vol 9 no 2 | november 2017 | 18 €

Measuring
Impact and
Value

32 The Three Layers of Service Design Impact Craig Cisero, Veronika Ji, Stefania Marcoli,
Chiara Diana 46 Designing for Impact and Value Bernadette Geuy, Rachel Hollowgrass,
Titta Jylkäs 70 Design Methods for Strengthening Social Cohesion Aran Baker and
Valentina Branada

the journal of service design

Touchpoint Pictures
Volume 9 No. 2 Unless otherwise stated, the
November 2017 copyrights of all images used for
The Journal of Service Design illustration lie with the author(s)
ISSN 1868-6052 of the respective article

Published by Printing
Service Design Network Hundt Druck

Publisher Fonts
Birgit Mager Mercury G2
Apercu
Editor-in-Chief
Jesse Grimes Service Design Network gGmbH
Mülheimer Freiheit 56
Guest Editors D-51063 Köln
Nancy Birkhölzer Germany
Stefan Moritz www.service-design-network.org
Aviv Katz
Erik Roscam Abbing Contact & Advertising Sales
Cristine Lanzoni
Project Management journal@service-design-network.org
Cristine Lanzoni
For ordering Touchpoint, please visit
Art Direction
www.service-design-network.org
Jeannette Weber

Cover Image
Jeannette Weber
 f ro m t h e e d i t o r s

Measuring Impact and Value

I’ve been lucky enough to have attended quite a few service design conferences Jesse Grimes, Editor-in-Chief
for Touchpoint, has nine years
over the years, and heard peers in the community stand on stage and share their
experience as a service designer
advice, techniques, questions and insights. While they all have had value to me, a and consultant. He has worked
small handful stand out as offering what I saw as ground-breaking insights at the in London, Copenhagen,
Düsseldorf and Sydney and is
time. One of these talks took place in 2012, at the SDN’s Global Conference in Paris.
now based in Amsterdam with
Livework’s Ben Reason took to the stage and explained how his agency had Dutch agency Informaat. Jesse
started pairing service designers with in-house business analysts. This partnership is also Vice President of the
Service Design Network.
provided a role which could speak the language of business people, applying
number-crunching skills to both justify investments in service design projects Nancy Birkhölzer is IXDS‘
before a project started, and measure results and ROI towards the end. CEO. She enjoys building
organisations and teams with a
Being able to measure the impact of service design activities has always unique spirit and culture. Nancy
presented a challenge. Services are often complex, comprised of multiple was recognised as one of the
interactions with multiple touchpoints, over widely varying time spans. While “100 Women of the Future” by
Deutschland – Land der Ideen,
the re-design of a touchpoint (let’s say a website focussed on sales) can deliver and chosen as one of the “15
concrete numbers indicating success (e.g. conversion), things get much more Thought Leaders & Innovators
2015” by WIRED magazine. 
complex at a service level, when multiple touchpoints come into play.
In this issue of Touchpoint, we have tackled precisely this challenge: How can Stefan Moritz is an entrepreneur,
service design best measure the impact it achieves? Service design must become corporate change-maker and
customer experience champion.
more mature in justifying itself to decision-makers, both before and after it is
He is Vice President Customer
applied. I hope the insights and methods herein help you answer that question, Experience at Veryday, one of
when you next sit down to plan or review a service design project. the world’s top-ranking design
and innovation consultancies.

Aviv Katz is Senior Associate at

1 Innovation Unit. He has coached
2 leaders and led teams, working
3
across health, social care,
4
5 justice and local government.
6
Erik Roscam Abbing is director
Netherlands of Livework, a
Jesse Grimes for the editorial board global service design agency.
Erik has consulted and taught
globally on topics like design
thinking, brand driven innovation
and service design.
The cover of this issue of Touchpoint is more than meets 1 SDN members 2013
the eye! We’ve put our own organisation under the 2 SDGC attendees 2014
3 Social media followers Birgit Mager, publisher of
microscope, and measured the impact of some of our 2015
4 Newsletter followers
2016
Touchpoint, is professor
initiatives, over a time period of five years. It’s rewarding 5 SDN website page views
2017 for service design at Köln
to see visually beautiful proof that the impact of the SDN’s 6 SDN website visitors
International School of Design
activities shows strong growth year-on-year.
(KISD) in Cologne, Germany.
She is founder and director of
sedes research at KISD and is
co-founder and President of
the Service Design Network.

Touchpoint 9-2 3
 Service

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Error 9 1. Have an idea

Managed Perception

y
Efficienc Areas for process improvement:

- Inflexibility of process Ergono

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ility - Lack of short cuts
Stab
- Inability to use existing tools
ess

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y
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the
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2 imprint ess

3 from the editors

6 news
20 feature: 38 You Can’t Manage What
10 kerry’s take
Measuring Impact You Can’t Measure
10 From Journey Maps and Value Patrick McGowan, Raven
to Journey Measurement Manocchio
Kerry Bodine 22 An Iterative, Experience
and Practice-led Approach 40 Mind the Gap
to Measuring Impact Shaun Gummere, Guy
12 cross-discipline
Cat Drew Felder
12 Legal Design: Collaborating
with Lawyers to Improve 26 Humanising Frankenstein 42 Cracking the Code to
Access to Justice Jo’Anne Langham Workplace Productivity
Lieke Beelen, Frederik Matthew Swift, Coby Lerner
Westerouen van Meeteren 32 The Three Layers of
Service Design Impact 46 Designing for Impact and
18 Nudging People to Give Craig Cisero, Veronika Ji, Value
Using Behavioural Insights Stefania Marcoli, Chiara Bernadette Geuy, Rachel
Ine Vassøy, David Wiggins Diana Hollowgrass, Titta Jylkäs

4 Touchpoint 9-2

58
50 Tools and Methods
52 Measuring Design Value of
a Differentiated Service
Platform
Dr Kiwoong Nam, Dr Bruce.
W. Carnie, Kevin Sunghoon
Cho
58 Meeting Service Sandbox
Jane Vita
61 Six Hacks for Service
Designers in Agile Settings
Jesse Grimes
70
64 Education and Research
66 Measurement Beyond
Surveys…
Nahal Tavangar
70 Design Methods for
Strengthening Social
Cohesion
Aran Baker, Valentina
Branada
74 Partnering for Service
Design Education
Holger Fricke
78 profiles
78 Anne Stenros
c ontents
82
82 inside sdn
82 Congratulations to the
Service Design Award 2017
Finalists
88 Applying Service Design
to the SDN Chapter
Foundation Process
90 Service Design Within US:
The First SDN National
Conference in the U.S.
91 Reflecting on the First SDN
U.S. National Conference’s
Student Competition
Touchpoint 9-2 5
 Service Design Award 2017
Finalists Announced!
We are delighted to share the work
by this year’s fourteen Service
Design Award 2017 finalists
selected by our international
jury of service design experts. A
warm thank you to the new Head
of the Jury, Kerry Bodine, and the
international jurors of 2017 who did
an amazing job judging over 100
submissions. The shortlisted projects
are internationally recognised as
benchmarks of world class service
design. Congratulations to the nine
winning professionals and five
winning students for their fantastic
work and the contribution they have
made to the field of service design!
The winners will be announced at
the Service Design Global Conference
on November 2nd in Madrid, and
will present their projects on stage
on November 3rd. We are excited
to learn the winners and hope
you will join in the celebrations
with us at SDGC17! We are also
looking forward to show casing the
winners and finalists in the first ever
publication about the Service Design
Award, which will be released by
Spring 2018. Make sure to read more
about the finalist projects on page 82.
© Hanna Freres
6 Touchpoint 9-2
Secure Your Official SDN Trainer
Accreditation!
Research carried out by the SDN
in 2017 showed that an astonishing
90 percent of the respondents
expressed a desire for an
accreditation programme that
provides transparency to available
training offerings, and provides
a measure of their quality. Based
on these results, we have launched
the SDN Trainer Accreditation
initiative, to help establish a standard
and ensure higher quality within a
market that’s growing rapidly.
SDN Accredited Trainers will enjoy
benefits such as an official certificate,
a two-year SDN professional
membership and the authorisation to
Join our New Corporate Plus
Membership!
Want all your employees and
colleagues to get the most out of the
SDN? Then why not join our flexible
Corporate Plus / Academic Plus
membership? The new membership
enables companies, agencies and
academic organisations to have six
or more members from anywhere
in the world linked to one SDN
account. With this membership,
your organisation benefits from a
fantastic 50 percent discount per
person compared to the individual,
professional membership. This
is perfect if you are seeking
flexibility and would like 10, 20,
30 or even more employees to
award SDN co-branded certificates to
training participants. The accreditation
and self-assessment of trainers will be
visible to potential clients on our global
community website, establishing them
as highly qualified trainers.
We’re calling all service design
trainers to become Accredited
Trainers.
Apply for accreditation
before 31 December 2017
and get a special 25 percent
discount off the regular price!
www.service-design-network.org/
accreditation
have access to our great resources.
Members are an important part of our
international community and attend
our events with a special discount. If
you are thinking about joining forces
with the SDN, don’t hesitate to get in
touch for more information or a price
quote by contacting: membership@
service-design-network.org

Congratulations to our
Enthusiastic new Chapters:
SDN Hungary, SDN Bulgaria,
SDN Belgium and SDN Ireland!
This autumn, the SDN has been
delighted by the enthusiasm and
diverse initiatives organised by the
newest international Chapters! We
have seen SDN Hungary and SDN
Bulgaria play a big role in enabling
the service design community to
connect and grow in Eastern Europe
with their Chapter launch events
through August and September. SDN
Hungary held a highly successful
Chapter Conferences and
Diverse Initiatives
The summer has been a busy time for
our already-existing international
Chapters! SDN Netherlands has
hosted two topical workshops
exploring the cutting-edge themes
first event in Budapest with over 80
attendees, in which they reflected
on the development of the discipline
over the last five years with local
pioneers such as Telenor Hungary.
SDN Bulgaria hosted a Creative
Journey Conference in Sofia,
successfully introducing service
design methods to an audience of
over 200 people. SDN Belgium hosted
an energetic kick-off event with over
70 participants in Ghent to co-create
a vision for the Belgian Chapter. The
Irish Chapter ran a series of service
design drinks and themed industry
talks to link and develop the service
of service design in unusual places
and in agile settings. SDN Finland
has been expanding the horizons
of their community with an ‘Event
Canvas’ workshop and book club
meeting. SDN Denmark has been
strengthening their community by
hosting regular meet-ups and events
ne ws
design communities in Dublin and
Cork. We can’t wait to see how these
ambitious Chapters move forward!
Check out upcoming events by your
local Chapter: www.service-design-
network.org/chapters
in different cities. We were excited
to see SDN Canada as a key partner
supporting the launch of ‘Converge’,
a second national Canadian service
design conference to take place on
December 1st. In mid-August, the
US service design community came
together in Chicago to celebrate
the very first US SDN National
Conference, under the theme ‘Service
Design Within US’. The conference
was initiated by SDN Chicago and
organised collaboratively with the
other US Chapters. The event was a
great success with over 200 attendees
representing over 80 organisations
from across the country. Make sure to
read more about the event on page 90.
US SDN National Conference
‘Service Design Within US’
Touchpoint 9-2 7
The First Chapter Awards
Launched for SDGC17
The first ever SDN Chapter Award
Ceremony will take place during
the SDGC17 Members Day Event on
November 1st 2017 in Madrid. There
are now 29 international Chapters
with teams of volunteers working
hard to raise awareness and grow the
market for service design because
they passionately believe it is the
key to social and economic success
in their area. The Awards commend
five Chapters for their great work,
commitment and achievements
when it comes to Chapter events and
initiatives. The ceremony at SDGC17
will highlight the value of our
Chapters, celebrate their success and
raise awareness amongst members
about their work. The winners will
have their initiatives showcased as
examples of best practice that our
community can learn from. We can’t
wait to find out who the winners
will be! Stay tuned to hear more in
the next issue of Touchpoint, at the
SDGC17 ceremony and via our global
media channels.
8 Touchpoint 9-2
LOOKING FORWARD TO A MILESTONE as well as the local team and
SDGC17 volunteers for making it possible. We
invite everyone to stay tuned and to
The Service Design Global follow all our channels to catch up
Conference 2017 has generated huge with the latest #SDGC17 news, and
interest from people worldwide, after-conference coverage.
with main programme and
Members Event tickets sold out
since late September. We have been
overwhelmed with the response and
for this reason we’re determined to @SDGC2017 and
deliver a great experience through @SDNetwork
a highly curated programme,
instagram.com/
which includes 70 speakers from
servicedesignnetwork
all over the world and many side
events for attendees and the general facebook.com/
public. With Madrid’s La N@ve ServiceDesignNetwork
and Central de Diseño as our main
service-design-network.org/
venues, SDGC17 is aiming to create sdgc/sdgc17
a great service design atmosphere to
accompany Madrid’s local flavours.
We would like to thank our many
sponsors for joining us in bringing
this 10th anniversary event to life,

Nordic Service Design,
the Documentary
The SDN is excited to announce
the launch of the Nordic Chapter
initiative ‘Nordic Service Design,
The Documentary’. SDN Sweden,
SDN Norway, SDN Denmark and
SDN Finland collaborated with
the Swedish producer LuckyDay
to make a documentary which
connects, celebrates and promotes
Nordic service design. The project
involved interviews in all four
countries with service design
practitioners and leaders to explore
what is unique, forward-thinking
and relevant about Nordic service
design. The documentary also aims
to raise awareness about the power
of service design whilst showcasing
best practice examples on a national
and global level. The launch is taking
place in the form of a roadshow
during the autumn and winter
period of 2017. If you are based in
the Nordics don’t miss out on this
great opportunity to celebrate Nordic
service design!
Take a look at the trailer and stay
tuned to find out more:
youtu.be/4KqrGQlrzaE
Service Design Impact Report:
Health Sector
The Service Design Network is proud
to announce the publication of the
third Impact Report, focusing this
edition on the value service design
is delivering in the health sector.
The worldwide challenges in the
health sector today are enormous.
Population ageing and the impact
of chronic diseases are creating new
demands on the quantity and types
of care being delivered, while at the
same time budgets are under threat
and legislative changes to insurance
coverage add further complexity.
Furthermore, ethical issues related
to scientific and technological
advancements must be tackled. In
short, the health sector is in need of
radical innovation. Service design
– with its promise of a human-
centred and innovative approach to
tackling these challenges with fresh
thinking – is helping to re-invent and
co-create a better future, delivering
value for both healthcare recipients
and healthcare providers. It’s
design, influencing how technology
is applied, as a means to make life
better for people!
Advertise in Touchpoint
Promote your company or institution
throughout the world of services,
rising interest of future clients,
customers and employees! We set up
interesting advertising options for
ne ws
This publication is valuable for
a broad readership. It is a source
of insight and inspiration for both
those operating in the health sector,
as well as the policy-makers and
politicians that surround it. Service
design practitioners can get up-to-
speed with the state of the art in how
their discipline is being applied to
healthcare challenges, and academics
and students will benefit from the
best practices contained herein.
Download or order your printed
copy from November 15th at
www.service-design-network.org/
books-and-reports and follow the
community on facebook.com/
sdnhealthsector
you, and SDN members enjoy special
discounts.
To see your ad in the next
Touchpoint, contact us at journal@
service-design-network.org.
Touchpoint 9-2 9
From Journey Maps months and involved an average of
nine phone calls, a home visit from
to Journey Measurement a technician, and numerous web
and mail interactions.” Customer
satisfaction scores for individual
channels each consistently scored
over 90 percent. But satisfaction for
the entire end-to-end journey was
Journeys are central to the discipline of service design. nearly 40 percent lower. Ouch.
In fact, my definition of service design is: the envisioning
Journeys are better predictors of
of people’s journeys and the organisations required likelihood to recommend
to support them. But in the years since early service McKinsey’s models of customer
satisfaction and willingness to
designers pioneered this field, journeys have been
recommend both have R-squared
adopted by other disciplines, as well — most notably, values for journeys that hover around
by the field of customer experience. 50 percent for the electric utility,
health insurance, cable/satellite
TV and hotel industries.2 I’d love it
Unfortunately, many organisations supports people as they try to if these values were higher, but it’s
that are new to service design or achieve their goals. But the data to reasonable to assume that there are
customer experience get caught support this notion took a long time other factors that account for about
up in artefacts like journey maps to surface, as many prime examples half of customers’ satisfaction scores
and service blueprints, acting like stayed hidden and well-guarded and referral behaviour.
these deliverables are the end goal behind corporate walls. Fortunately, What’s notable is that depending
themselves. I’ve gone on the record McKinsey & Company’s anonymised on the industry, the R-squared
multiple times on this topic, and I’ll (but published!) data will help you scores for journeys range from 56 –
say it again here: It’s not about the make the case for pivoting your 117 percent higher than those for
maps. Rather, we need to use journeys organisation’s measurement strategy.1
as a framework for managing services Here is my summary (with my
2 Ok, I’m gonna have to get a little nerdy on
and experiences — and changing our major takeaways as the headings): you here, so hang with me. In statistics land,
organisations to better support them. R-squared values always fall between 0 and
Now, customer experience The journey doesn’t equal the sum 100 percent. An R-squared value of 0 percent
means that the model in question — for us,
practitioners are taking on that of its parts
the hypothesis that touchpoints or journeys
challenge and driving a shift in A media company looked at the new account for satisfaction or willingness
the ways that organisations use customer onboarding experience, to recommend — explains NONE of the
variability in the data. (Think of a bunch of
journeys. Enter journey analytics: “a journey that spanned about three
the measurement and analysis of
key customer journeys — not just
random dots on a graph that you can’t draw
a single line through.) A value of 100 percent
means that the model in question explains
1 www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/
individual touchpoints. ALL of the variability in the data. (Here, you’d
marketing-and-sales/our-insights/from- have all the data points aligned perfectly
It may seem like common sense to touchpoints-to-journeys-seeing-the-world- through your line. When does that ever
measure how well your organisation as-customers-do happen?)

