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Service Design: From Insight to Implementation
We have unsatisfactory experiences when we use banks, buses, health services and insurance companies. They don't make us feel happier or richer. Why are they not designed as well as the products we love to use such as an Apple iPod or a BMW? The 'developed' world has moved beyond the industrial mindset of products and the majority of 'products' that we encounter are actually parts of a larger service network. These services comprise people, technology, places, time and objects that form the entire service experience. In most cases some of the touchpoints are designed, but in many situations the service as a complete ecology just "happens" and is not consciously designed at all, which is why they don't feel like iPods or BMWs. One of the goals of service design is to redress this imbalance and to design services that have the same appeal and experience as the products we love, whether it is buying insurance, going on holiday, filling in a tax return, or having a heart transplant. Another important aspect of service design is its potential for design innovation and intervention in the big issues facing us, such as transport, sustainability, government, finance, communications and healthcare. Given that we live in a service and information age, a practical, thoughtful book about how to design better services is urgently needed.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
223 people are currently reading
2028 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 20, 2013
Service Design: From Insight to Implementation is a good book that provides a survey of the state of service design.
The challenge is that the book is a general survey where the gap in the current service design literature is in the next step forward, an approach based on how things are done.
For context-- if you compare service design to it's interaction design counter part. This book would be the equivalent of "Designing for Interaction" by Dan Saffer. A good overview, but in this case: This is Service Design Thinking and Stefan Moritz excellent free eBook Service Design: Practical access to an evolving field; cover similar ground at least as well.
Overall this is a good introduction to the concepts of service design, but does not advance the discourse enough for those already familiar with the field.
The challenge is that the book is a general survey where the gap in the current service design literature is in the next step forward, an approach based on how things are done.
For context-- if you compare service design to it's interaction design counter part. This book would be the equivalent of "Designing for Interaction" by Dan Saffer. A good overview, but in this case: This is Service Design Thinking and Stefan Moritz excellent free eBook Service Design: Practical access to an evolving field; cover similar ground at least as well.
Overall this is a good introduction to the concepts of service design, but does not advance the discourse enough for those already familiar with the field.
September 9, 2017
I struggled to rate this book. It was kind of a dry read, taking me over three months to finish! I did, however, find myself agreeing strongly with many of the statements in it, and I've folded the bottom corner of many pages for future reference, so I must have taken quite a lot from it.
On the positive side, I loved the introductory chapters, and the sections on measurement, and service design as a means for socioeconomic change. Those were really useful and powerful, and reinforced my passion for the field.
On the negative side, somehow I found many of the practical tips both too general and too specific to be helpful to me, which I guess reflects the difficulty of giving advice when service design is both broad and deep, and readers are coming to it from a wide range of backgrounds.
I'd still recommend this book highly as a primer for service design if it's a relatively new concept for you.
On the positive side, I loved the introductory chapters, and the sections on measurement, and service design as a means for socioeconomic change. Those were really useful and powerful, and reinforced my passion for the field.
On the negative side, somehow I found many of the practical tips both too general and too specific to be helpful to me, which I guess reflects the difficulty of giving advice when service design is both broad and deep, and readers are coming to it from a wide range of backgrounds.
I'd still recommend this book highly as a primer for service design if it's a relatively new concept for you.
January 19, 2018
Where "everything about service design" is A and "everything I already knew about UX design" is B, this was A union B. I wish it had been A complement B. But the important thing is that I finally finished this book.
May 3, 2017
Good starting point!
Service design does, ideally work at the strategic business level, connecting business propositions with the details of how they will be delivered.
Designing service sounds like a mix of marketing, operations management, IT, facilities management, organization design, and human resources, with a bit of change management thrown in.
The difference between service design and product or UX design, for example, is that the number of stakeholders we are designing for is usually larger, the number and range of touch points broader, all of these interact over time.
Insight-Gathering Methods:
• Depth Interview
• Participant Observing
• Participation
• User Workshop
Measurement Frameworks:
• Net Promoter Score
• The Expectation Gap
• SERVWUAL and RATER
• The Triple Bottom Line
Who should read this book?
Service design is an activity carried out by a multidisciplinary group of people that includes web designers, interaction designers, user experience designers, product designers, business strategists, psychologists, ethnographers, information architectures, graphic designers, and project managers. Among from these background should find something valuable within this book’s pages.
Service design does, ideally work at the strategic business level, connecting business propositions with the details of how they will be delivered.
Designing service sounds like a mix of marketing, operations management, IT, facilities management, organization design, and human resources, with a bit of change management thrown in.
The difference between service design and product or UX design, for example, is that the number of stakeholders we are designing for is usually larger, the number and range of touch points broader, all of these interact over time.
Insight-Gathering Methods:
• Depth Interview
• Participant Observing
• Participation
• User Workshop
Measurement Frameworks:
• Net Promoter Score
• The Expectation Gap
• SERVWUAL and RATER
• The Triple Bottom Line
Who should read this book?
Service design is an activity carried out by a multidisciplinary group of people that includes web designers, interaction designers, user experience designers, product designers, business strategists, psychologists, ethnographers, information architectures, graphic designers, and project managers. Among from these background should find something valuable within this book’s pages.
