Service Design
Definition
"Design products and services that are fit for purpose and use, and that can be delivered by the organization and its ecosystem."
The practice requires organizations to:
- Establish and maintain an effective organization-wide approach to service design
- Ensure services remain fit for purpose and fit for use throughout their lifecycle
Key Terms
User-Centered Design (UCD): An approach positioning users at the center of product, service, or experience design processes.
User Persona: "Archetypical representations of key user segments, synthesized from data collected through user research."
Customer Experience (CX): The combined functional and emotional interactions with a service and provider as perceived by customers.
User Experience (UX): The combined functional and emotional interactions with a service and provider as perceived by users.
Service Design Package (SDP): "Service design document(s) defining all aspects of an IT service and its requirements through each stage of its lifecycle."
Processes
Management of the Organization's Approach to Service Design
- Analyze organizational strategy, resources, and portfolios
- Develop and agree on service design approach
- Create service design models and guidelines for different product types
- Communicate approach and guidelines to stakeholders
- Review and adjust approach
Service Design Planning and Coordination
- Analyze design requests, identify applicable design model
- Plan design activities and resources
- Execute the design plan
- Manage exceptions
- Review service design
Key Metrics
| Metric | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Adherence to service design approaches | Process compliance |
| Fit for purpose across the portfolio | Design quality |
| Satisfaction with innovation through design | Innovation output |
| Products/services meeting utility and warranty | Requirements fulfillment |
| Satisfaction with service design models and methods | Methodology quality |
| Satisfaction with product/service design capabilities | Team capability |
| Satisfaction with financial efficiency of service design | Cost effectiveness |
Key Roles
- Service designer
- Service design lead
- User experience designer
Recommendations for Success
- Ask, don't guess
- Work closely with the customer
- Strengthen current offerings
- Experiment and learn
- Leverage data for decision-making and AI
- Enable others to excel
- Don't ignore sustainability
Software Tools
- Analysis and reporting tools
- Collaboration and communication tools
- Enterprise architecture management tools
- Knowledge and document management tools
- Learning Management Systems
- CMS tools
- Solution design and development tools
- Workflow and task management tools