10 Touchpoint 9-2

touchpoints alone. Ergo, journeys are
better predictors of the outcomes you
care about.
Journeys present more
opportunity for differentiation
In one (unnamed) industry,
McKinsey compared satisfaction
with both touchpoints and journeys
across companies. The gap between
the companies with the best and
worst journey performance was 50
percent wider than between those
with the best and worst touchpoint
performance. And a wider gap
equals more potential for you to
differentiate from your competitors.
Where to start
Journey analytics will be the way
your organisation measures the
value of service design and customer
experience in the future. Here’s how
you can get started:
1. Prioritise your most important
journeys.
Not all journeys are created equal, so
you need to identify those that matter
most to your customers and to your
organisation. When McKinsey looked
at the pay TV and auto insurance
industries, it found that average
satisfaction with each company’s
three key journeys correlated with
faster revenue growth. To be specific:
“a one-point improvement on a ten-
point [satisfaction] scale corresponds
to at least a three-percentage-point
increase in the revenue-growth rate.”
Wow!
k e rr y ' s ta k e
2. Create metrics around journeys If you’re not a data hacker yourself,
and journey phases. that’s ok. Just make sure your team
It’s no longer enough to measure hires someone who loves getting
the efficacy of your web site, your hands-on with data.
store, an at-home visit, or any other
individual interaction. The people
using your service don’t think of
what they’re trying to achieve in
these channel- or department-based
ways, and it’s time for us to adapt to
cross-silo metrics that reflect people’s
real goals. This, of course, doesn’t
mean that you should stop measuring
individual touchpoints — but instead,
look at those touchpoints within
the context of a greater end-to-end
journey.
3. Invest in a journey-focused
analytics platform.
The ‘Voice of the Customer’ vendor
landscape is quickly shifting to
offer dashboards and measurement
frameworks that center on journeys.
Look for a platform that can
aggregate data from multiple sources
like social media, call centers, digital
properties, and surveys — and then
provide journey-centric views of
sentiment, behavioural, operational
and financial data.
Kerry’s Take
Kerry Bodine is a customer
If you sensed a theme throughout experience expert and the
this article, I hope it’s this: data. Your co-author of Outside In.
ability to understand and frame both Her research, analysis and
opinions appear frequently
qualitative and quantitative data on sites such as Harvard
within the context of the customer Business Review, Forbes,
journey will be the make-or-break and Fast Company.
factor for the success of your current Follow Kerry on Twitter at
and future service design efforts. @kerrybodine.
Touchpoint 9-2 11
 Legal Design: Collaborating
with Lawyers to Improve
Access to Justice
Bringing human-centred innovation to the legal sector

Lieke Beelen is service

designer and founder of
Visual Contracts. In 2015 she
won the Hague Innovators
prize, together with lawyer
Janneke Boerman. Since then
she worked on legal design “The law is meant to create order in society and exists to prevent
and legal innovation.
and solve conflicts in a just way.” This is what Dutch law students
are taught in their first year of law school.1 However, if we look at
how law is applied, one could question if this is really happening
effectively. After all, it seems as if we are maintaining the status
quo. One of the main reasons for this is the language in which the
law is written. Legal language is difficult for everyday people to
Frederik Westerouen van
comprehend, and it is currently not effective at supporting the
Meeteren is the founder of
Anything Connected, which
practice of law itself.
focuses on the Internet of
Things. He is part of the Visual
Contracts community and is We can start with an example: A privacy were written by and for lawyers, instead
developing new applications statement should inform people about how of for themselves.
based on user data,
companies deal with the data they collect This is the challenge I took on in 2015,
without acting unlawfully
or making customers feel from their customers. But how many after winning The Hague Innovators

uncomfortable. people actually read those documents? Prize, together with lawyer Janneke
Most people just fill in a form and click
‘I agree’. Moreover, those that do read 1 Inleiding in het Nederlands Recht – Mr. J.W.P.
those documents often discover that they Verheugt, Uitgeverij de Zuidas, Amsterdam, 2015w

12 Touchpoint 9-2

Boerman. The project would lead me on into the field of
legal design.
In our project, we used Facebook’s privacy statement in
order to explore how we could make the abstract topic of
privacy more tangible, therefore encouraging consumers
to read privacy statements (and, ideally, to actively take
steps to safeguard their privacy). Applying a context
mapping approach, we mapped the needs and perception
people have about privacy with regards to their Facebook
usage.2 From these insights we defined a design vision
in which we tried to trigger people to learn more about
privacy-related issues on Facebook, and in turn to lead
them through the whole privacy statement.
From a legal perspective, a company must inform its
customers about how it deals with customer data before
those customers begin to use the service itself. This is
called ‘informed consent’, and it is currently receiving a
lot of attention. In our project, we sought to learn which
situations triggered the greatest interest in privacy
and translated them into posts that we could share on
Facebook. For example, one of our posts explained what
happens with your data when you post a picture on
Facebook, and what data Facebook learns about you.
An example post for Facebook was used to trigger people to think
about their privacy.
2 https://visualcontracts.eu/images/privacy-op-het-internet.pdf
c ro s s - d i s c i p l i n e
Because this project was limited by the funds we were
awarded, we only were able to test the first prototypes in
order to explore how text and visuals can be combined
in legal documents and how design can support greater
awareness of privacy issues. We weren’t able to determine
long-term behavioural effects, or how it could further be
integrated into the service. These would be logical next
steps to explore. On this topic, a recent PhD thesis by
Stefania Passera has demonstrated that visual structures
improve efficiency and comprehension when reading
contracts.3
Based on my experience with the Facebook privacy
design project, I founded Visual Contracts, in which I am
further exploring how legal design methods can improve
access to justice. In the process of starting up I also came
across challenges in selling ethical (service) design,
such as creating transparent privacy statements and
convincing companies to make people more aware about
their privacy.
As designers we can and should motivate our client
businesses to make ethical choices, just as sustainable
business practices have become widely valued. Similarly,
human rights should be addressed and integrated into the
philosophy of doing business. While social enterprises are
addressing this right now, big corporate firms must also
follow suit if we want to reach the levels of equality stated
in several of the UN’s sustainable development goals by
2030.4
A lack of human-centred legal innovation
Current innovations in the legal sector are aimed at
making the law more efficient or less costly, mostly from
a technical perspective. In addition, legal tech innovation
is seeing the development of tools that apply artificial
intelligence and blockchain technology. While these are
important developments to make the law accessible and
3 Beyond the wall of contract text - Visualizing contracts to foster
understanding and collaboration within and across organizations,
Stefania Passera, Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL
DISSERTATIONS, 134/2017
4 UN Sustainable Development Goals: http://globalgoals.org
Touchpoint 9-2 13
1. What does Facebook know about you when you upload a picture?
3. With whom do they share your data?
Triggering people to explore the full visual privacy statement5
affordable for everyone, they don't really improve access
to law, or at least don’t put the law into user’s context.
Legal topics and issues are more often considered as a
‘necessary evil’, rather than something that can empower
citizens in practicing their rights. This represents an
opportunity for service designers and design thinkers to
contribute to the legal industry with their knowledge and
skills, starting with using empathy to solve these legal
access challenges.
This represents an opportunity - if not a need - for
service designers to contribute to legal innovation by
helping lawyers to create more empathy with laymen.
While some law firms already have 'legal service
designers', they may not have the design research skills
(amongst others) as those in the service design community.
14 Touchpoint 9-2
2. What do they do with that data?
4. Facebook knows much more! Explore now in the full visual
privacy statement.
There is a significant opportunity to equip those in
the legal field with the tools and skills applied by service
designers. To create a profound understanding we need
more service designers working in this rising field of
innovation.
What is ‘Legal Design Thinking’?
At Visual Contracts, we see ‘Legal Design Thinking’
as a crossover area of legal thinking, Design Thinking
and service design, visual thinking and user experience
(UX) design. So we look at legal design from several
different angles. Because legal topics are often abstract
and difficult to relate to, we create accessible and
engaging legal documents as a tangible entry point to
understanding the principles, restrictions and relations of

Two screenshots of the full visual privacy statement5
elements within these documents. Doing so helps bridge
the gap between the legal world and laypeople.
Legal documents could and should be a means to create
sustainable customer relationships. We use visual thinking
combined with design research to simplify and visualise
legal documents, to brainstorm and create (shared) mental
models, and explain complex stories in an engaging way.
We also believe that lawyers can apply visual thinking
to communicate with their clients. More holistically, we
look at the whole service experience a company offers,
starting with an inside-out perspective to understand and
empathise with the legal profession, in order to understand
what legal content they want and need to convey.
Moreover, in our vision, Design Thinking has great
potential impact within the practice of law, because it
c ro s s - d i s c i p l i n e
focuses on improving the quality of people’s lives. While
the law tries to drive societal behaviour by determining
the ‘guidelines for good behaviour’ and ‘punishment of
misbehaviour’, Design Thinking uses empathy and design
research techniques to relate to people’s perceptions in
individual situations. For this reason there is also a big
overlap in what legal systems aim to accomplish, and the
purpose of Design Thinking does, particularly focussed
on ethical outcomes. Finally, as an innovation in the
legal world itself, we use UX design to build the bridge
5 Clickable prototypes Facebook Visual Privacy Statement (in Dutch):
‘What happens with your data when you upload a picture’ https://
share.proto.io/MWDKRO/ and full visual privacy statement https://
share.proto.io/FBR87S/
Touchpoint 9-2 15
 Visual Thinking Design Thinking

Figuring out the relations Understanding human

within a complex story needs to design solutions
and visualising them that enhance quality of life

Legal Design Thinking

Understanding Understanding the context
the basic principles of use of law and needs of

Source: www.visualcontracts.eu
and restrictions (of people interacting with law
relations of
elements) within
legal documents Creating order in
society and preventing
and solving conflicts
Create engaging online
user experiences

UX Design Legal Thinking

A framework for legal design thinking

between current innovations and the still largely paper-
based practice of law, by creating engaging online user
experiences and meaningful solutions for websites and
applications.
These techniques combined result in what we call
‘Legal Design Thinking’ - understanding the context
and needs of people interacting with law and being able
to apply improvements based on these insights to make
justice accessible for everyone.
Entry points for service designers
Significant opportunities exist for service designers to
co-create with lawyers. In our work, we have identified
some general guidelines to keep in mind when working
on a design project with lawyers:

Lawyers are trained in systems thinking - They are

—
good in solving mazes and identifying obstacles.


— Lawyers are trained in ‘getting it right’ - They focus
on the risks certain details could imply. This typically
makes it harder to brainstorm together, because they
will evaluate every idea for potential risks.

L awyers tend to think more in ownership of ideas -

—
This relates to protecting intellectual property and
their competitive advantage.
This last point especially can introduce some challenges.
One of the first rules of brainstorming is to build upon
each other’s ideas. Going further, thinking out of the box,
and then developing an idea into a more realistic concept
is something designers are trained in. However, a lawyer
will need to open their mind to this way of thinking.

16 Touchpoint 9-2

In addition, prototyping with lawyers introduces
some challenges. Lawyers are accustomed to evaluating
documents based on their final version. So when a
designer draws sketches of a concept or builds a model,
the lawyer tends to perceive and evaluate it as an end
result. Because they are trained to focus on the details,
they are more resistant to reaching out to clients to test a
certain concept or prototype.
The law tries to drive societal behaviour
by determining the ‘guidelines for
good behaviour’ and ‘punishment of
misbehaviour’.
How to overcome challenges in collaboration?
There are methods to overcoming the challenges
mentioned above. Here are four techniques to get you
started:
1. Align your communication and use visual thinking
to identify different viewpoints. Make it concrete,
especially because details catch a legal expert’s
attention.
c ro s s - d i s c i p l i n e
2. Use your empathy skills to step into the shoes of the
lawyer and not just the lawyer’s client. Help them to
show different perspectives out of legal boundaries.
3. Use ‘right’ and ‘left’ thinking games to warm up and
break the ice with anyone and act as energisers.
4. When structuring a legal document, a mind-map will
help provide a helicopter perspective, and represents
a familiar tool (most lawyers are familiar with
flowcharts and mind-maps). Sections of the document
can be written, keeping it short and structured. The
challenge is then to first identify what sections are
related, when you look from a client’s or layman’s
perspective. This can be a huge advantage because
most lawyers tend to brainstorm by writing rather
than in a visual manner.
These are just the first findings in collaborating from a
legal design thinking perspective. There is much more to
explore and improve. With this first introduction I hope
to inspire service designers to collaborate with lawyers
and create access to justice and empower people to
practice their rights.
If you would like to keep updated on the developments in legal
design,join the SDN Legal Design group on LinkedIn.
Touchpoint 9-2 17
 Nudging People to Give
Using Behavioural Insights

Donating to charity is often seen as a simple act of generosity done

by those who can afford it, but in fact, the amount we donate
is not directly correlated with our ability to give, or even to our
benevolence. A number of factors play into the web of reasons we
may or may not choose to donate in any given situation.
Ine Vassøy is a Lead Service
Designer at Spotless, a
London-based service design
agency founded in 2004
that transforms businesses
through innovation.

David Wiggins is a Product

Manager at BT, with over
25 years’ experience
in customer service
environments. BT is a
leading provider of global
communications services and
solutions, whose purpose
is to use the power of
communications to make a
better world. More info at
www.btplc.com
Spotless team: Ine Vassøy,
Kayleigh Thompson, André
van Heerden, Andy Walker,
Richie Kennedy and John
Anthony.
In the UK, giving to charity is a popular
and respected gesture, and many online
platforms have recently emerged to
facilitate that generosity. When BT found
that its commission-free online fundraising
service, MyDonate, was being passed
over in favour of paid platforms, they
wanted to know how they could improve
their service. Why were people opting to
pay more? What factors were dissuading
donors, and how could MyDonate adapt to
encourage more donations?
To answer these questions, we took a
cross-disciplinary approach, pulling in
principles and tools from behavioural
economics to help guide our service
design. The well known principle of
‘anchoring’, for example, helped us
determine an effective starting amount to
display on the fundraising pages, nudging
users to give just a little extra. We studied
how these kinds of nudges could be used
to increase donations, attract more users,
improve retention and reduce customer
support needed.

18 Touchpoint 9-2

MyDonate ecosystem
Exploratory research with donors, fundraisers and
charity employees led us to five design principles that
guided us through our process:
1. Give clear direction through simplicity
2. Be human and use social cues to guide behaviour
3. Create loyalty through community
4. Appeal to self-image and personalisation
5. Engage at the right time and place
Our key goals were to increase the number and value
of donations through the website. After observing
customers and listening to support centre calls, we
believed many frustrations could be resolved by
simplifying the user interface. We stripped away
irrelevant content and created a more personalised
experience for the users that were logged in. We also
created an ‘invisible’ sign up process to encourage users
to log in. Our hypothesis was that these changes would
minimise users’ impatience and frustration, which would
improve customer retention and free up resources by
reducing the number of calls to the support centre.
When we tested this hypothesis, the effect of the new
designs was clearly positive. These simple changes had
great effect on user retention, as people were no longer
opting out of the experience due to confusion. When it
came to donation quantity and value, however, these
simple changes did not have the big effect we had hoped
for. The real focus needed to be on timing, community
and reputation.
s p o n s o re d c o n t e n t
We learned that people who saw a photo of their
chosen fundraiser while deciding on the amount of
contribution, for example, were more likely to follow
through with the process, and actually ended up donating
more. When we tested a feature that encouraged donors
to write personal messages to recipients, people said they
felt a stronger bond to the fundraiser. We also introduced
other features such as the timeline, to strengthen the
community of donors, fundraisers and charities.
But while many people value this personal bond with
the recipient, that does not necessarily mean they want to
broadcast their generosity to their entire social network.
Most donors tend to donate without being signed in
which led to their donation being initially marked as
anonymous. This was frustrating for the fundraisers
because they wanted to know who was donating to their
cause. By adding a privacy adjustment option in the
donation flow that allowed donors to show their identity
to only the fundraiser, we were able to facilitate deeper
investment in the community on both sides, without
pushing away those who wished to stay anonymous.
Design concepts for a donor’s donation journey
In this project, we gained deep empathy with users by
applying behavioural economics techniques. Our designs
are under development to be implemented, after which
we plan to measure the longer term effects of our design
decisions. By understanding the seemingly irrational
rationales behind people’s actions, we were able to give
MyDonate the confidence to make radical changes to the
donation platform.
To learn more about our methods visit
www.spotless.co.uk/spotmethods.
Touchpoint 9-2 19
f e at u re f e at u re

Title Measuring
Impact and
Value

Cat Drew is Delivery Director
at UK-based Uscreates.
Previously, Cat has been
Head of Projects at the UK
Government's Policy Lab,
and worked in other policy
roles in No.10, Cabinet Office,
GDS and the Home Office.
Cat has written and spoken
widely on the role of data
and design, including at TedX
Westminster.
An Iterative, Experience and
Practice-led Approach to
Measuring Impact
Measuring the impact of service design in a world of public sector
management metrics has always been tricky. Social outcomes take
a long time to be realised. Proxy ‘output’ measures often tell us
what is happening rather than why it is happening, and can drive
perverse behaviours. Problems that service design addresses sit
within complex systems, and it is often difficult to isolate a specific
intervention from changing elements or innovations surrounding
it. There is a growing recognition that services are never fully
(re)designed and need constant evaluation to evolve and improve.
Impact measurement needs to reflect this. Rather than something
measured at the end of the project, it needs to be iterative and
become part of continuous service development. And rather than
relying on purely quantitative data, it needs to become more
experience and practice-led, with frontline staff and service
users empowered and supported to use it to make continuous
improvements in the service they deliver, or their own behaviours.

In 2017, at the Measured Summit in New it will). As designers, we also measure

York, experts and students came together
to discuss how to measure the impact of
design. At the follow-up event in London,
six months later, we were still discussing
the basics: why are we measuring impact,
and for whom? Traditionally, in the non-
design world (of our clients), impact has
been measured through evaluation, to
prove something has worked (or to argue
impact formatively, to reflect on and
improve the service we are designing, as
well as the process for designing it. Table
1 shows that by expanding the groups of
people that use these two approaches can
lead us to different forms and functions of
impact measurement.

22 Touchpoint 9-2
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

Why do we measure impact, and for whom?

Evaluative/summative: For the public, to understand if/how their money has been spent
to prove something works effectively.

For commissioners, to understand what initiatives to further invest

in; to make the case for funding initiatives; and to be accountable to
the public for spending their money in an effective manner.

For designers, to make the case for further design work, and/or
make the case for the value of design.

