You cannot not design your service

You cannot not design your service

Hi lovely human ??

Here is a the overview of all the new Service Design content I've created in the last week:

Greetings from Basel, Switzerland,

Daniele ????♂?

p.s. As always, you'll find all below for when you have the time to read this newsletter.







Next Wednesday: Ask me anything

Ask me all your Service Design questions to Service Design and meet other people passionated about Service Design.

Save your seat for free





Service Design Q&A

I'm slowly building a library of answers to the most common questions about Service Design. Here are the new ones:

What are some of the biggest misunderstandings and myths about service design?

  1. Service design is all about making beautiful or easy services. Not always, sometimes good Service Design is about making processes longer and harder so that you get time to reflect (like before doing a vasectomie)
  2. Service design is complicated. No, it's rather that the words people use to describe it are too fancy and complicated. The work is rather simple.
  3. Service design is only for big corporations. No, it can be done at an individual level, so even a small barber shop could use it.
  4. Service Design is a profession. No it's rather a skill that can be used in many professions. Sure there are some super nerds like me who made it their profession, but for most it's just another skill in their toolbox.
  5. Service design is better than X, Y, Z. No. Let's not have another religion or denomination war. Instead let's recognize that some tools fit better certain contexts, projects and cultures. Sometimes Service Design is the better fit, sometimes it's the worse fit.

Watch the full 6 minutes video


Does every service need service design or just a specific type?

The short answer is: Yes every service needs service design, because:

You cannot not design your service.

In fact, anything that happens in a service is a choice made by someone.

In some way we can say that every type of service owner or team practices service design skills.

Watch the full 2 minutes video


What are different types of research insights?

A research insight is anything that you've learned from doing user or field research that you feel is actually useful for your project and doesn't trigger the reaction "so what?!".

But not all insights are equal and I like to to separate them in research reports to create clarity for decision makers.

I often use two categorizations:

  1. Validated vs inspiring: where validated insights are things that I heard often and are inspiring, and where inspiring insights are things that are wildly and strongly emotional, disruptive or inspiring but haven't been expressed by many.
  2. Simple vs Complex: where I separate insights that are simple answers (like a "yes or no") to simple questions and complex answers to complex questions (like a "it depends on this, and that...").

Watch the full 3 minutes video


What's a good framework to differentiate the different roles of stakeholders in a project?

The View, Voice, Vote, Veto framework helps to clarify the roles and types of feedback that you expect from the people you're working with.

Such a framework can help:

  1. Kickoff new project: by clarifying the roles and power
  2. Understand the culture: by seeing how many people need to be involved and how much
  3. Give better feedback: by saying what type of feedback you're sharing, is it a "voice", a "vote" or a "veto". Or are you just telling me you "view"ed it.
  4. Create a common language: by giving four words to more easily describe the expectations we have about feedback.

This framework can also help create a "participation funnel":

In such a funnel you engage more people with the "view" role than with the "veto" role, and helps you to not forget to communicate and get feedback internally.

Watch the full 7 minutes video





Backstage Blog

I love to explain how I'm building educational content. I'm trying to be as transparent as possible so that it might motivate others to create such content too. These are the latest blog posts I've written

How much do I script and mess up the recording of my Q&A videos

In this article I want to share a real-life example of a script and unedited recording for one my Service Design Q&A to reveal how much preparation, recording time and editing is needed to produce such a video.

Read post


The weekly review and planning session that works for me

In this article I want to share the Weekly Review and Planning structure I use and why I find it so powerful.

Read post

Tontcho Ponsoda Llopis

Lead Strategic Service Designer | Design Lead at frog

7 个月

Hey man, I usually follow your content pretty closely and most of the time I really agree with what you say, but today I read something, and, well, I'd like to share my opinion with you. Labeling service design as a mere skill that can be acquired and integrated into various fields is a rather reductionist definition in my opinion. Service design is not just about mastering certain techniques; it's a profession that demands a holistic understanding of systems, user needs, and business goals. While it does involve a set of specific skills, such as user research, prototyping, and journey mapping, Service design professionals integrate these skills into a comprehensive framework that addresses complex business challenges, improves customer experiences, and drives organizational change. If we reduce service design to just a skill, we diminish the strategic, multidisciplinary expertise required to practice it effectively. By this logic, all professions could be reduced to a set of skills, undermining the depth and value of professional practice. On the other hand, labeling service designers as nerds, as if the norm were the opposite, seems a bit unrealistic to me as well.

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