May 8, 2013
Kurczy, ta książka jest bardzo nierówna. Ma rozdziały, które sa niezłe, ma tez takie, które sa spektakularnym bullshitem. Podsumowując, lektura tej publikacji nie jest czasem stracony i kilku ciekawych rzeczy, można sie dowiedzieć. Nie zmienia to faktu, ze wiele tez i propozycji jest przedstawionych w różowych okularach.
May 3, 2015
Good read for deepening understanding of service design
Going beyond This Is Service Design Thinking, this provides more of a guide to thinking through the business context and problems of service design. It's not chock full of tools and techniques, but it does include good examples throughout the book. I appreciated the section on measurement the most.
Going beyond This Is Service Design Thinking, this provides more of a guide to thinking through the business context and problems of service design. It's not chock full of tools and techniques, but it does include good examples throughout the book. I appreciated the section on measurement the most.
August 24, 2015
I came across this book when it was listed with the London UX Book club, and I now incorporate service design principles into my professional practice as a product manager/developer/designer.
In particular the section about service design blueprints and the various 'probes' available for understading users of a service were particularly useful.
Recommended.
In particular the section about service design blueprints and the various 'probes' available for understading users of a service were particularly useful.
Recommended.
January 18, 2022
Even though this book is over 10 years old, it still feels relevant. Service design holds a lot of promise for unlocking solutions to complex problems, and this book contains some great nuggets of wisdom that I found useful. Specific takeaways that I got from the book are:
- Most of the things we classify as "products" are really services (or can at least be thought of that way)
- Users of services co-design them as much as the designers do. Providing data to users helps them collaborate with us to improve the service.
- The "triple bottom line" - companies and organizations should think not just about financial benefits, but ecological and sociological benefits of a service.
On the downside, the images were too small to read. I'd love to be able to see higher-res versions of them.
- Most of the things we classify as "products" are really services (or can at least be thought of that way)
- Users of services co-design them as much as the designers do. Providing data to users helps them collaborate with us to improve the service.
- The "triple bottom line" - companies and organizations should think not just about financial benefits, but ecological and sociological benefits of a service.
On the downside, the images were too small to read. I'd love to be able to see higher-res versions of them.
July 24, 2022
As someone looking for a broad introduction to service design, this book definitely fulfilled its purpose. I had also taken 2 online courses in service design, including one from IDEO, but I felt they didn’t go into as much depth and nuance as I would like as a practitioner. This book helped to fill in more of the gaps, including with various examples which helped to bring it to life.
You’re definitely not going to become an expert from this book alone, but it provides a good launchpad for those entering this space.
You’re definitely not going to become an expert from this book alone, but it provides a good launchpad for those entering this space.
May 16, 2019
Giriş yazısı kitabı okumam için motive ediciydi. Gelişme bölümlerinde bazen dikkatim dağılsa da genel olarak ilgiyle okudum. Service Design hakkında fikir sahibi olmak isteyenler için giriş yazısı ve ilk iki üç bölüm yeterli olacaktır. Derinlemesine öğrenmek isteyenler için ise tek bu kitap yeterli değil. Alan çok geniş ve daha fazla yayın okumakta fayda var.
February 27, 2018
Great introduction to Service Design and user-centered focus on Service rather than products. A must read for all developers and UX Designers.
Currently reading
January 12, 2020basic, but a good primer/refresher text
April 15, 2021
Practical book with insights, samples. It can be used for companiea who start to think about design in there comaniea to win the market.
Read
January 30, 2024Solid into but I read it too late to really benefit; would still recommend as an intro.
May 11, 2018
Good overview
Good overview of what service design means and its overarching principles, solid support of examples, missed more details on how to synthesize data.
Good overview of what service design means and its overarching principles, solid support of examples, missed more details on how to synthesize data.
May 1, 2019
This book was the first one to come across my way when it comes to service design, and is quite a brief one yet full of notions to consider. Felt the need to re-read it and I still see that practicing service design is still not “by the book”. It’s a book I definitely recommend to designers and any kind of service providers as food for thought.
March 6, 2019
Buku yang wajib di baca untuk para UX designer dan PM yang mau belajar tentang Service Design.
WAJIB!
Design bukan hanya tampilan semata tapi, juga bagaimana caranya suatu perusahaan bekerja. Perusahaan jenis apapun di zaman sekarang ini pasti memerlukan service design dalam segala lini dari finansial, perbankan, transportasi, aplikasi musik hingga yang paling banyak mengggunakan service design ini adalah waralaba atau franchise. Bagaimana mungkin 1 waralaba memiliki cara bekerja, cara melayani dan menghadirkan pengalaman yang sama dari 1 toko ke toko lainnya yang berbeda negara? Jawabannya adalah adanya Service design dalam perancangannya.
Dalam buku ini Andy Polaine mengajarkan kita tentang:
1. Pola pikir service design
2. Apa yang mau di capai dengan Service design
3. Service design adalah proses yang besar dan panjang sehingga, perlu kolaborasi dengan banyak pihak.
4. Service design adalah proses yang berkelanjutan.
5. Tools2 apa saja yang digunakan dalam service design.
Buku ini bagus untuk pemula hingga pakar karena, banyak hal di buku ini bisa menjadi pegangan dalam kita bekerja. Sehingga bisa di baca berulang kali sesuai kebutuhan.