Formative: For users, to self-reflect on what their data is telling them about
to learn and iteratively themselves, and to make a change.
improve something
For staff, to learn and reflect on what is working, and improve
processes and ways of working (getting positive and negative
feedback).

For designers (again), to reflect and learn about how well the design
process is working, improve it and create best and next practice.

The challenges around evaluating design are well
documented.


— Social outcomes often take a long time to appear,
particularly where the approach is preventative. For
example, you might only see the impact of increasing
financial self-management on homelessness figures
five or ten years later.


— As a result of the previous challenge, organisations
have created output or proxy metrics to measure more
immediate impact, which can be useful. For example,
primary school assessments of childhood obesity
give a more current indicator of early intervention
initiatives that will reduce Type II diabetes in the
longer term. However, these tend to be either an
existing interaction measure (e.g. GP visits or waiting
times) or an easily-quantifiable measurement (e.g.
an annual weight measurement). They capture what
is happening, rather than why and how people feel.
This is where much of the value of service design is
delivered. Metrics are quite often driven by what the
organisation deems is important rather, rather than
what users value (e.g. train passenger surveys about
punctuality and price, rather than anxiety or stress
experienced during the journey). And these practices
can also lead to perverse service behaviours. In the
UK, the police’s ‘Offences Brought to Justice’ target
drove the police to target young people (so-called ‘low
hanging fruit’) rather than more dangerous criminals,
in order to drive up their impact measurements.

Social challenges are part of bigger systems; specific

—
interventions do not take place in isolation. For
example, a service-level intervention to prevent
homelessness will be affected by rent price increases or
changes to the benefit or welfare system. Place-based
approaches to health will be affected by the particular
physical (buildings, transport, environmental) and
human (communities, services, politics) elements
in that place. Some new types of innovation are

Touchpoint 9-2 23
 actively encouraging this complexity. ‘Combinatorial
innovation’, as it is being trialled in the UK through
the NHS test-bed programme, deliberately tests a
number of technological innovations at the same time,
or alongside other new approaches, which means
setting a control is impossible. Traditional evaluation
frameworks are scientifically grounded with control
groups and a small number of quantitative variables.
But these function less well in the messier world of
social challenges, where it is difficult to dissect the
effect of a specific change from other parts of the
system that are swirling around it.   happens, follow how people are using digital services,
In a constantly evolving world, a service
re-design is never complete and impact
measurement is part of delivering a
constantly-improving service.


— What is interesting about this data is that it is much
This calls into question not only the usefulness but
indeed validity of traditional, evaluative, end-of-test
impact measurement alone. As a civil servant, I have
been guilty of writing “we are going to pilot [...] with a
view to rolling it out nationally” in various strategies. It
means that pilot programmes are set up to succeed rather
than to be allowed to fail, even if the experiment proves
not to work. There are examples of expensive trials that
were set on a course to succeed by their political masters,
despite evidence to the contrary.1
Instead, I would argue for an iterative, experience and
practice-led approach.


— By iterative, I mean plotting a series of proxy measures
that give a sense of how you are moving towards
outcomes (and using this data to pivot throughout).
Theories of change are useful in helping to think
through how an action results in an outcome. By
mapping the causal links and assumptions, one can
1 Nina Holm Vohnsen (2011) Absurdity and the sensible decision
24 Touchpoint 9-2
also identify a wide variety of metrics and indicators
that can track interim progress. Colleagues from the
agency Nile and the Royal Bank of Scotland, presenting
their redesign of the Scottish £5 note at the SDN
conference in London in 2016, explained how they
measured the ripple effects of design throughout the
process as well as the large splash at the end. These
can take many forms: output data, surveys, responses
to cultural probes, feedback and customer insight.
Digital data provides a world of new possibilities,
allowing people to track activity and behaviour as it
(e.g. trend research and social media listening), as well
as real-time forums for posing questions and surveys.
For example, Uscreates developed a ‘Children’s Centre
in a Box’ for the UK’s Children’s Society, by messaging
parents each week to measure how they were using
the activities provided within the Box, and using this
to measure which ones were most valuable, and which
ones needed improvement.
more qualitative, behavioural and experiential than
traditional proxy measures. By experience and
practice-led, I mean both valuing qualitative feedback
and insight from users, as well as the tacit knowledge
and opinions of frontline staff on whether an idea
is working or not. There is a debate on the value of
‘intuition’ in professional decision making. It is clearly
resisted in the scientific world of reason. However,
where it is based on cognitive experience and is
combined with other metrics, it provides another
valuable, sense-making measure.

Supporting frontline staff to have a more central role

—
in assessing whether something is working or not
offers wider value for how services and policy are
continuously improved. Getting user feedback is fairly
standard for service designers. But if we are to promote
the use of practice-led judgments of value, we also
need to support frontline staff to widen the cognitive
sources on which they are basing their assessments,
including listening to users. We also need to help
people make sense of unstructured qualitative data.

In short term this can be done by supporting them to
code/assess it, and in the longer term by using AI to
quantify sentiment from video and text responses,
freeing up staff to create ideas for improvements.
Therefore iterative, experience and practice-led
measurement belies a different type of culture and
mindset around how we continually develop and improve
services. Our work with organisations wishing to move
to a more preventative and early intervention approach
has highlighted a need to move from a culture where
frontline staff are gatekeepers of a service at the time of
crisis - following process and activity/time targets - to
one where frontline staff are problem-solvers, doing
what they feel is best to achieve the right outcome for
the person. In the latter world, frontline staff have
control over their service, using impact data and their
own trusted feedback to see how it is working and being
empowered to change and improve it. In a constantly
evolving world, a service re-design is never complete and
impact measurement is part of delivering a constantly-
improving service.
But it is not that easy to roll back decades of public
sector management and create a mindset that the RSA
calls ‘think like a system, act like an entrepreneur’.2
Leaders need to promote a reflective and learning
culture so frontline staff can actively look for feedback
from users, be trusted to give it themselves, and make
improvements to the service they deliver. Service design,
through its involvement of staff in the design process,
and the artefacts it creates (e.g. a problem solving
conversation guide rather than tick-box forms) is a
powerful vehicle for the culture change.
And what of users? They are also included in the
audience in Table 1. As well as developing and improving
services, iterative impact measurement can be part of
their delivery. A preventative approach also requires
greater self-awareness and resilience-building within
users. Impact measurement should not be seen as a
one-way stream, with organisations sucking up data
2 Burbridge, I (2017) The System Entrepreneur
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
and making decisions. Rather, gathering feedback and
data and relaying it back to users (on its own, as a self-
quantified visualisation or with additional tailored
advice) can be part of the service offer itself. The act
of recording data about your health can prompt you
to adapt healthier living behaviours. Research and
implementation are intertwined through apps like
‘mappify’ that pulse checks people’s health, or ‘Colour
in City’ which used digital technology to collect people’s
experiences of their city, prompting behaviour change.
The idea that a service is static - is designed,
evaluated and stays the same - looks increasingly out
of date. Services, both their digital and face-to-face
components, need to change and evolve with the
systems that surround them. As well as designing the
service, designers need to upskill frontline staff to lead
this iterative change. Perhaps more importantly than
summative evaluation (proving that something works)
is formative evaluation (learning what works and
improving what doesn’t). In traditional frameworks,
evaluation comes at the end of the process. Instead, we
need to see impact measurement as part of the delivery
of the service itself, with frontline staff and users looking
at the variety of iterative measures, reflecting on how
well things are working, and shifting their behaviour and
making changes if they are not.
Touchpoint 9-2 25

Jo’Anne Langham has
22 years of experience in
service design and in leading
user-centred design teams.
During her work in industry
she established research
and design teams and lead
large scale public sector
design projects. Jo’Anne was
awarded the prestigious ATO
Commissioner’s Scholarship
in 2010.
26 Touchpoint 9-2
Humanising Frankenstein
Measuring and improving citizen experiences
Insufficient attention has been paid to developing a systematic
method for evaluating the effectiveness of the experiences
created by public sector service design. Citizen experiences
are at times monstrous: rambling, fragmented and frightening.
This paper describes research used to assess the experience of
starting a small business in Australia as a pilot study for a larger
research program for evaluating effectiveness. This research
study applies the theoretical model for Experience Effectiveness
(XE), a framework with metrics to compare, evaluate and improve
government-citizen services. Our aim is to tame the Frankenstein
of service design: public sector services.
What is a successful citizen An experience must facilitate compliance
experience? and protect the citizen from accidental or
A good citizen experience relates to the unforced errors.
successful completion of tasks to meet an Government authorities are also
obligation or receive a benefit from the increasingly aware of the value of well-
government. Such experiences encompass designed services for citizens, such as the
a wide variety of government services at prefilling of tax return data, digital visas
all levels. Examples include: completing and streamlining health insurance claims
a tax return, receiving welfare benefits, at point of sale. In these cases, a great deal
attending public education, receiving of supporting activity occurs behind the
healthcare, paying taxes or obtaining scenes with little or no intervention from
a licence. If a citizen fails to comply, citizens. However, many services cannot
there are consequences, such as fines or be fully automated and require citizens
penalties which must be paid regardless to control or manage their obligations.
of whether the non-compliance was Assessing these self-directed experiences
accidental or deliberate. Therefore, the is exceptionally difficult. Services
achievement of compliance is a primary are assigned by the government to be
goal for successful citizen experiences. administered by multiple departments.

Overarching programmes are then deconstructed into
competing priorities and delegated to areas with different
responsibilities. Products, services and processes are
designed as self-contained components, often within
different quality frameworks and with an inconsistent
understanding of the original intent. Subsequently, these
‘parts’ are evaluated separately, which individually may
be satisfactory, but together are incomprehensible.
For example, a simple task such as reporting income
for a welfare benefit can easily become complicated if
the associated website uses different terminology or
instructions than can be found on the related forms.
The communication is further jeopardised when the
call centre instructs callers to do something which
contradicts the instructions on both the forms and
the website. Such seemingly straightforward designs
can quickly become problematic. The lack of design
integration and the use of different terms stems from
distributed accountability as well as insufficient
evaluation of effectiveness.
Many government departments have attempted to
address issues of performance evaluation through the
application of services measures such as satisfaction or
loyalty utilising SERVQUAL1 or the Net Promoter Score2 .
However, satisfaction scales are insufficient to evaluate
experiences delivered by the public sector as a citizen
may perceive a good or positive experience yet still fail
to meet their obligations. The citizen satisfaction or
perception of the service is then immaterial.
Public sector experiences must also be designed to
withstand fraud and deliberate non-compliance or
evasion. Additional security and compliance checks are
necessary to ensure the integrity of the system, but may
hinder the ease or usability of the experience. ‘Loyalty’
is also irrelevant in these circumstances because the
public sector maintains a monopoly on the supply, leaving
citizens little choice but to persist in their compliance
efforts regardless of the personal cost.
Satisfaction scales are also deemed inadequate as they
are applied inconsistently at different service or product
levels with different levels of rigour due to multiple
1 Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., & Berry, L. (1988). Servqual: A multiple-
item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of quality. Journal of
Retailing, 64(1), 12.
2 Markey, R., Reichheld, F., & Dullweber, A. (2009). Closing the customer
feedback loop. Harvard Business Review, 87(12), 43-+.
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
stakeholder interests. The consequence is that there is
a focus on the quality of components at the expense of
a holistic evaluation of the experience. Furthermore,
macro- or organisational-level performance measures,
such as productivity or revenue collection, provide
insufficient detail to identify underperforming
components of the experience and may actually
counteract customer service as they drive efficiency
rather than effectiveness.
Our approach to evaluating the effectiveness of citizen
experience encompasses indicators that demonstrate
compliance facilitation, experience integration, effort
reduction, accessibility and error prevention. The design
must also ensure that all citizens have a fair and accessible
method for fulfilling their obligations, regardless of
intellect, experience, resources or capabilities.
The XE Model
The XE Model is a synthesis of the measures and
principles from a number of relevant domains including:
new public management and new governance, service
design and management, universal design, information
technology, human factors and ergonomics, usability, and
user-centred design and human reliability assessment.
From an extensive review of the literature and
subsequent categorisation process, three classes emerged
as dimensions of XE: ‘Product’, ‘Process’ and ‘Service’.
The three dimensions account for the citizen’s personal
interaction with (governmental or quasi-governmental)
service providers, the complexity and integration of
the process and the usability and accessibility of the
tools or products that are used during the experience.
Experience Effectiveness
System,
product or tool
Product descriptive
criteria
Citizen
experience
Task
performance Process Service
Human
descriptive
criteria criteria
Figure 1- Experience Effectiveness (XE) model
Touchpoint 9-2 27
 Product Process Service

Cognition Flexibility Responisiveness

Perception Error management (two-way) Contextual inquiries
Ergonomics Efficiency Competence and observations Interviews
Aesthetics Stability and predictability Courtesy

Accessibility Security Credibility 4 small business operators 12 tax officers specialising in small
Equity 8 experienced business business
Usefulness Complexity/simplicity
Co-Production operators (>3 years) 5 tax administrative designers
Awareness Completeness/seamlessness
Interactive inspector General of Taxation
Context
expectations (senior representative)
Temporal considerations
Emotion 4 tax agents for small business
operators

Table 1 - Components of the dimensions of XE Table 2 - Samples used for the study

Any combination of the dimensions may exist for an
experience. The ‘citizen experience’ occurs at the
juncture of two or more of these dimensions (Figure 1).
Additionally, the evaluation approach utilises the
experiences and perceptions of all of the actors involved,
including an expert reviewer. The multi-viewpoint
evaluation provides an opportunity to view the
experience from different lenses and detect flaws that
may be invisible from a single client perspective. This
simultaneous and multi-viewpoint method also enables a
cross-validation of the data through triangulation.
Within each of the dimensions of XE there are further
factors (Table 1). These factors are used to assess each part
of the experience. For example, the evaluation of lodging a
tax return may include assessing each of the contributing
activities, such as keeping records, calculating expenses
and income and completing the lodgement. Each activity
is then evaluated according to the product, process and
service dimensions. Therefore, evaluation occurs at the
‘experience’ and the ‘activity’ levels.
Evaluating the AE model – case study pilot and
expert review
To validate the dimensions in the model and ensure that
the complexity of XE is fully described, we designed a
qualitative study using a test case scenario as well as a
draft measurement scale for a prototype of an evaluation
tool. Concurrently, an expert review of the scale was
conducted to assess the content validity.
For the case study, we used the experience of an
individual beginning to trade as a small business. This
experience was chosen due to the complexity of the
service ecology, its heterogeneity and criticality of the
sample population in the Australian taxation context, as
well as the potentially high risk of administrative failure.
The expert review of the scale was designed as
an online survey. Design specialists were invited to
categorise and assess each of the 66 scale items. Forty-six
designers in Australia responded to the evaluation. The
result of this evaluation was used to refine and update the
XE measurement scale.
The pilot study followed a sequential exploratory
strategy. Ethnographic techniques were used to gather
contextual information with 12 small business owners and
staff. Material from existing data sources such as reports
on complaints data3 was used to understand the citizen’s
perspective. Design specialists, subject matter experts
and tax professionals were interviewed to gain insights
from different actor’s perspectives on the constraints as
well as determining a definition of successful compliance.
The sample is shown in Table 2. A pilot measurement tool
utilising a draft evaluation scale was also provided to all
participants (and the researcher acting as an observer) to
complete at the end of each session.
3 Inspector General of Taxation. (2016). 2015-16 annual report.
Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

28 Touchpoint 9-2

Analysis
Analysis was conducted in several iterative stages.
Firstly, data was coded thematically. Each participant’s
experience was translated into process maps and
subsequently synthesised into a holistic client experience
map. Emotions, questions, attitudes, errors and fail
points were also identified and documented as part of
the experience. Participants evaluated components
of the experience (or sub-experience) using the XE
measurement tool (Table 1). Based on these scores, each
variable was given a rating out of 10 (1 = low or poor,
10 = high or strong) across each of the XE dimensions
of product, process and service. The scores from each
dimension were converted to a score out of 10. The total
score out of 30 was then calculated for the experience.
Finally, the results from the participants utilising the
pilot measurement tool were compared with the coded
qualitative results and the observations.
Results: starting a small business in Australia
Overall rating 15/30
Process: 12/30
Product: 13/30
Service: 19/30
The observations and interviews identified eight primary
activities when starting a business. Businesses found
it was necessary to interact with multiple government
levels (federal, state and local council) and various
industry bodies in the start-up phase. The instructions
Mean
Lodge BAS
Sell and buy
Begin trading
Set up business fundamentals
Set up registrations
Determine business model
Do research
Have an idea
0 1 2 3
Service
Figure 2 - Ratings of each aspect of the starting a small business experience (rating out of 10)
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
for establishing a business were complicated and
confusing. In some cases, the obligations required
considerable effort to complete.
All business owners, including those who considered
themselves knowledgeable and experienced, struggled
through the start-up process. Setting up good record-
keeping practices was difficult for most businesses. Many
participants expressed frustration at the apparent lack
of logic in the process and high degree of specification
required by government for tasks with little consequence
for safety, risk or good business management. Government
departments asked for the same information repeatedly,
demonstrating little reuse or cross-agency sharing.
The areas rated lowest in the experience were ‘set-up
registrations’ and ‘set-up business fundamentals’. The
identification of these areas provides clear guidance for
the responsible service providers to improve the start-up
experience.
Results: The use of the XE measurement
framework
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the client experience
was markedly improved by the use of the XE framework.
Data gathered from the different perspectives of
user, subject matter expert and observer provided
a clear understanding of the relative importance of
different aspects of the experience to the various
actors. Evaluating each aspect of the system as being
categorised as products, process and services allowed
the identification of systemic issues, such as failures in
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Process Product
Touchpoint 9-2 29
 Service

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Figure 3 - Dashboard visualisation of the client
e

ib
let

ili
ty
mp

Use
experience showing visual indicators for the
Co

xt

ful
nte

Awaren
Temporal

ne
evaluation of the experience dimensions and
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ess
activities.
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4 5. Set up business fundamentals

3 4. Set up registrations
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xibi n
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5 2. Do Research

Error 9 1. Have an idea

Managed Perception

c y
Efficien Areas for process improvement:

- Inflexibility of process Ergono

mics
ility - Lack of short cuts
Stab
- Inability to use existing tools
ess

ty
uri Aes
- Medium to high amount of effort required
ec the
oc

S tic
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it y
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- Many steps in the process

ex
P

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Ac
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Figure 4 – Further detail on the process

ful

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Temporal

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uc
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dimension of the starting a small business t

ess

experience.

