“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
This issue is dedicated to the journey you are taking as a changemaker. Once you start adopting service design tools and methodologies, you’ll probably find yourself reflecting on your old ways of thinking and working. That’s a good place to be, indeed it’s our aim!
We have witnessed transformations in people and teams who have embraced service design. They:
are aware and equally wary of functional silos
create multidisciplinary teams and give all experts an equal voice
are more holistic and able to understand the bigger picture
embrace uncertainty
co-design with their staff, customers and stakeholders
maximise realism and minimise self-deception
have an open and curious mind
have fun while working
"Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it'll always get you the right ones.”
You should treat service design like a trusted friend who has been in your situation many, many times before.
Like a true friend, service design is ready to ask difficult questions and push you out of your comfort zone. The service design tools provide a starting point, a guide, and a robust set of processes to take you on a journey.
We can use service design to:
put users at the very heart of a business
bring customer centricity and an experimentation culture to internal process development
create a shared language and an agile and customer focussed way of working
augment the nature of our role and relationship with customers, seeking alternative mechanisms to meet customer needs and thereby better manage demand
identify services or areas that will benefit from a service design approach and where specific projects can be supported and improvements delivered
That true friend will help you:
with an easy toolbox to adapt and apply to different types of services, work and life situations
as a proven tool to create new, innovative services in a fast, efficient, and holistic way
as a guide on how to create new ways of working in the digital era
to ensure that you have looked at your service from all relevant angles
to introduce a shared language and a common methodology to a multidisciplinary team
as a visible, fast and easy way of communicating your work to other people, and encouraging them to give relevant feedback
Like all true friends, they’ll support you, rather than do the work for you to have:
a creative and results-oriented mindset. The tools will never create awesome results by themselves. At the end of the day, you, and your team drive performance
a humble attitude. You must be willing to throw away precious or sacred ideas
the ability to listen to your customers and colleagues
the confidence to deal with irrelevant and obtuse feedback
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
At the Service Design Academy, we believe that the ability to question, be curious and interrogate is as important as knowing the methods and mapping the journeys.
Our accredited education programmes are developed for learners to grow as confident design thinkers and leaders.
We keep learning. We explore and learn from others. We research and test our ideas thoroughly and take time to reflect and change.
Visit www.sda.ac.uk to find out more.
Great short reads
5 benefits of making service blueprints when you build or improve a service
https://services.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/17/5-benefits-of-making-blueprints-when-you-build-or-improve-a-service/
What is Service Design and Why Does it Matter to Your Nonprofit? 2 Tools to help your business
https://www.exygy.com/blog/service-design-2-easy-tools-to-improve-your-organization
Scaling service design in organizations
https://www.smaply.com/blog/white-paper-scaling-service-design-in-organizations?mc_cid=1eff6fe1e7&mc_eid=67f9e63e3d
Service Design beyond design thinking, journey maps and personas
https://uxdesign.cc/what-i-wish-i-knew-as-a-service-designer-1f178933756c
Beyond the blueprint: methods for service design implementation
https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/beyond-the-blueprint-my-experience-with-service-design-implementation-18d9c5081bdd
Events worth planning ahead for
Service Design in Education Thinks & Drinks – 19 April
Helena Good and Ruth Cochrane will inspire with Daydream Believers new Creative Thinking qualification and resources. Tickets free, but limited.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/thinks-and-drinks-daydream-believers-tickets-142892095103
Converge & Emerge – 14 May
The Great Open Space Gathering for System Changers
https://www.systemschange.fi/openspace/
Magnify – the inclusive design & research conference – October 6-7
https://www.magnifyconference.com/
Service Design Global Conference 2021 – October 21-22
Take a deep dive into the trending topics, insights and developments shaping the future of our practice. While details are still in the works, we guarantee you this online experience is not to be missed. Sign up for the SDN newsletter here
As always, we’d love to hear if:
You have an article to share with our community of changemakers
You have an event happening and want to spread the word
You’d like to talk about any of our courses or business course funding opportunities
