan Leo's perspective on design challenges the status quo. We really need this to push the boundaries of design and ensure it stays relevant. Keep making a positive impact! Take care, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 217 04:00 Sloan's social sector journey 08:15 Defining Community? 10:15 Service design "habits" (issues) 12:45 Neutrality in Interpretation 15:15 Facilitator vs. Interpreter Roles 18:45 Facilitating towards beliefs 19:30 Power Dynamics in Facilitation 21:15 Binary thinking in service design 26:45 Issue: Persona Development & Gender 31:45 Origins of Community Design Issues 36:00 How to approach the large scale 38:15 Open source approach 40:30 The challenges for service designers 41:45 Benefits for Communities and Designers 43:45 Advice for Aspiring Designers 47:15 Recommended Resources 51:45 Proudest Achievements 54:15 Keys to Success 56:45 Additional Resources 57:30 Questions for Reflection --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- Pronouns they/he https://www.linkedin.com/in/sloanleo Website - floxstudio.com or sloanleo.com --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 1m
  2. The Secrets behind Research that Scales / Kate Towsey / Ep. #216

    DEC 5

    The Secrets behind Research that Scales / Kate Towsey / Ep. #216

    There is no service design... Without high-quality research. Sure, we all know that. But doing good research is hard. Kate Towsey, often called the inventor of the ResearchOps field, can certainly attest to this. If you're a dedicated listener of the show, you might remember Kate from our conversation about a year ago where she shared that she was writing a book. Well, that book, titled "Research that Scales", has officially been published! And with a 4.9/5 rating on Amazon, it seems to have struck a chord with readers. Of course, we had to get Kate back on the show to discuss it. In this conversation we delve into topics like: Do we need to scale research, and if so why? What does "scale" actually mean in the context of research? When should you start thinking about scaling? What are the key steps to scaling research? What role can AI play in all of this? Will it take over our jobs? Why did it take Kate 3.5 years to publish the book? And as always, that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's hard to imagine a service design professional who wouldn't be interested in the topics we cover in this episode. Good research isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a must. Without giving away too many spoilers, I found it fascinating that it's not actually research that you need to (or can) scale, but something else. Something that we as a community are pretty good at. Can you guess what it is? Enjoy and keep making a positive impact! ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 216 03:00 Quick overview about scaling research 04:00 Why she wrote the book 09:30 Pandemic's impact on the book 13:00 Research rabbit hole 15:00 Unscalable Research: What to Avoid 18:30 What is enough research? 22:00 The problem she saw 25:00 The main bottlenecks 27:45 Libriarian's role in making the change 31:00 How the process work 33:00 Knowledge as a network vs tree 35:30 Maximizing efficient use of library 39:00 Designing the system 41:00 Knowledge vs. Learning: Value Proposition 43:00 Cost center vs value center 47:00 AI and Research: A Synergistic Future 49:00 Cost of scaling: A Trade-off 51:00 Strategic approach to scaling 53:00 How to know when to scale 54:30 Her readers insights 56:00 Upcoming masterclasses 58:00 Resources 58:30 Food for thought --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katetowsey/ Website: https://katetowsey.com/ Substack: https://katetowsey.substack.com --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 2m
  3. The RIGHT way to do strategy in an uncertain world? / Peter Compo / Ep. #215

    NOV 21

    The RIGHT way to do strategy in an uncertain world? / Peter Compo / Ep. #215

    What is strategy... A plan for how you intend to achieve your goals? That's how a lot of people define strategy. But there's a problem with this rigid approach... As Mike Tyson wisely said once: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." Most strategies are too prescriptive about how the goal needs to be achieved. But we live in a VUCA world where it's getting harder and harder to predict what will happen, even just weeks ahead. The sphere of what an organization can control is shrinking (and control is an illusion anyway). What seemed like a wise action last week might be irrelevant today, thanks to new technology, a sudden global crisis, or a certain election outcome... Following your strategy in this scenario might mean you're executing what you agreed to, but it could very well lead you away from your intended goal. So, when there is so little we can control and predict, does that mean we shouldn't do any strategizing at all? Certainly not. We just need to adopt a more emergent approach. We still need a plan to align everyone, but one that allows for more flexibility and deciding in the moment what the right next step is. What does this type of strategy look like, and how do we get there? That's something ​Peter Compo​ has written ​a great book​ about, and I've invited him on the Show to share his learnings with us. We talk about: Why research is becoming an increasingly important capability for any organization. How we can know we'll achieve our goals if we don't know at the start which actions to take. And how to help an organization used to control and prediction embrace uncertainty and flexibility. I know this episode will resonate with many service design professionals. It ties strongly to our mantra of "doing the right things" and not just focusing on "doing things right." Strategy can be a very abstract term without much substance. But what I appreciated in our conversation is that Peter makes things super practical. It's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work on your strategy. Enjoy and keep making a positive impact. ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 215 03:30 Music and emergence 06:00 How he got into writing the book 10:30 Pete's perspective in strategy 16:00 The theory of emergence 20:00 constraints & trust 26:30 Bridging the gap of uncertainty 30:30 Letting Go of Control 36:30 Examples of good metrics 41:00 False learning organization 46:30 Trusting your team 50:30 Aspiration-bottleneck triad 57:00 another recommendation 59:00 Strategy matrix 01:04:00 Personal Impact on writing 01:09:00 Resources 1:11:00 Question to ponder --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercompo/ The Emergent Approach to Strategy (book) by Peter Compo - www.emergentapproach.com Peter Compo Music - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJsn2zbnx8dwvHJrisdkAtg --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 13m
  4. Advancing Service Design 2024 / Program Deep Dive with Sylvie Abookire

    NOV 14

    Advancing Service Design 2024 / Program Deep Dive with Sylvie Abookire

    An exciting new conference is just around the corner, ​Advancing Service Design 2024​. We ​recently had a chat​ with Lou Rosenfeld, the conference organizer, about key ideas behind the conference. Now, we're doing a deep dive into the two-day conference program with ​Sylvie Abookire​, who's part of the curation team. In this episode, you'll hear about the main themes, the inspiring (and somewhat surprising) speakers, and of course how it all ties together to advance our field. Sure, you can also get some of this info on the conference website, but I promise this conversation is much more fun 🙂 I'll be presenting at the conference about the latest insights from the Salary Report and lessons learned from building the Circle community. Want to join one of my sessions? Send me an email or reach out on LinkedIn, and I'll let you know how you can attend even without a conference ticket. ~ ~ ~ 🎟️ Want to attend Advancing Service Design? Well, you're in luck! 💰 Answer the simple question over here at ⁠https://www.servicedesignshow.com/asdc2024-survey⁠ to get a 10% discount on your ticket. But that's not all! 🏆 When you sign up using this code, you'll automatically enter a contest where you can win sweet prizes. --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 A Special Episode with Sylvie 02:45 Sylvie's role in the conference 04:30 Conference schedule & format 06:00 Biggest conference challenge 07:30 The final 8 speakers 10:00 What the conference means to Sylvie 12:00 Day 1: Designing in the system 14:30 Day 1: format 16:00 Day 1: The panel 17:00 Audience interaction 19:00 Day 2: Designing with the system 22:30 How we hope the conference impacts 24:00 Sylvie's workshops after the conference 27:00 The most fun part of the conference 28:00 Key Takeaways 28:00 Visibility & Impact 32:00 Conference Details & Tickets 32:30 Giveaway --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvieabookire/ Get your tickets here - https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-service-design/ --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Grow your confidence, influence, and impact! Join the community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    33 min
  5. Why People Aren't Listening to You - And How to Fix That / Gabrielle Dolan / Ep. #214

    NOV 7

    Why People Aren't Listening to You - And How to Fix That / Gabrielle Dolan / Ep. #214