30 Touchpoint 9-2
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

process between government departments. Moreover,
the XE model provided greater sensitivity in identifying
issues and dependencies to be addressed in the
experience.
Through the synthesis and translation of the
information, a circular dashboard was also created to
provide decision makers with a visualisation of the data.
The aim of this prototype was to enhance interpretation
of a lower level of detail regarding issues whilst also
enabling an understanding of the effect on the larger
experience. The dashboard clearly demonstrates the
weaknesses through colour-coded ratings. As shown in
Figure 3 - Green: satisfactory; Amber: needing attention;
and Red: urgent improvement required.
Subsequent visualisations were created showing the
evaluation of the ‘starting a business’ experience, whilst
highlighting the areas within the two problematic
activities (‘set-registrations’ and ‘set-up business
fundamentals’). The diagram quickly draws attention to
the areas that were determined to be the weakest.
Improvements for future research
The XE framework requires further improvements
before it can be used as a practitioner tool. The current
measurement approach is cumbersome and requires
significant energy on behalf of the reviewer to complete
an evaluation. Future studies will be used to refine the
method and the tool so that it is available for practical
application.
difficult to differentiate categories of service created
in the model for the purpose of measurement.
Establishing well-defined boundaries of activities
within an experience will improve measurement
reliability.

T he development of more sophisticated measures

—
around context and co-production is required.
The most prevalent insight from this research is the
fundamental flaw inherent in citizen experiences.
Experiences are created by bureaucrats with officious
expectations of how citizens should perform. As a result,
citizens are expected to think and behave like public
servants, rather than experiences services which are
designed to fit their actual lives. Despite well-meaning
attempts to incorporate the citizen perspective into the
design, there remains a clear lack of understanding of the
practical realities of the expectations placed on citizens
to meet their obligations. The question that remains is
whether the public sector is the best place for the design
and evaluation of citizen experiences. Is it possible to
remedy public sector service through evaluation? Can we
make Frankenstein human?

There are also number of aspects of the framework that

need further investigation.


— A measure of complexity for the experience is
required. The ability to compare experiences will be
valuable, however this will not be possible with the
current approach. For example, comparing Australia’s
complex Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) obligations, to
something apparently ‘simple’ such as making a
payment, would be difficult. A scale of complexity
would aid in such comparisons.

A simple method for defining the scope of an

—
experience is also necessary. Participants found it

Touchpoint 9-2 31
 The Three Layers of Service
Design Impact
A framework for mapping design and business impact

We observed that when a strong business strategy is coupled with

great service design, the questions always arise: “How are we
going to know if we’re successful? And how do we know if we’re
on the right track or when we need to change course?” At frog,
we are focused on actively designing for business impact, making
it an ever-present variable throughout the design process.

Craig Cisero s a senior
strategist at frog, focusing on
business design, combining
in-depth user research with
market dynamics to increase
the commercial impact of 
product and service design.
Veronika Ji is a strategist at
frog. Her passion for health
trends, retail experience and
business has inspired her
work on many healthcare and
retail projects.
Stefania Marcoli is Principal
Director frogHealth. She
leads healthcare projects
within frog, bringing more
than 15 years’ experience in
human-centred design and
strategic thinking.
Chiara Diana is Creative
Director and Experience
Strategy lead at frog, working
across communication,
interaction and service
design, with a focus on
solutions that span complex
product-service ecosystems.
In order to help our clients properly
measure and manage the performance
of service design once it’s implemented,
we help them plan measurement models
for the intended impact. We create these
models using three different layers of
business impact.
In short: An organisation has business
goals (e.g. to increase revenue), a strategy
to achieve those goals (e.g. convert
freemium to paying users), tactics to
achieve the strategy (e.g. streamline
the premium registration process). By
measuring performance at each of these
three levels (business goals, strategy
and tactics), one can make informed
management decisions and even correlate
changes between levels. For example,
it can be quite informative to correlate
the changes in tactics with efficacy of
fulfilling certain strategies.
This article describes how we
apply this framework to make a set of
recommendations for service design
projects:


— At the business goals layer, measure
progress towards the organisation’s
overall business objectives and impacts
(e.g. revenue growth, market share
gains)


— At the strategy layer, alongside
traditional strategic KPIs, identify
hard metrics that represent the design
principles as a reflection of the strategy
(e.g. conversion rates, KPI models for
specific design principles)


— At the tactics layer, measure functional
and emotional customer feedback
to individual service features and
improvements (e.g. number of steps to
complete registration, perceived effort
of registration)
An assumption we start with is that
service design projects often use
business goals (such as revenue growth
or customer retention) to measure
success, without also measuring the
intermediate steps for how to reach such
goals.1 Measuring tactics and strategy in

32 Touchpoint 9-2

addition to goals helps the designer to understand which
design decisions are driving business goals, and gives the
designer a multi-dimensional tool to communicate the
value of the design.2
We are proposing the three layers as a way to
transform from map A to map B in terms of measuring
the impact of service design (See Fig. 1). In map A, we
would only know the overall distance and if the final
objective is reached, without sufficient information
on where we are in the journey towards the objective.
In map B, with the measurement of the trip during
the course of travel, we would gather more actionable
insights that can enable us to optimise both the current
trip and even the next trip.
Figure 1
The theory: Why and what
Service design is entering more strategic areas of client
organisations, taking a more active role in proving its
business value. This value justifies investment. This has
many upsides, but also comes with new challenges: It
requires service designers to be more sensitive to how
they measure the value of their design.
1 The framework may be applied on a sliding scale. In this article,
business impact starts at the business goals of the organisation. If
working at less senior levels, the business impact layer may start with
the business goals of that department, and accordingly measure the
strategy and tactics that department is using to address those goals
(rather than the strategy and tactics of the organisation overall).
2 Such detailed business analysis might be the responsibility of the
client, however, the service designer may benefit from helping the
client adjust their performance management efforts based upon key
organisation shifts that a service design approach may create, such as
increased customer empathy or rapid prototyping.
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
Measuring the value of design has two main functions:
decision analysis and communication. Decision analysis
allows the organisation to understand the performance
of service features, and change them to better realise its
goals. Communication allows service designers to better
align stakeholders around the value being created, thus
getting buy-in that will drive the collaboration needed to
realise the full benefits of the design.
As more business impact is created, the greater is
the sensitivity required to measure outcomes of service
design projects. We propose the three layers of service
design measurement as a way to manage the complexity.
Practically speaking, the three-layer approach helps the
service designer to move from a generic analysis:

—

“What are our business goals?” and “Did we meet them?”
To an analysis that is more informative and actionable:


— Strategy-business goal connection: “Does the market
react well to our design principles?” and “Which
design principles3 are not resonating?”


— Tactics-strategy correlation: “Did the shift in
touchpoint X help us reach design principle A?”
Separating out the layers helps the designers and their
business stakeholders to make more sophisticated
decisions in managing the components of the service
design, while giving them more material to build a
business case in complex environments. It can also help
the business stakeholders, empowering them to manage
the newly-designed services after implementation. The
re-usability of service design deliverables has been cited
an issue.4 An effective measurement strategy can be the
first step in setting up an operating model that allows
service design to live-on after end of project.
3 Design principles are a set of fundamental intentions or statements
that designers use to guide the process, product and experience.
4 Feuerlicht, George. “Simple metric for assessing quality of service
design." International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing.
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010.
Touchpoint 9-2 33
 Tactical Layer
Measure functional and emotional
customer feedback to link them to
individual service features

Strategic Layer
Measure strategic KPIs and design
principle metrics

Business Impact Layer

Measure progress towards the
organisation's overall business goals
and objectives

Layer by layer: Example tactics-related KPIs could be:

Detailed explanation and examples
KPI Description
The Tactics layer
This layer includes immediate customer feedback to Digital analytics Functional customer
tactical service features or improvements. Tactics are feedback: It captures the
distinguished from strategies because they are specific objective analytics on certain
actions or changes rather than overarching plans. experiences, e.g. “How long
or how many clicks did this
This could be a change in flow at the retail shop that
process take?”
reduces wait time, a new CRM interaction that increases
personalisation, or any other tactical change deployed by Customer perception analysis Emotional customer feedback:
the service designers. It collects qualitative,
self-­reported feedback on
A measurement at this layer is unique in that it gives
perceived experiences, e.g.
specific feedback on a specific feature. For the designers, “How long did the process
it provides an immediate feedback on the efficacy of their feel like?”
design and offers levers for iterative improvement.
tNPS (transactional Net Emotional customer feedback:
The key shift for most organisations on the tactics
Promoter Score) It asks customers for
layer is to expand from purely functional feedback (“How feedback right after selected
many minutes did interaction X take?”), to include both transactions or experiences.
functional and emotional customer feedback on the It’s important to note that
interaction (“How long did the interaction feel like?”). traditional NPS is not a tactics
measurement because it asks
Measuring emotional impact is important because
the user to recommend a
organisations are likely to apply a service design approach service overall.
to establish a closer relationship with their customers.
Such emotional metrics can be measured through use Emotional analytics Emotional customer feedback:
It is voice/text analysis and
of technology such as voice analytics or through survey
delivers insights on customers’
techniques. emotional reactions.

Figure 2: Illustrative L1 measurements

34 Touchpoint 9-2
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

The Strategy layer strategic KPIs and attempting to measure “soft”

This layer contains metrics that reflect the organisation’s design principles with hard metrics. In essence, design
success in addressing strategies, which can be defined principles can be represented by a single quantitative
as the plans and principles that guide the execution of KPI, or a model of multiple KPIs. For example, “Principle
specific service features. They are distinguished from X” may be a combination of engagement and emotional
business goals because strategies represent the approach sentiment. These KPIs can be combined in different ways
to accomplish an end goal (better conversion rates is an to show the bigger picture of the principle.6
approach to increased revenue).
Measuring the fulfilment of strategies is beneficial Example KPIs in this layer could be:
to organisations because it helps to understand if a
collection of tactics is helping to advance a particular KPI Description
service design strategy, and how to optimise those tactics
moving forward. Conversion rates Depending on the business,
Additionally, measuring the strategic layer it measures the rate of
independently of the business impact layer helps identify converting customers from
strategic success independent of business success. They one status to another (e.g.
Freemium to paid).
may not always move hand in hand, as evidenced by an
academic research on the effect of service innovation NPS (Net Promotor Score) It measures customer’s overall
on organisation-level financial performance.5 Fulfilling feedback on a service, e.g.
the design principles with no shift in business impact “How happy are customers?”
and “How willing are they to
can signal an ineffective strategy, or may signify that the
recommend the service to
intended business results did not materialise due to other friend?”
market conditions (such as the entry of a new competitor,
or in the case of the referenced academic study, an (# Targeted It measures one principle:
promotions/#generic “Reward Customers
increase in costs).
promotions) & (Offer Delightfully”. For an example
Sometimes a service design project fails due to activation rate) service (see case study),
conditions outside of the actual design team. In these the KPI reflects “How many
cases, the three-layer approach can help the designers promotions are sent to
and the stakeholders to isolate these causes from the loyal customers?” and “How
attractive are the promotional
metrics, analysing the real causes and measuring the
offers?”
effect of the project objectively. Conversely, in the case
of a positive business outcome, the service designer can (Average Customer Effort It measures another principle:
build a stronger correlation between the positive business score) & (‘First call resolution’ “Make it Effortless”. For the
rates) aforementioned service, the
impact and the service design strategies if they have
KPI reflects “How much effort
evidence that the service strategy was fulfilled. do customers spend overall?”
and “How often customers
Organisations are often accustomed to applying KPIs get the problem solved at the
first try?”
such as conversion rates that evaluate the outcome of a
strategic plan. However, a key shift towards measuring

performance of service design is going beyond traditional Figure 3: Illustrative L2 measurements

The Business Goals layer

5 Aas, Tor Helge, and Per Egil Pedersen. “The impact of service
innovation on firm-level financial performance.” The Service
Industries Journal 31.13 (2011): 2071-2090.
6 This can be done in a number of ways. Simply modeling movement
of multiple KPIs on a single graph can be a starting point. Some
situations may even allow for an index of multiple KPIs that can be tied
together with a weighted average or other custom calculation.
This layer includes measurements of the broad outcomes
the organisation seeks to create. They are distinguished
from strategies and tactics because they are the sum of
the organisation’s strategies and tactics. For example,
a for-profit public corporation will be looking to please

Touchpoint 9-2 35
shareholders by growing revenue and increasing market service design, should the business impact be negatively
share in their industry. Alternatively, a public health affected by the aforementioned other conditions.
system may be seeking increases in key population We used the three layers framework to recommend
health measurements. In the best case, these business key shifts in the current measurement strategy that
goals are shifted by the service design strategies and would allow the organisation to manage service design
tactics. However, they may also be affected by the many moving forward.
other competing sets of strategies and tactics that are
being executed within the organisation. When service The Tactics layer:
designers measure business goals alone, it exposes the Traditionally, the organisation was using a series of
immediate results of their work to the complexity of metrics to gauge reactions to specific processes via
other factors in the organisation. follow/up calls and online surveys. However, most of
the analysis was broad (e.g. “Rate the service on a scale
Example KPIs in this layer could be: of 1-5”), or functionally analytical (e.g. length of call).
We suggested to incorporate metrics that give more
KPI Description information on the emotional impact of tactical changes.
For example, people judge support interactions on how
Revenue Common business goals: An
long the interaction felt, instead of simply reporting
organisation is seeking top- length of call. Some customers would be surveyed after
line growth, or is looking to key processes to enquire how long the interaction felt to
become more efficient or to them. Changing service details could reduce how long the
become more profitable.
call felt, even if the length was actually the same.
Market share Common business goals:
An organisation seeks to The Strategy layer:
become the market leader The strategic pillars of their new customer experience
in an industry or to defend a
can be described in summary as: “Connecting, Assuring,
current customer base.
Rewarding and Effortless.” ‘Rewarding’ was composed of
Stay relevant in a changing A traditional organisation two sub-descriptions: ‘Delight’ and ‘Magic’. We created
strategic setting expects a shift in their a KPI index for each of the strategic pillars. For example,
industry, wants to understand
the design pillar of ‘Rewarding’ was measured by a KPI
if their new initiative (such as
digital transformation) would
index consisting of offer activation rate and number of
help them to be competitive targeted promotions/number of generic promotions.
with this industry shift.
The Business Goals layer:
The classic business objectives were unchanged by
Figure 4: Illustrative L3 measurements the project. However, the team was now positioned to
correlate shifts in weekly/monthly/annual financial
figures with changes in tactical and strategic service
Case studies: A telco in a shifting setting design metrics, which provided more space to make
persuasive business cases for their design initiatives.
In 2017, a major European telco was preparing for a
company-wide digital transformation that would include Closing
a re-design of over 100 customer flows. In that same The three layers of service design impact can be used in
year, they were facing the prospect of a new market many ways, but they are most useful as an exercise with
entrant who planned on disrupting the marketplace the client to plan the right measurement strategy.
with aggressive pricing and new service models. The We believe this exercise is best applied at the end of the
measurement would need to measure the business impact strategic phase of a design engagement, when a set of
of the service design, but also measure the tactics of the strategies and tactics for the service have been identified.

36 Touchpoint 9-2
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

How to combine the three layers of service design

How to combine the three layers of service design
impact to analyse performance
impact to analyse performance

TACTICAL STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYTICAL POTENTIAL

PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE CONCLUSION NEXT STEP

“The business impact can be Tell the

strongly correlated with the success world
A
of the strategy and tactics deployed about your
in our service design project.” success

“Our tactics, though receive good

customer feedback, are not Review
B
impacting our strategic objectives tactics
or business goals.”

“Our tactics get good customer

feedback and are helping us reach Review
C
our strategic objectives, but it has strategy
little impact on business goals.”

Illustrative case Scenario C: A music platform developed a strategy to convert more freemium users to paying users, in order to achieve their goal
of increasing overall revenue. A year later, the service designers and the leadership team reviews the performance across three layers:
– In the Tactical Performance layer, users are more satisfied with a streamlined subscription upgrade process and various promotional offerings.
– Correspondingly, in the Strategic Performance layer, more freemium users were converted to paying users due to the improved service.
– However, in the Business Performance layer, the revenue wasn’t increased much.
They discovered that as a new competitor is providing more attractive freemium services, causing an increase in churn rate, and thereby converting
the freemium users to paying users, although successful, did not drive business performance due to switching users. The service design worked,
but needs to be strategically revisited.

The service designer and their client can identify and

align on KPIs that measure success on each of the three
layers. Once aligned, the KPIs can be shared with IT
teams to ensure that the correct data is being captured to
effectively measure the intended business impact.
Overall, we hope this framework serves to improve the
maturity of business analysis within service design.
At the very least, it can serve as a mental model for
the designer, and a conversational tool to use with
their clients, to tell a better story, and choose the right
collection of KPIs to apply, helping all stakeholders better
manage the complex path between a service design
workshop and long-term business goals.

