Customer-Driven Transformation: How Being Design-led Helps Companies Get the Right Services to Market

by Joe Heapy, Oliver King, James Samperi

Service design is the activity of utilizing resources and people to build and sustain services that not only meet customers' needs, but also add that little bit of magic or true competitive advantage. In an overcrowded marketplace there is often little opportunity to break away from the pack and influence customer perceptions; Customer-Driven Transformation demonstrates how to use design thinking as a driver for organizational change to translate your vision into compelling services that will delight your customers. How did companies like Netflix, Airbnb and Uber revolutionize industries and win loyal followers? They started here. By thinking about what customers need foremost, you can reinvent your value proposition and deliver services that work.

Customer-Driven Transformation shows how to instill an outside-in approach to strategy, moving away from management that's technology, marketing or resource optimization-led, towards being customer-inspired and experimental with innovation. It is a practical guide for any business to lead a transformational programme and use design thinking to change how services are created, ensuring they are expertly designed, elegant in use and advance in customer-mindedness.

With ground-breaking case studies from the likes of E.On Energy, Hyundai Motor Company and Bupa, this cutting-edge book will empower companies to take control of customer experience and deliver long-lasting and impactful change. Focusing on one of the hottest management topics, it is an inspiring read for any business leader to understand how to reinvent their value proposition, gain market share and win customers.

Genres: Design, Business

216 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2018

Reviews

[Norbert Boros · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is an underrated service design book. I suppose maybe this is because of the title: when I first saw it, to be honest, I believed this is some cx bullshit book. But in reality, it's one of the best service design books out there. In my opinion not just service designers but managers who have some basic ideas about design can find precious knowledge about how service design works and eventually ideas to build design-driven organizations.

[Paiman Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast and slow at the same time.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Design Thinking is a sexy topic this year, especially in our local market conferences and learning sessions. While conceptually, it sounds good - what does it mean for people who are running and leading businesses?

As an adman, I thought the concept of 'outside-in' thinking made so much sense as far as the products and services we sell to clients go. It's difficult though because that would entail designing an agency's machinery to fit customers' (clients) expectations, needs, and wants. What if clients do NOT want a TV commercial? What if clients do NOT want an end-to-end (read: expensive) solution? Are we designing business models that suit the appetite of the 2020s client? The book provokes the thinking, and it's valid IMO.

Anothe crucial point for me was when the authors asked, "Would your company's product and services delight you?" Not easy to answer as well, but an honest inspection to see if we're truly transforming our industriies for the better or are merely dialling it in.

Note: This was from my 2019 reading list, and the words are from my thoughts back then. Minor grammatical edits may have been applied.