    I remember being subscribed to this email newsletter from a guy named Josh, all about email marketing (kind of meta)... Every single day, a new email from Josh would pop up in my inbox, and I'd open it right away. These emails were different, a bit weird even, but in the best way possible. Each one would start with something that felt totally random, a story about something Josh experienced. No mention of email marketing whatsoever. But every time I was hooked. I just had to know how the story ended. And then, bam, right at the end, with just two or three lines he'd tie it all back to email marketing in a way that just clicked. Those emails weren't just informative; they were actually enjoyable, to the point that I looked forward to them. Now being able to hold someone's attention like that always seemed like a magic superpower to me... but I learned that it's not. In this episode, Gabrielle Dolan, who's been teaching the craft of storytelling for over 20 years, reveals how you can grow your storytelling skills and use them to communicate your message in a way that stick and, most of all inspires action. And as service design professionals, we know that getting people to take action is critical for change but also very challenging. So whether you consider yourself a natural storyteller or not, this episode is packed with practical wisdom you won't want to miss. Josh, by the way, stopped sending his daily emails a while ago, but as you've noticed his lessons have stuck with me. Enjoy the episode and keep making a positive impact! Take care, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 214 03:30 Power of stories 06:00 Why stories make communication better 08:00 Dealing with skepticism 13:00 Why Organizations seek facts over stories 14:30 Story-Resistant Culture 18:00 Practical tips in becoming better storytellers 23:00 Finding your stories 24:00 Using spreadsheets 28:00 How to be comfortable using them 31:30 How to see if it's working (Tracking progress 34:00 Indicators of Success 37:00 Potential of backfiring 39:00 Gauging level of emotion 42:00 Advise from Ral 44:00 How Ral's storytelling evolved 45:30 How to use AI in storytelling 48:30 Storytelling vs acting 49:30 What's next in her storytelling journey 51:30 What kept her going 52:30 Resources 55:30 Question to ponder --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielledolan/ https://gabrielledolan.com/ Magnetic Stories by Gabrielle Dolan (Book) - https://a.co/d/aA780d8 --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 1m
  6. What's this new SD conference all about!? / Advancing Service Design Conference 2024 (Part 1) with Lou Rosenfeld

    OCT 31

    What's this new SD conference all about!? / Advancing Service Design Conference 2024 (Part 1) with Lou Rosenfeld

    I'm excited... There's a brand new conference just around the corner – ​Advancing Service Design​ – and it's organized by none other than Rosenfeld Media, the publisher behind some of the most iconic books in our field. Now you might be thinking... another conference? But trust me, this one is different. That's why I invited ​Lou Rosenfeld​ himself onto the Show to give us the inside scoop. In this episode, you'll learn: * Why Lou decided to launch a brand new conference. * Who is Advancing Service Design for? And what makes the conference different. So if you're curious about what all the excitement is about, make sure to tune in to this conversation. And as you can guess by the title there will be a part 2 where we'll dive deep into the full conference lineup and speakers. --- Want to attend Advancing Service Design? Well, you're in luck! Answer the simple question over here https://www.servicedesignshow.com/asdc2024-survey to get a 10% discount on your ticket. But that's not all! When you sign up using the provided code, you'll automatically enter a contest where you can win sweet prizes. --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to a Special Episode 01:30 Q&A with Lou 03:30 Long-Awaited Service Design Conference 06:00 Why Service Design Now? 08:45 Conference Program 12:00 Target Audience 14:00 Conference Success Secrets 19:00 Benefit in Time, Support, and Labor prep 20:00 Why Ben Reason and Patrick Quattlebaum 23:00 Speaker Insights 26:00 Speaker highlights 30:00 What to expect 33:00 What Lou looks forward to 36:30 How to get tickets 39:15 Topics to stay tuned to --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- Get your Advancing Service Design tickets here: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-service-design/ --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    35 min
  7. Confessions of a Journey Management Pioneer / Florian Vollmer / Ep. #213

    OCT 24

    Confessions of a Journey Management Pioneer / Florian Vollmer / Ep. #213

    Sure, everyone's talking about Journey Management, but few are actually doing it well... It's one thing to map out customer journeys, but quite another to truly manage them. The frameworks and models look great on paper, but reality is often far messier. Most organizations struggle to get a handle on even one journey, let alone a dozen! So I'm excited that Florian Vollmer, a true pioneer in this field, returns to the Service Design Show to share his hard-won wisdom. You might remember him from his previous appearance on the Show where he talked about managing 100+ journeys at NCR. What's fascinating is that Florian got a rare opportunity when starting his new role at Autodesk – a chance to rebuild a Journey Management practice from the ground up, applying all the lessons from his previous experience. This is your classic "I wish I knew everything I know now at the start of this project. It would have been completed twice as fast and at half the cost."This time, we dive deep into the nitty-gritty of Journey Management, tackling tough questions like: Who really owns the journey? Are dedicated tools essential or just a distraction? Why getting granular at the touchpoint level is essential? What are the biggest challenges to launching Journey Management inside an organization? And the million-dollar question: how do you get buy-in and funding when you're just starting out? So if you're already knee-deep in Journey Management or just starting to explore it, I'm sure you'll appreciate Florian's honest perspective from the trenches. One of my biggest takeaways from this conversation was that, as Florian explains in detail, this is really hard work. So you have to have patience and be kind to yourself. Amen to that! Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact. Take care, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 213 04:00 Looking back EP 168 05:15 Who is Florian 07:00 What is Journey Management 08:30 the momentum of journey management right now 13:00 How to manage customers 17:00 Balancing context switching 21:00 Evolving Role Perceptions 23:30 good quality vs great quality 26:00 Organic conversations vs Priorities 35:30 Who owns the journey? 39:30 Building momentum for change 42:30 Biggest key lessons 46:00 Journey management vs collaborations 48:30 Understanding journey management 55:15 Stay tuned for another episode with Florian 56:30 Resources --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/florianvollmer/ Journey Management Alliance https://journeymanagement.substack.com --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 3m
  8. A New Approach to Measuring Design's Impact / Stacey Barr / Ep. #212