Touchpoint 9-2 37

Patrick McGowan delivers
service design, management
and innovation expertise
to enterprises, government
agencies and innovative
start-ups. Patrick founded
and runs The Service
Design Group, a customer
experience and service
design consultancy in the
United States. He also
teaches service innovation to
MBA students.
Raven Manocchio is Design
Principal at The Service
Design Group. He holds
numerous design awards
including American Graphic
Design Award, Addy’s,
Davey’s, and Red Dot. He
has a BA in Art History and
Exhibition Design from
Hampshire College.
38 Touchpoint 9-2
You Can’t Manage What You
Can’t Measure
Executive leaders we work with subscribe to a basic principle:
you can’t manage what you can’t measure! Born from traditional
management thinking, this principle does not stop at products:
it applies — more so — to services. Managers measure product
performance using sales figures and financial outcomes, but
measuring service performance requires a deeper understanding
of service types and measurement models.
Understanding service and
measurement types
At The Service Design Group, we
recognise four service types and four ways
to measure them. We call these ‘service
measurement types’. We identify these
based on years of service innovation,
design and management experience
across multiple industries, including
benchmarking service performance
between companies in specific industries.
Understanding service measurement types
helps designers identify measurement share, likelihood to return or recommend)
models for service design initiatives. provide the best measure for consumption
services, because these service types rely
1. Consumption services pair with on referrals and repeat business to succeed.
loyalty metrics
Consumption services account for the 2. Subscription services pair with
majority of service-based businesses. utilisation metrics
Customers experience consumption Subscription services, such as Amazon
services in singular transactions, such as Prime, Dollar Shave Club and any
dining at restaurants or staying at hotels. ‘software-­as-a-service’ (SAAS) providers,
Loyalty metrics (satisfaction, wallet continue to rise in popularity. Subscription

services offer customers a recurring lease on a product or
capability. Utilisation metrics (adoption rate, frequency
of use, contract expansion and renewal rate) provide the
most appropriate measurement for subscription services,
because these services succeed only if they attract enough
people (adoption), keep them (renewal) and up-sell them
(expansion).
3. Shared services pair with performance metrics
Shared services appear most often within large
enterprises and government agencies. Shared services
provide predictable approaches to common tasks, such as
procurement or human resources. Performance metrics
(throughput, availability, capacity and error rate) best
measure shared services, because these metrics reveal
whether the service delivers the efficiency, predictability
and standardisation promised (or not).
4. Outcome services pair with funnel metrics
Outcome services solve complex needs. For example, an
individual might enrol in a weight loss programme to lose
weight, gain muscle and improve health. Alternatively, a
government agency might fund an initiative to revitalise
an economically-depressed area, hoping to improve
graduation rates and annual household incomes.
Funnel metrics — metrics which describe the ratio of
participants who achieve key milestones and move to
the next — best describe outcome services because they
reveal whether participants achieve acceptable ratios
across milestones or not.
Best practices for embedding measurement in
service design
Understanding service measurement pairs sets the
stage for measurement and monitoring in service
design projects. At The Service Design Group, we
use the following best practice framework to embed
measurement and monitoring in our service design work.
1. Define the goal
Before design starts, the client and the service designer
must establish the goal of the initiative. Is it to increase
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
revenue or improve profit margins? Is it to grow or
protect market share? Or, is the goal to improve quality
of life for a segment of the population? The client must
define the goal in specific terms, such as ‘improve profit
margin by three percent’, ‘become the number two
market-share holder’, or, ‘raise the graduation rate for
lower income students to 80 percent’.
2. Determine service type
Next, determine the type of service best suited to
achieving the goal. For example, if the client is seeking to
improve margins, they should optimise a shared service. If
the client wants to grow market share, they could create a
new subscription service. Or, if the client wants to improve
graduation rates, they must create a service capable of
driving outcomes (what we call an outcome service).
3. Establish metrics
Then, establish metrics based on service type. If the client
aims to optimise a shared service, establish performance
metrics. If the client will launch a subscription service
to grow market share, establish utilisation metrics. Or,
if the client will tackle graduation rate with an outcome
service, establish funnel (milestone-based) metrics that
describe the path to graduation.
4. Model results
Next, model results and assess feasibility. In the case of
the client wanting to improve margins by three percent,
we can determine the throughput and error rate required
to produce the margin increase. Furthermore, we can
assess whether the throughput and error rate seem
reasonable and achievable. Similarly, we could model
the required thresholds and assess the feasibility of the
market share and graduation rate metrics.
5. Design the service
Now, design the service! We have a goal. We know the
service type. We have metrics. And we know the required
performance levels. Time for serious service design! Embed
metrics — and ways to measure them — in everything you
do and you can demonstrate your design’s success.
Touchpoint 9-2 39

Shaun Gummere is Vice
President of Service Design
at Cantina, a strategic design
and technology agency in
Boston, Massachusetts and
the former Chief Design
Officer at Story+Structure,
an innovation design firm in
Concord, Massachusetts.
Guy Felder is a product
and marketing expert. He
serves as Chief Strategist
at Story+Structure, an
innovation design firm in
Concord, Massachusetts.
40 Touchpoint 9-2
Mind the Gap
Service design from discovery to governance
All organisations exist in tension between efficiency and
innovation. Both are essential for their long-term vitality. And
each would consume the other.
Google has placed its innovation arm,
Google X, one-and-a-half miles from the
organisation’s main campus. Similarly,
in Apple’s early history, Steve Jobs
created a ‘skunkworks’ that was similarly
removed from the headquarters. This is
a quarantine of sorts. Keeping smaller
innovation away reduces the risk of
having the innovation simply disappear
into the efficient organisation.
This is where many service design
engagements start — and often end. To
deliver the benefits of change, we must
manage this tension. Because while
efficiency allows organisations to achieve
impressive results, it also requires stasis,
preventing or slowing responses to
disruption. Organisations are in many
respects designed to reject the unknown.
The challenge, then, is to ensure
innovation takes root by crossing into the
efficient operation of the organisation.
In our consulting, we’ve learned to
respect the turbulent gap between the
twin poles of efficiency and innovation.
Below are elements we believe must be in
place to see design infiltrate the efficient
organisation.
First, the executive champion must
be explicitly aware of the role they’re
to perform. Often, leaders are casual
observers, the result of a well-intentioned
effort to ‘stay out of the way.’ Leaders
need guidance on the part they play
within innovation initiatives — as a bridge
between current operations and the
future state. They must, after all, package
this change to gain support both from
above and below.
Second, and further to this point, the
work must connect to the operational
realities of the organisation. Too often,
the transition from current state to future
state involves ‘a miracle occurs here.’ In
every organisation there are realities:
technological, process, business and
fiduciary. If the results of service design
work can’t be supported by the technology
platforms in place, it isn’t going to
survive. If the work can’t be tied to larger
organisational goals, it will lose relevance.
What gets measured gets done.
Third is change management. Efficient
organisations resist change as a matter of
survival. Effective change management
overcomes this resistance. Service design

that engages employees from the bottom up while aligning
leadership’s understanding of how the change can live
within the organisation has the best chance of survival.
Fourth, and finally, survival of the work must
be sustained through inclusion in organisational
governance. This is the essential step that translates
change into day-to-day activities understandable to the
efficient organisation. In practical terms, this happens
by articulating and assigning goals. We believe service
design is well positioned to undertake this work.
In a project at a large public university in Texas, we
worked to drive change in several ways. The foundation
was the co-creation of service blueprints involving
assumptive mapping and service safaris. This shifted
the perspective of the organisation from ‘inside-out’ to
‘outside-in.’
Staff rituals, aligned to goals and
objectives, will support the transition
of service design from innovation to
day-to-day governance.
However, we found people struggled to connect the
map to the life of the organisation and to their individual
responsibilities. They embraced innovation in its
conceptual form, but were hesitant to make it real, where
it could be measured. To overcome this, we undertook
two activities. First, we facilitated a visioning session
to inspire staff to dream big and move from a daily
management mindset to a possibilities mindset. Second,
we sought to connect the map to organisational strategy
by leading a goals, objectives and initiatives workshop.
This technique, more often associated with strategic
planning, helped bridge the gap between what could
be and what should be. Metrics – revenue, programme
creation and satisfaction – made explicit and measurable
how the blueprint would be realised. It led to changes in
reporting lines and workflow, as well as the establishment
of the role of ‘Student Experience Leader’, the ultimate
owner of the desired experience.
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
Nonetheless, we had limited influence over how the
executive sponsor positioned this work to the larger
organisation. The message that change was primarily
a driver of short-term revenue created a disconnect,
eliciting deep staff anxiety. Despite putting the essential
pieces in place to see change transition to governance,
the pace of implementation slowed. Larger, university-
wide operational realities overtook the division-level
innovation.
As a result, later at an institution in Southern
California, we ensured a close working relationship
with executive leadership was in place from the start.
This allowed us to collectively frame and translate
the innovation work on a parallel track to the staff-led
change. Picture it as a kind of ‘tick tock’ approach. Similar
service design activities in this project fully transitioned
into the efficient organisation through more than 200
individual performance plans, themselves expressions of
organisational goals aligned to a service blueprint.
So, these engagements differed in significant ways.
As we learned in Texas, it’s not enough to get the blessing
of leadership. It’s all too easy for the story of change at
the executive level to get out of sync with the actual work
underway. Likewise, shifting high-level organisational
priorities can be opaque to the innovation team. This is
a grave source of risk. Service designers must create the
conditions to bridge these two worlds.
In our work in Southern California, we did two things
differently. First, we incorporated goals, objectives,
and initiatives early, and co-ordinated with leadership
to translate the efforts of the innovation team into
measurable activities. Second, and more importantly, we
created teams, including executive leaders, to carry out
each initiative. This structure both flexed and persisted
from divergent ideation to convergent implementation.
Having the leadership team involved in this way made
them better upward promoters of the work. With success
imminent, many external organisational stakeholders
were eager to get involved to take part in the wins
leadership was telling them about.
Touchpoint 9-2 41
 Cracking the Code to
Workplace Productivity

The computer is the most powerful productivity tool of our time

and arguably the most important tool in the knowledge worker’s
toolkit. Can you imagine trying to use your computer without your
favourite software application? Without a hard-drive? Or even a
dated version of either? Not very productive. Only when working in
concert with each other do they create value. And only when they
evolve along with the needs of their users does that value persist.

Matthew Swift and Coby
Lerner employ user-
centred and participatory
methods at brightspot to
design services for clients
in higher education, tech,
government, healthcare and
culture. Their backgrounds
in business, design, and
consumer psychology inform
their work at the intersection
of service design and space
planning.
Workplaces are also tools for productivity,
and they too are made up of hardware
and software. The spaces and fixed
elements constitute workplace hardware
and the services (e.g. room booking,
tech support, catering, etc.), norms and
culture constitute evolving workplace
software. While designing exciting
and beautiful offices has received a lot
of attention in recent years, the most
successful workplaces are the result of
investment not only in designing the built
environment, but also the services, norms
and culture necessary to unlock the
productive potential of the workplace.
Like any service design exercise, the
human dimension complicates workplace
strategy. Most workplaces must support
a wide-range of activities carried
out by a diverse group of people with
different skills, needs and expectations.
Subsequently, effective workplace
software is not one-size-fits-all. It varies
across organisations, geographies, and
even departments within the same
company. And it evolves over time. What
works for one organisation might not
work for another. And what works for
an organisation today might not work
for them tomorrow. Not only must
organisations think about both workplace
hardware and software, but also they
must continually assess the value and
impact of each. To illustrate a variety of
approaches to developing and assessing
workplace software, we will share a few
examples from our work.
Increasing scholarly output through
informal support
New York University was planning to
open two new storefront technology labs
on their main campus. In recent years,
existing labs had effectively turned into
kiosks for printing, checking email,
and browsing social media – not a great

42 Touchpoint 9-2

return on prime Manhattan real estate. It was critical for
the new labs to be highly utilised and have a big impact
on student productivity. NYU asked brightspot to help
ensure that the new labs were a success.
After interviewing students and auditing existing labs,
we learned a few things:


— There was growing use of (and demand for) both
high-end (e.g. 3d scanning/modelling, additive
manufacturing) and mid-level research technology
(e.g. digital media production/editing), but the majority
of technology in the labs was low-level (e.g. Creative
Suite, Office)


— Technology-based research, teaching and learning
were increasingly social activities, but the current
labs were configured predominantly for individual
activities  easy fix. By removing or rearranging a few items, the


— Students prefer to learn new tools or technology
informally from their peers (either their friends or
fellow members of a student club)
In close partnership with the design team, we developed
a strategy for each lab that would:


— Provide spaces and technology for both individuals
and groups to access a wide range of technologies
(both mid-level and high-end)


— Decrease total number of fixed computer workstations

—
Provide flexible, bring-your-own-device spaces that can
act as study, event, or meeting space, depending on need

—
Emphasise peer support by promoting tech consultation
services with student staff and creating a service point
that enables side-by-side work
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
Once the new lab was built, we surveyed users and found
that:


— Group collaboration was up by 63 percent


— Low-impact utilisation was down by 56 percent
(i.e. students were coming to the lab to do more than
just check email)
However, after a series of interviews, we also learned that
students felt the student staff were “unapproachable”.
The staff service point – which was intended to be
a highly interactive space where staff could consult
students side-by-side – resembled a staff workstation.
Computer monitors, telephones, and a variety of office
supplies conveyed an unintended but clear message to
students: You are interrupting. Fortunately, this was an
service point quickly became more welcoming and the
student staff more approachable.
Enabling focus in an open environment through
norms
In another project, brightspot was approached by a large
global tech corporation that, despite offering a robust
set of workplace services to employees, had struggled
to deliver on one vital offering: A quiet space for
focused work. The need to create a quiet atmosphere for
engineers was at odds with the company’s commitment to
openness and the spontaneous collaboration facilitated by
an open workplace, and many employees were requesting
studios and semi-private work spaces. Furthermore,
the problems of the physical environment had caused
Touchpoint 9-2 43
counterproductive and passive-aggressive behaviours to
develop among staff.
We developed a suite of space recommendations
and guidance to address components of the challenges
presented by the space, but ultimately we had to develop
a solution that would also support healthier interactions
in an environment that was going to remain open. We
began by assessing the impact of a variety of distractions,
asking people to rate both the frequency and impact in
order to understand what needed fixing the most, and
subsequently developed a pilot programme to encourage
a new set of behavioural norms in the workplace to
address them. We sought to update the software in order
to fix a perceived problem with the hardware.
The pilot programme would allow us to quickly
measure the impact of a suite of recommendations that:
A. Encouraged employees to reframe the issue of focus as
a team responsibility; and B. Offered tactical guidance to
employees on how to better communicate their needs to
others. Employees were informed of these new practices,
recommendations and tactics through a series of comic
strips. They were also given small toys as symbols to
be placed on top of their computers at times of intense
concentration, to discourage others from interrupting.
The toys also served as tangible reminders of the pilot.
After running the pilot programme, we conducted a
series of activities to evaluate the programme and gain
insights into the initiative. Observations, interviews,
and a focus group allowed us to assess the use of – and
response to – the new norms, while surveys documented
reported shifts. All of the distractions targeted by the
pilot decreased (e.g., a more than 40 percent drop in the
frequency of visual distractions from people walking
through work areas), and with them a significant increase
(71 percent) in employee satisfaction with the desk area.
In addressing the workplace software, we were able to
measure a change in the pilot team’s perception of their
hardware.
their values with their employees, they wanted to ensure
that moving to a new home with a new approach to
space assignment wouldn’t be disruptive. In essence,
though nothing was particularly ‘broken’, they had the
opportunity to upgrade their software and hardware
together and reap the multiple benefits associated with
co-ordinated planning.
The new work environment was designed to better
respond to how employees were working, while also
encouraging them to work in new ways. For example,
prior to the move, only 33 percent of employees were
satisfied with the availability of spaces, and just 13
percent were satisfied with meeting spaces. The new
office was planned to better meet the needs of their work
patterns, including more and better conference spaces.
At the same time, they were moving from assigned
desks (with a relatively higher satisfaction rate of 59
percent) to unassigned desks, in order to accommodate
increased collaborative spaces and reduce the footprint
of individual workstations, causing concerns. A change
management plan was required to get employees
involved, excited and ready for changes such as this.
In order to make this change as easy as possible, we
worked to ensure everyone understood why the move to
unassigned desks was valuable. We provided them with a
number of strategies to ease the transition while reducing
the barriers to flexibility. For example, we held design
review sessions to explain the change, worked to identify
Distraction Audit
Prohibits
Focus
14
Discourages 12
1 16
Focus 6 15
7 11
13
3 10
2
5
9
4 8
Impact

No Impact on
Focus
Engaging teams through change management Distractions
1. Music 10. Lighting levels
Reward Gateway, a London-based startup that helps 2. Personalisation 11. Temperature
3. Scents 12. Glare
employers create highly engaged employees through Encourages 4. Messiness 13. Talking in desk area
Focus 5. Pets 14. Colleague interruption
the use of a platform, is deeply committed to leading by 6. Calls at desk 15. Talking / Walking
7. Equipment noise nearby
example. They had outgrown their office and, despite the 8. Eating 16. Movement / Walking
nearby
affection everyone had for their original home, needed a Necessary for 9. Talking in social areas
Focus
larger space. Given their understanding of the physical Never Monthly Weekly Daily Hourly

environment as a primary channel for communicating Frequency

44 Touchpoint 9-2
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

Design start Move in

Plan Inform Depart Pilot Launch Support Settle Reflect

Getting people involved

gather test make refine

input design changes design

• W
 orkplace • Design • Test features • Implement • Design
assessment Selection • Pilot week ‘quick wins’ refinements
• W
 ork modes • Post-
development occupancy
• D
 esign input evaluation
• L
 ocation survey

Getting people excited

share say move celebrate

vision farewell in success

• D
 esign vision • O
 ffice farewell • Sneak peek • R
 ibbon cutting • Share • Showcase
• O
 ffice cleaning • S
 pace story successes the change
• O
 pen house • Host events

Getting people prepared

address set train collect

concerns expect- and feedback
ations coach

• Information • M
 ove details • Managers • O
 rientation • W
 orkplace • C
 ontinuous
session meeting norms training feedback
• C hange • C
 oaching on
reference new features
• D esign  ire drill and
• F
information space safety

new storage solutions for personal items traditionally
stored at the desk (i.e. coats, bags), and developed norms
to ensure effective and equitable use of the new space,
such as hanging coats in the closet upon arrival, and
changing desks periodically. The result was a 33 percent
increase in satisfaction with individual workspaces,
paired with a 138 percent increase in satisfaction with the
availability of spaces.
By concurrently planning the hardware and software
of their new home, while also developing a change
roadmap to ensure an easy transition, we were able
to measure dramatic increases across a number of
indicators. Reward Gateway experienced a 14 percent
increase in reported employee engagement, and a 156
percent increase in satisfaction with how the workplace
supports team effectiveness. Additionally, more than
two-thirds of the office was excited about the changes,
and between 75-80 percent felt prepared for how to work
in the new office.
Creating feedback loops
Just as developers or product managers create feedback
loops to understand the impact of new code or the
relevance of a new product feature, organisations
must develop feedback loops to continuously design,
assess and refine their workplace. The needs of the
employee are constantly evolving. The sooner you can
get feedback on the performance of the workplace, the
sooner you can respond to those needs. Moreover, the
better you understand the relationship between the
built environment and the way people engage with and
understand their roles within the organisation, the easier
it will be to design better experiences. Either hardware or
software in the workplace can be adjusted to compensate
for deficiencies in the other, but your employees will
thrive when you can plan them together.