WAJIB!
Design bukan hanya tampilan semata tapi, juga bagaimana caranya suatu perusahaan bekerja. Perusahaan jenis apapun di zaman sekarang ini pasti memerlukan service design dalam segala lini dari finansial, perbankan, transportasi, aplikasi musik hingga yang paling banyak mengggunakan service design ini adalah waralaba atau franchise. Bagaimana mungkin 1 waralaba memiliki cara bekerja, cara melayani dan menghadirkan pengalaman yang sama dari 1 toko ke toko lainnya yang berbeda negara? Jawabannya adalah adanya Service design dalam perancangannya.
Dalam buku ini Andy Polaine mengajarkan kita tentang:
1. Pola pikir service design
2. Apa yang mau di capai dengan Service design
3. Service design adalah proses yang besar dan panjang sehingga, perlu kolaborasi dengan banyak pihak.
4. Service design adalah proses yang berkelanjutan.
5. Tools2 apa saja yang digunakan dalam service design.
Buku ini bagus untuk pemula hingga pakar karena, banyak hal di buku ini bisa menjadi pegangan dalam kita bekerja. Sehingga bisa di baca berulang kali sesuai kebutuhan.
May 12, 2024
As a UX designer primarily focused on product development, this book has provided me with a fresh perspective. I found chapters 5 through 8 particularly enlightening. Among the methods discussed, the service blueprint stood out as exceptionally valuable to me. The book emphasized the significance of touchpoints and transitions that users engage with, prompting me to recognize their profound impact on the overall user experience. Additionally, the concept of starting with a global view and then zooming in on specific aspects while maintaining that broader perspective is a highly effective approach.
I also valued the insights regarding how designers should manage user expectations and evaluate the benefits of a service. This aspect of the book resonated with me, as it highlighted crucial considerations in ensuring a positive user experience.
In summary, this book is a valuable resource for designers, offering a unique perspective that can enhance their approach to design.
I also valued the insights regarding how designers should manage user expectations and evaluate the benefits of a service. This aspect of the book resonated with me, as it highlighted crucial considerations in ensuring a positive user experience.
In summary, this book is a valuable resource for designers, offering a unique perspective that can enhance their approach to design.
August 13, 2016
A nice introduction for understanding the new study with cases
Design Thinking, Human Centered Design, Service Design, Agile, Growth Hacking....actually they are coming from similar root and evolve into (slightly) different disciplines. If you want to grasp a whole picture of the concept and methodology with limited time, this small book is worthy to give a try. To me, the most valuable part is the whole case study in chapter one concerning the insurance industry and the first few chapters discussing about the perspective and difference of this approach. As a systematic thinking, you will find a lot of similarities if you already know some design research. However, if you come from IT, content or cultural industries, you will find it offers a new approach for current situation. And it might become a catalyst for you to discover new possibilities.
Design Thinking, Human Centered Design, Service Design, Agile, Growth Hacking....actually they are coming from similar root and evolve into (slightly) different disciplines. If you want to grasp a whole picture of the concept and methodology with limited time, this small book is worthy to give a try. To me, the most valuable part is the whole case study in chapter one concerning the insurance industry and the first few chapters discussing about the perspective and difference of this approach. As a systematic thinking, you will find a lot of similarities if you already know some design research. However, if you come from IT, content or cultural industries, you will find it offers a new approach for current situation. And it might become a catalyst for you to discover new possibilities.
November 1, 2014
It's a good book to learn more and get inspired about service design. The authors bring examples and try to explain every point in detail. There is also a list of materials for additional research as well as plenty of ideas.
Highly recommended to all interested in design and especially in service and experience design.
Highly recommended to all interested in design and especially in service and experience design.
May 29, 2016
Pretty good introduction to the subject. A bit to much of case studies. With examples in Norwegian that even I, as a Swede, were struggling to understand.
Appreciated "The Triple Line" part of measuring.
Appreciated "The Triple Line" part of measuring.
July 16, 2013
Good read if you design multi-channel experiences.
October 9, 2013
Some great case studies and a lot of obvious stuff.
June 29, 2013
Very good and practical book on Service Design. Put 4 stars only because of Chapter I, which is a bit boring.
October 28, 2013
Blogged about Service Design at http://borislavkiprin.com/2013/10/28/....
July 22, 2014
Great book. Very practical with techniques, examples and real-world cases.
If you're a designer, there's no reason not to read it.
If you're a designer, there's no reason not to read it.
February 12, 2014
Good reference for service design methods and examples.
May 20, 2014
A good introduction to the topic. I like the diagram they provide illustrating how it works and turns the org stovepipe on it's side. Enjoyed some of the case studies too.
July 29, 2015
Not finishing because of the very basic level. Not a bad book. Too much of a starter manual.
Read
October 7, 2018Learned a lot reading this with the Atlanta Service Design group
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews