"So, how did you get into Service Design?"

“So, how did you get into Service Design?”

It’s a question that I have received countless times from the many aspiring service designers that have reached for an exploratory call or an introductory coffee chat (ahh, I miss those ?).

My short answer usually is… the Global Service Jam. If you are looking to get into service design, the Global Service Jam is a great place to start (and the 2022 edition runs March 16 - 20 - sign-up today)

[“How do I get into service design?” from those many aspiring service designers that led Patrick Bach, Chelsea Omel and I to create our online “Service Design for the Real World” course - it’s the course we wished we had had early in our service design journey. We’ve made it available for FREE for aspiring and experienced service designers alike in celebration of the Global Service Jam until March 20, 2022]

I spent a weekend at the Global Service Jam TO 2014 with Gareth Hockley, Yvonne Lai and 50 other jammers, just as we were starting to explore building the in-house Service Design team at TELUS under the leadership and partnership of Judy Mellett.?

That jam proved to be pivotal weekend - beginning a journey that would see us build out the TELUS Service Design team; partner with the good folks at Idea Couture, Akendi and Bridgeable (with whom we won the 2017 Global Service Design Award); design countless great service experiences (and a bunch of duds); give dozens of service design conference talks; make some incredible friendships; and come away with a lot more gray hairs.

How does the Global Service Jam work?

The Global Service Jam is regularly hosted in 100+ cities around the world by local organizers (check out the not so brief history of the GSJ). Pre-COVID, jams were hosted by local design firms, colleges or universities, in-house service design teams or other community members. I participated in my first jam, Global Service Jam TO 2014, hosted by the fantastic Marie-Eve Bélanger, Angela Barber and Amandine Richelle at Totem in Toronto.

On the first night of the Global Service Jam, the Jam co-founders and global organizers Markus Edgar Horme? and Adam St. John-Lawrence, presented a quick overview of the Jam and then revealed the completely non-verbal Secret Theme. (It’s not “Not A Box”).?

Through a facilitated activity with lots of Post-It Notes on the floor, all participants self organized into themes that struck our interest. Through this informal grouping, we ended in groups of strangers as we set off to understand and unpack the Secret Theme.

Day 1 started with trying to understand the Secret Theme and begin by getting out of the building. Impromptu user interviews, guerrilla user research and speedy synthesize were key. Based on the initial insights, we began to ideate on potential service ideas. The design and iteration lasted well into the evening. Day 2 was a mad dash to continue to iterate, learn and finalize a service concept to bring to life. Roleplay, animated video, LEGO? (thank goodness my 8 year old son lent me some of his.)

Why was the Global Service Jam so impactful?

As a newbie early on my journey, the Jam provided an opportunity to actually get hands-on and experiment with service design techniques; connecting others early in their journey; while meeting the local service design experts.

1. Doing Not Talking

The Global Service Jam preaches a focus on Doing Not Talking. Instead of discussing assumptions about users, participants are encouraged to get out of the building and talk to users - as soon as possible.

Rather than lengthy debates on their ideas and concepts, participants get hands on with paper, Post It Notes, pipe cleaners, LEGO - anything really - to start to bring their ideas to life. In place of well-rehearsed PowerPoint presentations, participants actually bring their service concepts to life with role playing or video prototypes.

Over the course of a weekend, you’ll experiment with, fail and learn more times than reading any book on service design.

2. Connect with the local community

When you’re starting out in service design, it is sometimes difficult to find others in the same shoes - just starting on their journey. A weekend jamming alongside other aspiring service designers made it feel a lot less daunting and helped me through those moments of doubt when the “Am I doing it right?” crept in. Knowing that there were other designers trying to build out service design teams or practices in-house, or aspiring to become service designers was reassuring - I wasn’t alone.?

The intensity of researching user needs, designing, iterating and prototyping a service over the course of a weekend also created friendships and long-lasting professional relationships that extend well beyond the jam. (?? Abeiene Nejar & Chad Story)

3. Find your local experts

While you may already be familiar with the global service design experts you follow on Twitter or whose books you read, your local GSJ will connect you with experts and experienced designers in your own city or region. On the first day of the jam, I was blown away by Linn Vizard’s Service Design 101 presentation. Linn was already a pioneer of service design in Toronto way back in 2014 (and still is - as well as on a global stage now). During my service design journey over the past 8 years, I have been fortunate to have learned from Linn in her many roles: as grassroots organizer of Service Design TO, as a leading service design consultant, as a conference speaker and best of all, as a friend.

4. Discover where service design is hiding

Through the GSJ, you will meet others doing service design - even if their title isn’t “Service Designer”. You will come to realize that service design is hiding in many organizations and companies. Many folks are applying service design methods - even if they don’t carry the title. Depending on the origin of the team, the organizational context, and many other factors, roles that may look and feel like service design often go by another name. I came to learn at my GSJ that many like minded designers were right there in front of me, by understanding their responsibilities and techniques rather than their titles.

So, if you are asking “How can I get into service design?”, sign up for the Global Service Jam 2022 running March 16-20 in your local city or region to start jamming with other aspiring and experienced service designers.

And while you’re at it, check out our online “Service Design for the Real World” course that Patrick Bach, Chelsea Omel and I created. It’s the course we wished we had had early in our service design journey and it’s FREE until Sunday March 20.

Happy Jamming!