Touchpoint 9-2 45
 Designing for Impact and Value
Mapping the service design lifecycle to the business’
case for change

Initiating and implementing a change-driven project involves

the steering of different activities – from design to business
and technology – as well as navigating inside the culture of
an organisation. Service designers, business partners and
technologists have different responsibilities, different drivers,
and use different terms and methodologies in their work.

Bernadette Geuy is a design
lead at the University of
California, Berkeley, working
at the intersection of design,
business and technology to
transform services delivery.
She has an MBA and co-chairs
the San Francisco Chapter of
the Service Design Network.
Rachel Hollowgrass is a user
experience designer at the
University of California,
Berkeley. She enjoys balancing
the rich needs of the diverse
university community. Rachel
has contributed to projects
at Apple, Stanford, Kaiser and
Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory.
Titta Jylkäs is a doctoral
candidate in service design
at University of Lapland,
Finland. She is doing her
research in collaboration with
Volkswagen Group focusing
on strategic service design
in the digital transformation
of customer services utilising
artificial intelligence.
Service design in making a
business case
A business case1 is a vital document
which explains why a project should
be initiated. By describing the business
opportunities, planned actions, expected
costs and benefits, a business case works
as a tool for the decision maker to guide
a project, including its design activities.
A business case is also the result of a
process of collaborative actions between
different stakeholders. In the business
case for a new Student Information
Systems (SIS) software development
operation at the University of California,
Berkeley, there has been a clear need to
better integrate the efforts of designers,
business analysts and development teams,
in order to optimise limited resources
1 For example: How to Build a Better Business Case,
Product Management Journal www.productfocus.
com/resources/ journal-articles/business-case-
how-to-build/
and to contribute the greatest value and
impact to the institution.
Arguing for value and impact
Value and impact, when encompassing
more than overt monetary concerns, are
abstract concepts, and therefore have
different meanings to different people.
Initiatives require investment in capital
and resources. Without evidence of
quantifiable return or financial value,
soft goals such as change are difficult to
defend. Investments are typically made to
either increase revenues, reduce costs, to
address a risk, in response to a mandate,
or to enter or respond to changing market
conditions. The less tangible – and harder
to predict – outcomes are the value and
impact that the initiative will bring.
In addition to suggesting metrics for
tangible cost and revenue opportunities,
service design has the potential – through
visualisation and articulation – to make the
intangible concrete and understandable.

46 Touchpoint 9-2

It can be argued that designers might lack fluency in
the language and methods of business, or be challenged
in the extrapolation of research findings and design
solutions into a strong value proposition. However,
there is potential in finding the needed qualitative and
quantitative resources for a change-driven business case
through close collaboration between design, business
and technical colleagues.2 To avoid mis-prioritised
efforts and ineffective or unrealised solutions based on
strong, cost-driven reasons, designers can argue for softer
goals by gaining insights into the organisation's values
and decision-making processes throughout the project
lifecycle.
2 Geever, Tom (2015). Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with
Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience
[Chapter: Understanding Relationships / Stakeholder Values].
O’Reilly Media
m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e
Mapping key design activities to the business case
for change
The Impact and Value Touchpoint Map presents a way to
augment the service design lifecycle by identifying key
engagement activities for designers and business partners.
Through better coordination and alignment of efforts,
designers take greater responsibility for translating
research findings and insights into substantiated success
criteria and in making the case for change.
Intake
The Map starts with the intake process, and calls for
close co-operation with business analysts, and bringing
in the perspective of end users and their needs into
the scoring process. While business analysts focus
‘inside-out’ on the functional and business process
implications of a project, designers look ‘outside-in’ and
across business processes and at touchpoints that may
Touchpoint 9-2 47
span multiple services. The goal for this step is to get
alignment on values in the scoring process so that the
most promising opportunities are ranked appropriately.
This is also where designers and business analysts can
exchange perspectives early on about opportunities being
considered, which will inform the subsequent research
and analysis activities.
Scoring should take into consideration the scope
and importance of a given opportunity, how many
people are impacted by the change, and the relative
value to this community. Expected results or Return on
Investment (ROI) case, time constraints, work-around
alternatives and alignment with the mission and goals
of the organisation should also be part of the scoring
methodology.3
Activity
Assess and rank opportunities using a
methodology to identify initiatives that have the
greatest potential value and impact
Score
Artefacts
Ranked opportunity catalogue
Research and Analysis
Once an initiative is approved for further research and
analysis by sponsors, the designer creates a design brief4
that includes a hypothesis for their research opportunity
as well as the success criteria and metrics. A key goal
here is to work with a business analyst to map out key
elements that will be needed to complete a business case
document and determine which data elements to collect
and measure.
3 Arpaci-Dusseau, Remzi H.; Arpaci-Dusseau, Andrea C. (2014).
Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces [Chapter: Scheduling
Introduction]. Arpaci-Dusseau Books
4 Liedtka, Jeanne; Ogilvie, Tim; Brozenski, Rachel (2014).
Designing for Growth Field Book [Design Brief]. Columbia Business
School
48 Touchpoint 9-2
As the designer moves through their lifecycle doing
research, ideation and design, they will work with their
end users and business partners to design surveys or
other mechanisms that will measure the key metrics
before and after. Technical feasibility and financial ROI
assessments will benefit from engagement with the
designer as a complex project progresses through one
or more go/no-go gates to implementation. Designers
are also critical in validating the initial opportunity,
reframing the problem as necessary, and finding an
appropriate solution that will not only be functional but
will also be easy to use.
Activity
— Prepare design brief and share plans
for conducting design research
Research — Identify value drivers, success criteria
and metrics
— Measure as-is
— Conduct research
Business
Analysis — Analyse and compile information for the
‘case for change’
Artefacts
Assess
Feasability — Design brief
— Research and analysis report
— Case for change
— Benchmark metrics
Design and Specifications
During this stage, design, business and technology
staff will be working closely together to create the best
possible solution. Each will approach the work from a
different perspective and set of skills and experiences.
The creative and expansive nature of design that takes
into consideration the user journey and experiences
will be tempered by constraints and input from business
analysts and developers. The goal is to collaboratively
develop the best solution and minimise rework or missing
 m e a s u ri n g i m pa c t a n d va l u e

the expectations of end-users. During this phase, the Important pre-work

Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Experience In establishing this model, the organisation must do
(ROE) elements should be identified, based on research important pre-work and align in support of the mission
findings and expected outcomes, and support the and goals of the organisation. Intake should be based
business case. on a methodology that uses shared criteria for scoring
the relative importance of a new initiative. Additionally,
the organisation will need to develop the modes and
criteria for collaboration across lifecycles, and within
Activity
touchpoints, such as regular meetings, processes,
Design & Solution design in collaboration with business
Prototype and technology
artefacts, communication, and information sharing.

Artefacts Conclusions
— Designs The prescription for success with a change-driven
Business
Specs — Business specifications business case is to engage early and often with business
— Technical specifications and technology colleagues, and to learn the language
— Business case of business to make design arguments more robust by
Tech identifying the potential value and impact. Designers
Specs inherently push boundaries. This collaborative approach
ensures that design efforts are rooted in project dynamics
and constraints, while pointing toward the best possible
solutions. Solutions emerge when designers iterate
through the service design lifecycle, identify success
Impact review criteria with stakeholders, and assess overall impact.
A lifecycle would not be complete if there was not a step
for reflection and learning. The goal here is to create the
conditions for continuous improvements to the lifecycle
processes, to get better at predicting the ROI and ROE,
and to increase the value and impact of the software unit
to the organisation, over time.

Activity
— Assess planned vs. actual value and impact
— Lessons learned
Impact
Review
Artefacts
— Impact review
— Benchmark metrics

Touchpoint 9-2 49
 Methods
Tools and

© Christian Kaindl
 Measuring Design Value of
a Differentiated Service
Platform
A novel typology for a fresh juice business

How can a service provider differentiate its products and services

Dr Kiwoong Nam is an
independent researcher
interested in researching
quantitative business
management studies for
qualitative subjects (e.g.
design and value).
Dr Bruce. W. Carnie is a
lecturer and has worked in
design management for a
number of sectors including
the textile business and
higher education in Australia,
New Zealand, Singapore and
the UK.
Kevin Sunghoon Cho is a
CEO of the juice brand
Beesket. Kevin is particularly
interested in developing
new businesses in the food
in a competitive market situation? Many service providers try
to introduce innovative and distinctive ways to deliver their
offerings. However, without understanding potential outcomes
of changes in the service platform, it is difficult to execute and
manage the new service projects appropriately. Having considered
the involvement of customer for the service provision, knowing
how customers perceive value from offerings is critical to the
strategic development of new services. The customer perceived
value for the service delivery process is essential for new service
development1. This study aims to identify the customer-oriented
touchpoints through service blueprinting and examine the
perceived value through utilisation of ‘design value typology’.
Design has become the key contributor to role of design is to enhance the firm’s
successful business. However, despite the competitive advantage by adding value to
acknowledgement of its importance, it is the products and services.2 In this context,
often difficult to justify the contribution design in this study can be defined as
of design to business outcomes. In “the various activities in a business which
particular, within the service industry deliberately stimulate senses of targeted
where various modifications of design
elements occur, the evaluation of design
stakeholders”.3

and beverage sector and

consumer-focused products.
is arguably critical for managing design
projects. Since design has broadened its
role in business, it is problematic to limit
the contribution of design to tangible
elements of offerings. Instead, the major
1 Alam, I., & Perry, C. (2002). A customer-oriented
new service development process. Journal of
Services Marketing, 16(6), 515-534.
2 Borja de Mozota, B. (2006). The four powers of
design: A value model in design management.
Design Management Review, 17(2), 44-53.

52 Touchpoint 9-2
 tools and me thods

Extrinsic Intrinsic

SE SI
Self-oriented

Emotions Emotions
- Efficiency - Play
input/output, convenience fun
- Excellence - Aesthetics
quality beauty
Other-oriented

OE OI
Emotions Emotions
- Status - Ethics
success, impression management justice, virtue, morality
- Esteem - Spirituality
reputation, materialism, possessions faith, ecstasy, sacredness, magic

Figure 1. The combined typology of consumer value4

Notwithstanding that the link between design value and
business performance is missing from this study, we aim
to measure value of the broadened design aspects for a
fresh juice business.
Value theory
Value is traditionally considered as the result of
subtracting cost from what is offered (e.g. the perceived
product quality or value). However, due to the diversity
of products and services in the contemporary market,
a consumer needs to consider complex and multiple
factors for choosing a brand. Therefore, a holistic
understanding of value is more relevant to tackle current
issues in service marketing. The abundance of offerings
triggers customers to consider irrational aspects of the
offering. The irrational decision cannot be explained
by logical causes, such as functionality and price. The
rational and irrational aspects of consumption are
converged on the notion of value in the contemporary
business theory. Among the holistic concept of value, the
typology of consumer value is noteworthy regarding the
3 Nam, K.W. (2016). The Impact of Design for consumers in the Food
and Beverage Industry: Design Value and Measurement. PhD thesis,
University of Leeds
consideration of desired outcomes as a definition of value.
This study utilises Holbrook’s typology of consumer value
for understanding the holistic concept of value. Holbrook
distinguishes the dimensions by identifying whether
value is 1) intrinsic or extrinsic, 2) self-oriented or
other-oriented, 3) active or reactive. Given that the third
classification (active or reactive) is often disputed, this
study divides the value dimension into four dimensions as
demonstrated in Figure 1.
Service blueprint
The service blueprinting technique is useful for
identifying touchpoints. Given that touchpoints can
provide practical information for improving a service,
it is necessary to analyse the targeted business with the
blueprinting technique.
The measuring tool
The interview data (qualitative data) for design
considerations were compared with physical evidence in
the service blueprints. The reliability of the tool was also
4 Nam, K.W., & Carnie, B.W. (2014). The Value of Design for Customers in
the Service Industry: Contributions and measurements. Proceedings
of the 19th DMI: Academic Design Management Conference, 1366-1400

Touchpoint 9-2 53
 Self-oriented –
customers in choosing the ingredients, the ‘Lego-
E xtrinsic value inspired’ tool was invented (See Figure 3).
(SE)
Customers choose three ingredients from the stall and
give the ‘basket’ to the cashier. A RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) tag is inside of each ‘ingredient block’.
The cashier simply scans the ‘basket’ and the system
Other-oriented – Other-oriented – automatically calculates the price of the drink. Customers
Intrinsic value E xtrinsic value
(OI) (OE) are also provided with the nutrition information for their
drinks (such as calories, the amount of vitamin A/B/C, etc.).
As a result of this unique service provision, Beesket
has prospered in the highly competitive local market
Self-oriented – (South Korea) and expanded the business to the global
Intrinsic value
(SI)

Figure 2. Design Value Typology and its plotting

confirmed quantitatively in the preliminary research. As

a result, the tool which emphasises emotional responses
of design consideration (e.g. physical evidence in the
service blueprint) from customers was developed. The
analysed result can suggest the potential (and specific)
design elements for improvement. As proposed in the Figure 3. The Beesket basket
previous research (Nam, 2016), each value dimension is
placed at the points of a radar chart (See Figure 2). The
area of the diamond shape becomes the design value of
the business.
Combining theoretical backgrounds with qualitative
understanding and the interpretation of quantitative data
enables researchers and practitioners to demonstrate
practical action items. In this context, approaching
the practical issues with the mixed methodology is
particularly important to tackle current business
problems in the service industry.

Beesket
Beesket is the combined words ‘bee’ and ‘basket’. It was
launched as a Korean retail brand in 2012 for the fresh
juice market, and introduced a differentiated ordering
process. Unlike the traditional juice business, customers
choose the ingredients of their juice. To encourage Figure 4. Picture of a Beesket store in Korea

54 Touchpoint 9-2
 tools and me thods

Interior Tableware
Physical Menu Packaging
The ‘basket’ Employees Cash er
Evidences Others Receipt
Employees Nutrition card

Give Receive drinks

Customer Checking
Observe ‘basket’ to Pay the order Wait & nutrition
Actions ingredients
employees card
Line of interaction

Onstage/ Inform promotions

Wait for ordering
& Scan the Calling order#
Employee Explain how to
Or
‘baskets’
Take card / cash Prepare drinks
(or pager)
Help customer
Actions order
Line of visibility

Backstage/ Preparing Order guide

Preparing
Employee promotion (visual Notify Kitchen
ingredients
Actions materials materials)

Line of internal interaction

Support Internal system Storage for Numbering /

for order ingredients Calling system
Process

Figure 5. The service blueprint for the order and receive process at Beesket (distinctive features are marked in yellow)

market. The positive business outcomes of Beesket are
not only from the distinctive design aspects of the brand
but also from the novel platform which facilitates this
positive experience for customers.
In order to demonstrate the uniqueness of this ordering
process, a service blueprint for Beesket’s order and
receive system is described in Figure 5. The distinctive
features are marked in yellow.
The measured results
A survey on other juice brands was carried out by
a research agency in Korea. Researchers physically
visited the store to collect data for Beesket. A total of 136
representative individuals participated in the survey,
and they were asked to respond to four questions (along
a seven-point scale, from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly
agree’) derived from the physical evidence and design
considerations. The points of each dimension were
averaged and plotted in a radar chart. The result using
Design Value Typology is demonstrated in Figure 6.
As shown in Figure 6, three design value dimensions
(related to emotions such as efficiency, quality, fun,
beauty, self-esteem and personal reputation) of Beesket
are above the industry average. Overall, the results can be
interpreted to show that Beesket’s unique service platform
and the visualisation of service deliver superior design
value to their customers within the same industry sector.
The implications of the study
The overall procedure of measuring design value in this
study is as follows; 1) analysing the service system with
service blueprint method, 2) performing structured
interviews, 3) creating a set of the survey question, and 4)
measuring and analysing the collected data. By following

Touchpoint 9-2 55
 S-E dimension
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Industry average
O-I dimension 0 O-E dimension
Beesket

S-I dimension

Self-oriented – Other-oriented – Self-oriented – Other-oriented -

Dimensions
Extrinsic Extrinsic Intrinsic Intrinsic

Industry average 4.97 4.54 4.86 3.87

Beesket 5.30 4.94 5.55 3.46

Figure 6. The diamond of Design Value Typology

(Beesket and industry average)

the procedure, this study identified a measuring the effectiveness of the service blueprint method for
method for design value of fresh juice businesses with identifying the potential touchpoints for innovative
a differentiated ordering system. It is challenging to service delivery. Although this research is a post-hoc
demonstrate how a service provider can develop a evaluation of the existing brand, the result clearly
distinctive service platform at this stage. However, there indicates that the innovative idea for enhancing the
are some key implications and messages from the current service delivery platform can be identified through the
study for practitioners. service blueprint method.
First, this study proposes a novel approach to examine
design value in the service industry. By employing the
mixed method, it is viable to assess the value of design
quantitatively. The quantitative result derived from a
thorough understanding of design can indicate specific
areas of improvement for a service provider. Secondly,
the rigorous data collection is necessary. The analysed
result can isolate areas of practical opportunities
for improvement if a business is compared with the
industry-wide scale of data. Lastly, this study confirms

56 Touchpoint 9-2
 tools and me thods

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Touchpoint 9-2 57
 Meeting Service Sandbox
A method for ideating digital services in a physical
environment

Jane Vita, over the past

19 years, has worked in many
of the design competencies,
with projects in a range
of different industries. At
Digitalist, she facilitates
dialogue around the service
design practice. In client
projects, her role is to act
as a lead consultant, helping
clients to discover their
digital future. The Service Sandbox is composed of a range of building blocks
that represent what creators should consider when co-creating
and promoting service experiences in physical spaces. It allows
service creators to roam and explore services rather than follow
a linear path, opening up possibilities across a range of services
within users’ daily routine.