    OCT 10

    A New Approach to Measuring Design's Impact / Stacey Barr / Ep. #212

    This might be the most profound conversation I've recorded this year... What if I told you that the puzzle of how to measure and quantify the value of design has already been solved? I know, it sounds too good to be true, right? But hear me out. We all struggle to express the value of design in metrics that businesses understand. The result? We often cut ourselves short because we can't present the impact of our work in a neat spreadsheet. It's frustrating, especially when we see decisions being made that make no sense to us based on "our data". There are many reasons why it's hard to quantify the return on investment of (service) design. We're creating value on a systemic level. We're doing it in co-creation, so attribution is a nightmare. The effects of our work sometimes take a long time to materialize. And the list goes on. So, is all hope lost? Do we throw our hands up in the air? Of course not. Recently, while researching better alternatives to hierarchical goal structures (which are inherently broken), I stumbled upon an article by Stacey Barr. I had never heard of Stacey or her work before. This discovery led me down a massive rabbit hole. Stacey is a leading expert on performance measurement. Over the last 20 years, she has developed and refined a methodology to measure, track, and improve performance that's being used in over 40 countries. The more I read about this methodology, the more I felt that this could be the breakthrough we've been looking for in the design field. I have to be careful not to raise expectations too high, but... Stacey is an unusual guest for the Show. Someone who's completely outside of our design bubble. And that's why this turned out to be such an interesting and eye-opening conversation. In this episode, you'll learn that there is a systemic and reliable approach to figuring out what and how you can measure the impact of design. You can take this approach and apply it to your work today! And best of all, as you'll hear, the approach builds upon a lot of the elements that we as a design community are already familiar with. I hope this episode will show you that we can actually get to measuring the things that matter, not just the things that are easy to measure. And maybe, even maybe, get you a little bit excited about measurement (yes, that's actually possible)! A part that I really liked in our conversation is when we rolled up our sleeves, took an abstract goal like "increasing the sense of belonging," and went step-by-step on how to break this down into more concrete and quantifiable metrics. This exercise really brought things home for me. Keep making a positive impact! ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00: Welcome to Episode 212 04:00: Marc's rant on KPIs 05:30: Who is Stacy 08:00: Measuring service design 09:30: Evidence and numbers 13:00: Circle example 16:00: Measuring qualitative aspects 18:00: Quantifying "sense of belonging" 21:00: Circle buddies and belonging 27:00: If you can't experiment... 29:30: Client's vague goals & measurement 34:00: Handling vague ideas & measurement 38:30: Showing value and impact 39:00: Individual vs. team effort 43:00: Qualitative approach 44:00: Significant change method 48:00: Circle community tension 52:00: Measuring systemic impact 58:00: Perfection and systemic impact 1:00:30: Importance of the whole story 1:02:30: Compassion and starting small 1:04:00: Starting small with systemic thinking 1:06:30: Resources for systemic design --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceybarr/ Results Map: https://www.staceybarr.com/measure-up/a-measurable-strategy-on-a-single-page/ Streamlined PuMP approach: https://www.staceybarr.com/measure-up/12-easy-steps-get-started-lean-kpi-methodology/ What is a measure: https://www.staceybarr.com/measure-up/kpis-performance-measures/ --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

    1h 10m
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Go beyond the basics of service design and learn what it truly takes to deliver services that make a positive impact on people, business and planet.

Information

  • Creator
    Service Design Show
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2024
  • Episodes
    262
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Service Design Show
  • Show Website
    Service Design Show

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