In its first version, the set includes tiles
to simulate a variety of home types and
other living facilities, as well as tokens
for smart devices, sensors, detectors
and home appliances. Description cards
and canvases help the service creators
to ideate about customer values, living
situations, personas, home types, features
and service concepts. Future versions will
include other necessary assets to make
many other physical spaces accessible at
a glance, for designing hybrid services
which combine physical and digital
environments.
Why Service Sandbox was developed
The Service Sandbox methodology was
developed by Jane Vita, Digitalist Group’s
Lead Service Designer, as part of her
doctoral studies. Her research focused

58 Touchpoint 9-2
 tools and me thods

on building a user-centred framework that utilises

concept layers, or building blocks, as the groundwork to
help professionals understand the role of technology in
physical environments, and to give them tools that could
meaningfully maximise technology’s role. The layers
are a reproduction of the factors that are important to
consider when designing hybrid services, combining
physical and digital.
The first Service Sandbox set was created for Fortum,
a Finnish energy company, in the context of smart
living. The Service Sandbox helped the team to simulate,
prototype and design smart living services.
Why ‘Sandbox’? A ‘sandbox’ is a style of game in which
minimal character limitations are placed on the game,
allowing the gamer to roam and change a virtual world at
will. In contrast to a progression-style game, a sandbox
game emphasises roaming and allows a player to select
tasks. Like a real sandbox, the method and tools empower
people to explore with minimal constraint.
How does it work?
Due to the proficiency of the Service Sandbox and the
different concept layers, we allowed a determination of
the workshop duration to be made by those planning
the session. The determining factor was how deep they
“The Smart Living Sandbox was a fun and
new way for us to work together. We used
the Sandbox for simulating the smart living
environment at Fortum and it was very
useful in creating the environment to
demonstrate the services we wanted to test
out. It allowed us to discuss openly about
decisions since it was a very open platform.”
Maria Uhari-Pakkalin, Head of Customer Experience Design,
Fortum OYJ
wanted to dive into the concept and associated layers.
The main goal of the workshop is to experiment and play.
The method can be applied in workshops ranging
anywhere between three hours to a two-day workshop,
depending on the requirements and aims. We suggest
having a maximum of 20 participants, four to five
participants per group, and two facilitators to run the
sessions.

Build Ideate Define

1. Define the kind of environment 1. Pick themes to ideate around
you are building 2. Create the resident’s values based
2. Describe the type of resident on those themes
(persona) living in that home 3. Think about life situations where
3. Add personal assets for that resident. residents will most value a service
They can range from smart devices to 4. Use sensors and detectors to
bikes and cars prototype how technology can help
4. Add smart appliances deliver that value
5. Clean up! Remove all assets that
are not connected with your concept
6. Enhance the experience by looking
at the different ways of interacting
with the residents
1. Define the service features
2. Place these on the Features
Evaluation Canvas
3. Place the features in an Experience
Hierarchy Canvas and try to leverage
the whole experience
4. Use the other supportive canvases
to bundle, then pitch it!

Table 1: Session stages.

Touchpoint 9-2 59
Figure 1. Service Sandbox assets

The sessions are structured in three stages of: to localise and translate the assets and content to other
Build, Ideate and Define (see Table 1). You can get a countries and cultures. We have already found eager
better overview on the Service Sandbox from Figure 1. people to assist us in Brazil, the US, Canada, Finland,
Sweden and Mexico. The only thing we ask in exchange
The value of using Service Sandbox is that people give us feedback and help us to measure the
Service Sandbox is a co-creation tool. It works as an impact, and improve how people are using the tool.
integral part of a service design process and it adds
an experiential value to the way we design services Would you like to know more or start using it?
You can download the entire initial package from the Digitalist Service
in physical space. While there are countless tools out Sandbox website: www.servicesandbox.net.
there to map experiences, describe paths and journeys,
we needed a tool to explore and play freely, in an open
environment, and in the context of a Smart Home.
This playful way of working unlocks the creativity,
engagement and enthusiasm of different stakeholders in
the organisation.

Open for feedback and findings

We created the Service Sandbox to shape and build more
meaningful services. Since we can’t do it alone, we decided
to share the knowledge and improve the methodology
together with the community. That is why the Service
Sandbox is distributed under a Creative Commons license.
It is open to anyone that wants to collaborate. We have
already begun calls for ambassadors that will help us

60 Touchpoint 9-2

Six Hacks for Service
Designers in Agile Settings
Service design is a holistic activity which should align with
organisational strategy. What should you do if you find yourself
in a Scrum team?
Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned
service designer, or just starting out,
there’s a good chance that your education
and first project experiences consisted
of relatively luxurious spans of time in
which to carry out your work. Several
weeks to carry out contextual research?
No problem. A few more to build and
test a prototype? Nary a complaint. With
the mandate to scope your projects and
determine your timelines, you could move
through your chosen methodology at a
pace that suited you. But thanks to the
growing adoption of Agile, you might find
your way of working thrown upside down.
Ideally service designers deliver our
best value when we stay outside the
“Scrum” (literally and figuratively),
fulfilling our strategic role and avoiding
the hectic pace and too-narrow focus
of two-week sprints. Our work should
provide guidance to tactical and
operational activities, rather than playing
a direct role in them. But sometimes such
a detached position isn’t feasible, and we
need adopt the Agile mindset, accept that
we’re led by a product owner (and not a
service owner), and find a way to work
within a team.
tools and me thods
Fear not, service designers in Agile
settings! Here are six hacks you can carry
out to expand your strategic perspective Jesse Grimes, Editor-in-Chief
for Touchpoint, has nine
and influence, while still working to tick
years experience as a service
items off a product backlog and get that designer and consultant.
next iteration of your product (service!) He has worked in London,
Copenhagen, Düsseldorf
out the door. These have been devised
and Sydney and is now based
thanks to Informaat’s consultancy work in Amsterdam with Dutch
and hands-on experience with several agency Informaat. Jesse is
also Vice President of the
large Dutch organisations who have Service Design Network.
transitioned to Agile, and where service
designers such as myself have played
a role in Agile teams. After all, while
being limited by an operational role
makes true service design difficult, the
Agile transformation itself does provide
chances to strengthen the role of (service)
design in the organisation.
1
Canvasses are
your friend
Set aside time to focus the team’s
attention on the strategic aspects of your
project, and use existing canvas-based
techniques to do so. Despite the fact that
Touchpoint 9-2 61
Agile teams work under tremendous
pressure to deliver incrementally,
3
everyone will benefit from having shared
input and a common understanding of
the “big picture”. If they haven’t initiated
the activity themselves, invite product
owners and the rest of the team into short,
intensive sessions to fill in documents such
as a Business Model Canvas and Value
Proposition Canvas, as early as possible.
Even better, consider canvasses designed
expressly with service design in mind,
such as the Lean Service Creation toolkit
from Futurice. When multiple service
designers are operating independently,
make sure to connect and share the
same vision, principles and ecosystem
view. You’ll be surprised the value these
activities and deliverables generate.
Involve your team in
involving your customers
2
Involving real end users in the design
process is crucial to fulfilling the
expectations of a service designer. And
despite the fact that your Agile method
might have iteration and user testing
baked-in, there’s often the assumption
that testing is carried out exclusively by
UX’ers and service designers. Instead,
convince non-designers to observe
research sessions. The investment of an
hour’s time looking over the shoulders of
real customers can pay great dividends by
replacing the fuzzy concept of end users
with living, breathing humans. And where
existing user research methods prove
problematic in an Agile team, help identify
more suitable, leaner ones.
62 Touchpoint 9-2
Create a CX
Design Library
While this hack requires the effort of several disciplines
in the team, it delivers great value and helps ensure that
as a service grows, it does so efficiently and maintains a
consistent end user experience. The library consists of
sets of documents which are created, maintained, and
consulted by four separate teams:


— Brand and communications team (Brand value and
principles, Brand identity, Tone of voice, Image library)


— Design management team (Channel and design
principles, Reference designs, Structure and navigation
templates, Patterns and UX guidelines)


— Digital identity team (Digital identity, Pages and
templates, UI components, Elements)


— Front-end team (Reference code (web components),
Platform-specific code)
While these documents may already exist (in which
case you can be proud to be working in a well-honed
machine!), they are likely stored separately, updated
irregularly, and difficult to find. Seize your strategic
mandate and your orchestrational skills, assemble them
in an easy-to-refer-to library, and rest well, knowing
that your team will be even more efficient as they deliver
consistent experiences.
4
Construct a
Journey Dashboard
More and more service designers are naming
their data scientists and analytics team-
members as their ‘BFF’s. And that’s because
as today’s complex services become even
better developed and delivered, they have
the potential to generate immensely valuable
data on how they are used by customers.
Don your orchestrational cap once more, and
team up with a data scientist to discover just
what insights you can glean from the sea of
data. Categorise these insights using Google’s

HEART framework (‘Happiness’, ‘Engagement’,
‘Adoption’, ‘Retention’, and ‘Task success’).
And then oversee the creation of an internally-
accessible dashboard on which the data can be
continually monitored. Too often, the power of
analytics is focussed on dry ‘web stats’ (unique
visits and referrals) or commercial performance
(conversion figures and dropouts). Instead, apply
a service design approach, starting from an
analysis of individual touchpoints, and deliver
a dashboard in which service experience is
measured and displayed at a journey level. You’ll
deliver valuable new insights to both your team
and higher-up stakeholders, and you’ll get a
holistic view of how your service is performing.
5
Sprint ahead of
the rest
In Scrum (as one of the most-applied Agile methodologies),
the team progresses through a sequence of milestones
that are repeated in sprints as short as two weeks. While
your routine might be driven by sprint plannings and
demos, and your focus driven by the product backlog, you
can also partially disengage from this cycle, and work
in advance of your team. If your backlog indicates that a
complex new feature starts development two sprints from
now, why not prepare yourself? Set aside a portion of your
time to carry out feature-scale ideation, prototyping and
research (or even a small-scale service blueprint), and do
so in conjunction with your UX partner. Once that sprint
begins, the design work will be better informed, and you
won’t have the feeling that you cut corners simply because
you had to start and end your work within one sprint.
tools and me thods
Chip away at the pure
6
product mindset
I’ve had heated discussions in which I’ve tried to
convince product owners that - despite what their
job title suggests - they were truly creating only an
element of a larger service. In large organisations,
product owners bring with them a laser-sharp focus
on delivering excellent products to the market. But
sometimes you need to force them to recognise the
fact that their product won’t launch into a vacuum;
it will exist and be used alongside many others in a
complex and rich customer experience. You’ll need
to work in two directions. Firstly, from a service
level: Ensure that product owners are aware of each
other’s initiatives. An organisation wants to deliver a
consistent (and delightful) customer experience that
doesn’t lay bare the fact that the products themselves
were independently developed. Think in touchpoint
terms if it helps: If your product owner is responsible
for the app, have they briefed the call center on a new
feature that might suddenly generate support calls
for which the agents are unprepared? Secondly, work
from a product level: As you work within your Agile
team, step back continually and evaluate for yourself
how the latest iteration of your product fits within
the bigger service picture. This is a product-service
alignment, and while not part of a pure, product-
based methodology, is critically important when the
product is a component of a larger service.
In closing, I’d like to reiterate that the application of
service design is already compromised when it only
influences tactical and operational activities. To fulfil
your strategic capabilities as a service designer when
you're working with only an operational focus, try and
convince your organisation to raise the profile and
increase the mandate of service design by placing it at a
more strategic level. 
These hacks were inspired by the SDN Netherlands event presentation
“5 Agile Design Hacks, and How To Do It Properly in the Near Future” by
my Informaat colleague Rob van der Haar on 19 September 2017, and by
my own experience.
Touchpoint 9-2 63
Education
and Research

© Freddie Marriage

Nahal Tavangar is a
multidisciplinary design
strategist. After studying
international relations (B.A.)
in Washington D.C. and
working in the public, private
and non-profit sectors, she
discovered human-centred
design to be the connecting
thread in her ongoing interest
of solving complex problems
across disciplines. She
recently completed her M.A.
in Integrated Design, with a
focus on service design, from
Köln International School of
Design (KISD).
66 Touchpoint 9-2
Measurement Beyond
Surveys…
Collecting more holistic, comprehensive feedback
throughout service systems
Service designers need to collect user feedback throughout various
touchpoints in order to create superior experiences. But how?
And when? And to what end? The term “feedback” is often heard
as a necessary means to gauge the success of a product or service,
but it is rarely discussed in-depth or examined in terms of how one
actually carries it out to get valuable, comprehensive insights.
How often have you heard (or given) success and improve at a rate that keeps up
the directive to “collect feedback” on a with competitors, increasing emphasis is
product or service, only to find that it being placed on providing channels through
ended up on a long to-do list of project which customers can provide feedback.
deliverables, eventually taking the form However, attempting to gather
of a simple survey or a few customer feedback in order to measure the impact
interviews with standard questions? of services is challenging in many ways.
Namely, unlike products, which have a
Collecting feedback is not a given – more established “end” point, services
it needs to be designed! are often ongoing and ever-changing.
We are living in the age of the Experience They are fluid experiences with multiple
Economy, which is defined as the evolution touchpoints that include a wide-range of
of our changing economic value from uniquely-felt emotions from the people
products, to services, to creating memorable interacting with them. In order to be
experiences.1 The Experience Economy able to measure how successful a service
accounts for the industry shift in placing is, one must find ways to collect more
more value on the customer’s overall comprehensive, representative feedback,
experience, rather than merely the creation rather than simply relying on a survey
of a product or service. In order to gauge distributed at the end of the process.
Although more traditional methods
for collecting feedback, namely surveys,
1 Brown, T. (2009). Change By Design: How Design
Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires have and continue to serve an important
Innovation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. role in this process, they are not sufficient
 e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h

for those of us who wish to create superior services.

Providing only one conduit for collecting user input tends
to attract the same ‘type’ of user (e.g. an extroverted
person with strong written or verbal skills) and limits
the type of feedback that one receives in return (often
soliciting either very negative or very positive feedback),
with little in-between.2 Feedback isn’t black and white;
in creating services, success is much more than a “yes” to
the question, “do you like this service?”
If we truly want to incorporate feedback into the
service system, we need to pay closer attention to what
methods and tools we use, and ‘design’ the process of
asking for user input.

Holistic feedback: attempting to capture the

‘meaning’ behind the ‘facts’
As service designers, we understand the value of including
user input during the design process, in addition to
collecting input on implemented services. We believe that
gathering feedback during the creative process drives
good design. Because designing services often requires us
to be on-the-ground with users and use empathy-building
tools to understand a customer journey, we know the
value of trying to understand before we create or judge. As
playwright, author, and Worldwide Creative Director of
TBWA, John Hunt, aptly states: “Insight appears when you
look for meaning rather than facts.”3
The core of my research for my M.A. thesis, “Designing
Holistic Feedback,” was around the question of how one
can attempt to collect more qualitative, comprehensive
feedback (i.e. ‘holistic’ feedback) and what methods
and tools does the design field bring to this already-
established market research field.
While the definition of ‘feedback’ is broad and has its
origins in cybernetics (the study of regulatory systems in
electronics), for the sake of my research, I chose to explore
Workshop participants chose three images to
describe their experience – soliciting significantly
more complex and emotional feedback than
participants who filled out the paper survey or took
part in the group interview.
feedback as the information collected (what I refer to as
the ‘output’) from an interaction between a customer and
any given feedback method (what I refer to as the ‘input’),
as a result of experiencing a product and/or service.
Following my research, I argue that feedback collection in
a service system should ideally possess the following three
qualities in order to collect the most ‘holistic’ feedback:
1. Multi-channelled: Services should include a few very
different methods in order to ensure that a wide-range
of users with different personalities feel comfortable in
providing their input.

2. Designed: Not only should the look and feel of the

2 Wheeler, D. (2015). The Rising Revolt Against Customer Surveys.
TheWeek.com [Online] Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://theweek.
com/articles/577882/rising-revolt-against-customer-surveys.
3 Hunt, S. and Sam Nhlengethwa (2009). The Art of the Idea and How It
Can Change Your Life. Brooklyn, New York: powerhouse Books.
method be thought through, but the environment in
which feedback is solicited (time and place) should be
planned in order to profit from otherwise untapped
potential touchpoints where people are more willing to
provide input.

Touchpoint 9-2 67
In a design-driven feedback loop, unlike a
traditional feedback loop, customers play a more
active role in the process, often co-creating with
companies (original diagrams taken from the M.A.
thesis, “Designing Holistic Feedback”)

3. Constant: it is not enough to ask for feedback only at the method (‘Visual’, ‘Auditory’, and ‘Introspective’)
prototype stage, and then when the service is fully and the output characteristics, or the type of feedback
complete. Include feedback methods throughout the received (‘Verbal’, ‘Written’, and ‘Active’). The hexagon
process and collect multi-channel feedback at various figures subsequently created serve as a first step in
touchpoints, even after the design process is done. visually comparing feedback methods. When printed on
transparent paper and held up against each other, the
Merging market research with design: A typology combination of methods produces a fully coloured-in
of feedback methods hexagon. This indicates that the methods chosen are
Choosing which feedback tools are appropriate and diverse enough in their elements to encourage the widest
when to use them is very important – not only because array of users to provide feedback. I argue that in order to
feedback loops ensure that the service is continually collect more holistic feedback, one must ideally use one
fulfilling user needs, but also because thinking through tool from each category (‘Ask’, ‘Understand’, and ‘Create’)
the qualities of the methods and tools ensures that the in combination.
type of feedback solicited is more broad and diverse in
nature. In other words, the ways in which we solicit
opinions (i.e. input) dictates the type of feedback we
ultimately collect (i.e. output).
In response to being unable to find a comprehensive
typology of feedback methods, I attempted to bridge
the gap between what I found in the market research
field and what we all know from the design field. I
identified 28 commonly-used feedback tools and sorted
them into 14 main feedback methods, seven of which
are taken from the social sciences and seven from the
design field. I then outlined their traits and usage and
classified them in three main categories: ‘Tools to Ask’,
‘Tools to Understand’, and ‘Tools to Create’. With this
information, I created a model for visualising them
based on a combination of the input characteristics of

68 Touchpoint 9-2
 e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h

To explore this first-hand, I conducted a small-scale

experiment where I asked a group of international
students the same question – to provide feedback on
a common experience they all had – and used three
different feedback tools to collect the results. The first
group responded using a standard survey, the second
group participated in an in-person group interview, and
the third group was prompted to choose three cards with
stock-photo images that best described their experience
and explain why they chose each card.
The experiment proved to be insightful: the survey One example of an ongoing feedback method during the creation
provided standard, quantifiable data; the group process: Participants in a workshop prototype solutions
interview revealed insight into the diversity of personal
experiences and the power of social interaction in the In conclusion, my research serves as a preliminary
feedback process; and the image prompt revealed latent exploration of the topic of feedback and expounds upon,
human needs and provided rich descriptions of personal what I believe, to be a topic that has great potential
experience through the use of metaphors. Each tool for further development and testing. If we can further
served a particular purpose and provided important develop a tool that assists us in choosing the right
information, and their combination provided me with combination of feedback methods, we will be in a much
a more comprehensive idea of the group’s collective better place as service designers to reach customers in the
experience. Furthermore, interestingly, it was clear way in which they prefer to be interacted with – therefore
that the image prompt yielded a far richer, qualitative collecting more ‘holistic’ feedback.
overview of the needs and emotions of the participants
than the survey and group interview. This led me to
conclude that in addition to combining different ‘types’ An electronic copy of the M.A. thesis, “Designing Holistic Feedback:
A Typology of Methods and Proposed Framework for Soliciting More
of feedback tools in the service system, it is valuable
Comprehensive, Qualitative User Input” may be requested by contacting
to take time to explore alternative ways of collecting nahaltav@gmail.com.
customer input that attempt to draw out latent insights
not otherwise captured by traditional means.

Touchpoint 9-2 69
 Design Methods for
Strengthening Social
Cohesion
A service design approach to community-based resiliency

Using a co-design process, we created a model for a new

Aran Baker is a designer and
urban practitioner who works
in the intersection of climate
change, equity and public
health. She has an MS in
Design and Urban Ecologies
from Parsons School of
Design in NYC, and is a Civic
Design Fellow with IDEO and
the Knight Foundation.
community-based service focused on disaster preparedness
for New York City neighbourhoods most impacted by climate
change. The project is designed to bridge the gap between
isolated, medically-fragile residents and advanced care/services.
Using this project as a case study, we explore opportunities for
service designers to connect institutions and players at different
scales across a vertical divide. We also explore concepts of
interdependency and how to build and strengthen social cohesion
while empowering community. We hope to provide a new lens on
the service design co-creative process, bringing a much-needed
social focus to the global resiliency conversation.

Challenges facing isolated residents neighbourhood without access to medical

Valentina Branada is a Chilean
designer passionate about
using design strategies for
social advancement. She
explores collaboration and
participation in the design
of public services, using her
practice to understand systems,
empower, provoke, and open
new dialogues. Valentina has an
MFA in Transdisciplinary Design
from Parsons.
During climate-related emergencies, many
of NYC’s residents, such as seniors and
those with illnesses and/or disabilities,
become isolated in their homes, without
a pre-existing mechanism to identify or
treat them. This problem was acute in
the Red Hook area of Brooklyn during
Hurricane Sandy, in 2012.1 Geographically
isolated, Red Hook has a 45% poverty
rate, high levels of asthma and diabetes,
and Brooklyn’s largest public housing
development. The storm’s damage left the
care. If it wasn’t for a medical student’s
efforts going door to door with intake
forms, over 350 people would not have
received the medical care they urgently
needed.2 This project grew directly out of
that grassroots effort.
1 Schmeltz MT, González SK, et al. “Lessons from
Hurricane Sandy: a Community Response in
Brooklyn, New York.” Journal of Urban Health.
2013;90(5):799–809

70 Touchpoint 9-2

Illustration of the check-in service design concept in use during a
crisis, showing co-ordination efforts.
Around 400,000 NYC residents live in areas prone to
flooding. Furthermore, the frequency of climate-related
events is projected to intensify, including hurricanes,
and – of primary concern – heatwaves. Despite this,
there is no citywide mechanism or strategy in place to
meet the needs of isolated, medically fragile residents in
these crises. Climate change is a socio-spatial issue – not
everyone is impacted equally. The problem of climate,
equity and access to care is complex, and each community
has unique needs. This means that universal, one-size-
fits-all solutions do not work.   Eric Klinenberg defines social infrastructure as: “The
Service proposal and vision
Using Red Hook as a case study, we envision a
neighbourhood-wide support network, comprised of
residents who check-in on medically-fragile and elderly
neighbours in advance of summer heatwaves, the autumn
hurricane season and winter storms. The purpose is to
help them stay prepared, empowered, and connected
to services. Our goals are to 1) bridge the gap between
isolated residents and first response, and 2) embed
disaster preparedness and climate change knowledge into
everyday life and build social cohesion. Although what
2 Kraushar, ML and Rosenberg, RE, “A Community led medical response
effort in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.” Disaster Medicine and Public
Health Preparedness. Cambridge University Press, 2015
e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h
we are proposing is entirely new, we seek to integrate
with (and build upon) existing social networks and local
organisations.
Social cohesion
In the global resiliency conversation, there has been an
over-emphasis on physical infrastructure solutions, such
as flood walls, floodgates and engineering solutions, but
not enough emphasis on social infrastructure, social
cohesion and the capacity of communities to plan ahead.
people, places, and institutions that foster cohesion and
support.”3 The strength of our social infrastructure – our
social connections and communication networks – will
undoubtedly save lives in future climate change events,
and we need to recognise its importance. The role of
social cohesion in post-disaster recovery has been widely
studied by scholars,4 but its role in pre-emptive efforts
has not yet been explored in depth.
Through this project, our goal has been to design a
strategy and supporting methodology to strengthen social
capacity given these collective challenges we face.
3 Klinenberg, E. “Adaptation: How can cities be ‘climate-proofed?’” The
New Yorker 5 (2013)
4 Aldrich, D. Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post-disaster
Recovery. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2012
Touchpoint 9-2 71
 Built at the ‘meso’ level Unique approach of service design in resiliency
Our research in Red Hook and into the citywide To build this meso level platform, we first developed a
preparedness and response system revealed a large design process embedded in the community we were
gap in the ‘meso’ sphere. The meso sphere is a social designing for, built around community collaboration
space between government (policy, law and regulative and feedback.
frameworks), private initiatives that include provision of The term ‘design’ in this context refers to both the
professional medical services, and community (everyday tangible material products developed, as well as the
practice, social networks and self-organised citizens methods and design process as a whole. We employed a
groups). For example, community-based non-profits co-design methodology, inviting multiple stakeholders
operate in this sphere. There aren’t enough mechanisms into the creative design process from the outset, including
for traditionally top-down government initiatives to (most importantly) Red Hook residents, whose feedback
communicate and work effectively with bottom-up, and collaboration are essential to the ultimate success of
grassroots initiatives, and vice-versa. the final proposal. In co-design, we are primarily focused
For example, in times of crisis, it often takes days for on the role of the designer as facilitator in a process
the US government’s disaster-relief agency (FEMA) and of co-creation, which sees people as experts on their
other aid organisations to reach the communities they own experiences and contexts.5 We realised it was not
serve. The ‘Occupy Sandy’ relief effort showed us that enough to include different stakeholders in the design
responses which integrate local social networks work process, but we also needed to go further and establish
better than top-down approaches. a continuous presence in the neighbourhood and gain
As service designers, we have a unique opportunity residents’ trust. To accomplish this, we:
to work in this space, building platforms to connect

— Recruited an advisory team comprised of medical,
stakeholders at both the city and community levels, design, law and disaster preparedness experts
through a process whose core values and principles
Conducted a series of design-led workshops at the local

—
embodies the transformation we want to create. public library and senior centre, with an open call to
participate

Used stakeholder mapping to understand residents'

—
Top-down assets and resources in times of crisis, establishing a
Diagram created in collaboration with Miodrag

feeling of ownership in the service from the beginning

Attended community events, such as ‘Old Timers’ Day’

—
Mitrasinovic, Parsons School of Design.

and sporting events, as well as hosted public meetings

Meso
—

Participated in information sessions about health and
preparedness to present the project and gather feedback

Invited several residents to work with us as part of a

—
paid core team
Bottom-up
Maintained an online presence through a Facebook

—
page and website

The meso sphere is a social space between 5 Akama, Y, et al. “Design-led strategies for brushfire preparedness.”
government, private initiatives and Paper presented at EARTH: FIRE AND RAIN, Australian & New Zealand
Disaster and Emergency Management Conference, Brisbane – 16 – 18,
community. April 2012

72 Touchpoint 9-2

Through stakeholder mapping with Red
Hook residents, we were able to better
understand the neighbourhood’s assets
and resources.
Photo by Nathan DeHart.
e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h
Community engagement was one of our largest
challenges. This is because Red Hook residents are
weary to participate due to their experiences with
previous resiliency initiatives which resulted in no visible
improvements. Our participatory design process and tools
(see accompanying imagery) offered a tangible alternative
for residents to actively participate and engage.
While developing this community-based network,
we also needed to align with both local organisations/
services and with citywide service providers and first
response services, thereby establishing our meso level
platform. For example, for the service to be effective, it
needs to work with the NYC Department of Emergency
Management, which co-ordinates response efforts at the
city level. We also worked with stakeholders at the NYC
Department of Health, and at the Governor's Office of
Storm Recovery, among others.
Expanding horizons
Through sharing these insights, we intend to expand
the horizons and contexts where service designers can
make an impact. In this case in particular, to use service
design to help transform the resiliency sector. We need
new, adaptive models that strengthen social cohesion
and self-sufficiency at the neighbourhood level, while
creating important linkages and communication channels
with government and citywide service providers. Service
designers have the unique ability to connect traditionally-
siloed institutions and players, while empowering
community through a participatory design process and
creating models based upon real needs.
At its heart, this project creates a new value proposition
based on interdependency and trust: Only together, in
an organised fashion, can we do something about the
collective challenges we face. We hope this project can
serve as an example and open up new possibilities for
collaboration.
Learn more about the Red Hook Check-in concept at
www.redhookcheckin.org
Touchpoint 9-2 73

Holger Fricke teaches Design
Management at HAWK and
administers the professorship
for Design Marketing.
Before HAWK, he led teams
at frog design (Milan),
Aperto (Berlin) and Tchibo
(Hamburg). He studied at
Ashridge Business School in
the UK, and at the University
of Essen in Germany, and
he holds a Master’s degree
in Business Administration
and Economics. His current
consulting projects are in
the lighting and consumer
electronics industries.
74 Touchpoint 9-2
Partnering for Service
Design Education
Industry-university collaborations as catalysts in fostering
a discipline
The introduction of service design education at HAWK (University
of Applied Sciences and Arts, in Hildesheim, Germany) has been
significantly improved in speed and quality through collaboration
with industry partners. Both its importance to society and
its relevance in design education have been demonstrated in
practical outputs based upon real-life briefs and solid theoretical
foundations.
More than 20 years ago, Birgit Mager service design has been implemented into
was named the first professor for HAWK’s Master of Design Programme.
service design in Europe, reinforcing This has involved close collaboration in
the reputation of the Cologne University both research and education between
of Applied Sciences’ Faculty of Design HAWK and service providers in both the
(today known as KISD) as a forerunner public and private sectors.
in pushing the boundaries of design.
Today, many of KISD’s alumni play pivotal Partner in research and
roles in the service design and service development
management sectors. An early partner in this development was
Design schools across Europe have Hamburg-based Eppendorf AG (EAG), a
followed in the footsteps of KISD, including world-leading provider of solutions in liquid
HAWK’s Faculty of Design1 , a century-old handling. When approached by HAWK
arts and engineering school. Although we with the loose idea of ‘doing something
had no formal service design BA or MA together’ it was EAG’s head of R&D who
programmes in place, we started from the suggested gathering a team of scientists
perspective of design management, and and managers that would work closely with
its role in linking design to business and more than 30 Masters students in their first
thereby pushing the boundaries of the semester. The students went on to carry
design discipline. Over the last four years, out intensive field studies in laboratories,
hospitals and genetic treatment centers.
1 http://elearn.hawk-hhg.de/projekte/59/pages/ They produced evidence that product-
esa/history-of-hawk.php; as of 07.08.17 service combinations were likely to offer
 e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h

improved user experiences in and beyond laboratories,

rather than products alone.
Both EAG and HAWK benefitted from the
co-operation, making it clear that it was possible to PILOTPROJEKT VERWALTUNG
facilitate a learning programme that would meet our Beantragung von ALG I
academic standards and simultaneously expose students Leistungsempfänger von ALG I+II in 2015 Stakeholder Antragsstellung

to the unique circumstances of the medical industry

and public (health) services. 5,4% Online-Portal
Leistungs-
Abteilung

4.38 Mio.
ALG II (Hartz IV) Grundsicherungsleistung

Another project was carried out for Sartorius AG 81 Mio.

FITs
Service
Center
»KUNDE«
Arbeitsloser/
-suchender
Eingangszone
– EZ
– SC

(SAG), a global leader in high precision filtering and 1,0 %

834 000

weighing headquartered in Göttingen, which included

ALG I Versicherungsleistung Arbeitgeber
Vermittlung Zentrale
– AGS Nürnberg

User Journey – Problemstellung

a whole range of topics ranging from logistics and
Problemstellung
Leistungs-
erster Kontakt Arbeitssuchendmeldung / Vermittlung persönliche Arbeitslosmeldung /Antragsstellung ALG I
bewilligung

education to service branding. Again, an entire class Anruf beim Daten über EInladung zur Vorschläge für persönlich beim Antrag über Anruf von BA: persönliche Bewilligung
Service Center Online-Portal Berufsvermittlung Stellen per Post Sachbearbeiter Online-Portal keine AL-Meldung Meldung per Post MISSTRAUEN

of Masters students set out to understand customers,

Arne

KUNDE BUNDESAGENTUR
persönlich am persönlich beim EInladung zur Vorschläge für bereits beim 1. Antrag Anruf bei BA: 2. Antrag Bewilligung

service-providing parties and their ecosystems alike.

Service-Schalter Sachbearbeiter Berufsvermittlung Stellen per Post ersten Kontakt per Post keine Unterlagen persönlich per Post

Vanessa
fehlende Transparenz
in Kommunikation & Beantragungsprozessen

The students profited from their exposure to everyday

Information auf Daten über EInladung zur Vorschläge für persönlich beim Antrag über Anruf bei BA: persönliche Bewilligung

Fragestellung
Internetseite Online-Portal Berufsvermittlung Stellen per Post Sachbearbeiter Online-Portal keine AL-Meldung Meldung per Post

Christian
+
Wodurch kann Transparenz in der
needs in a complex industry, providing them with insight -
Kommunikation zwischen Kunde und
Arbeitsagentur geschaffen werden?

to build their solutions upon. Extensive and detailed Konzeptidee & Lösungsvorschlag
feedback was afforded by a large audience of high- Ein User-Tracking-Tool soll
die Kommunikation zwi-
schen Kunde und Agentur
für Arbeit erleichtern und
den Prozess der Antragsstel-

ranking specialists and managers at SAG.2 lung transparenter machen.

Eine Schnittstelle, die das
Vertrauen auf beiden Seiten
wieder herstellen soll.

As a last example of industry partnership, Viking,

a leading Austrian manufacturer of lawnmowers
and gardening equipment, asked our students to
conceptualise services that would help address the sales
Storytelling & Prototyping

network’s biggest needs. To do so, the HAWK teams set

Daniel Khan, Wiebke Tjarks, Yipan Wang

out to discover what those needs exactly were. While the Work by master students Daniel Khan, Wiebke Tjarks and Yipan Wang . HAWK Hildesheim
Sommersemester 2016

results remain proprietary until the end of 2017, Viking

manager Harald Aschaber already judged that “these
A poster illustrating preliminary research
results are far beyond all our expectations”.3 and service concepts for recipients of
While service design and design management are
social welfare and unemployment benefits.
transdisciplinary in nature per se, HAWK also tackles
service design education in its regular interdisciplinary
courses run jointly by at least two professors.
In one of these integrative projects, titled ‘Designing
for the Public Good’, students used their insight to design
solutions for citizens participating in running their city
and found ways to let unemployed citizens navigate the
complexities of the German Federal Agency for Work

(Bundesagentur für Arbeit; BAA).

2 https://www.hawk-hhg.de/aktuell/default_215631.php, as of 07.08.17
3 http://www.hawk-hhg.de/aktuell/default_218783.php, as of 07.08.17

Touchpoint 9-2 75
 URBAN REPORT
Das sichere Mobilitäts-Netzwerk ...deine Stadt, deine Idee, deine App.

Willkommen bei Urban Report,

der App für deine Stadt.

Hast du dich schon immer mal gefragt

wie man dafür sorgen kann, dass deine
Stadt auf deine Befürfnisse reagiert?
Hast du gute Ideen und würdest dir
wünschen, dass sie jemand an der
entscheidenden Stelle hört und um-
setzt? Kostet das nicht Zeit und Mühe?
Nicht mit dieser App.

Hier kannst du ganz unkompliziert

deine Eindrücke und Wünsche mit
deiner Stadtverwaltung teilen. Melde
etwas, poste Ideen oder erfahre wel-
che Projekte deine Stadt erst kürzlich
umgesetzt hat.

1. Poste deinen Wunsch 2. Dein Post wird gesehen 3. Das Projekt wurde verwirklicht 4. Jeder kann es sehen
bezüglich der Stadtgestaltung

sicheres Mobilitäts- Das Netzwerk liefert den Senioren einen Rundumblick

Netzwerk über die Möglichkeiten weiterhin mobil zu bleiben.

Es zeigt Alternativen, auf die umgestiegen werden kann,
aber auch Möglichkeiten sicher(er) weiterzufahren.
Senioren und Angehörige können sich durch verschiedene
Printprodukte, sowie auf der Internetseite umfassend
über das Thema „Fahren im Alter“ und die Möglichkeiten
weiterhin mobil zu bleiben, informieren. Auch der
Hausarzt informiert, unterstützt und stellt Kontakte zu Problem Idee Umsetzung
Ansprechpartnern her. Das Netzwerk bietet den
Mitgliedern neben Vergünstigungen auch Prämien an, Die Kommunikation zwischen Stadtverwaltung Die Idee ist ein einfaches Kommunikationsmittel, Entstanden ist eine leicht bedienbare App, die
beispielsweise Fahrsicherheitstrainings. Die einzelnen und Bürger geht nur sehr mühsam vonstatten. welches dem Bürger erlaubt seine Bedürfnisse und jedem Bürger erlaubt seine Wünsche und Ideen an
„Seitdem wir dem Netzwerk Komponenten des Netzwerkes sind individuell auf die Es fehlt an einem einfachen Kommunikationsmitel, Wünsche diekt und ersichtlich der Stadtverwal- die Stadtverwaltung mühelos weiterzugeben. Die
beigetreten sind, fahre ich wieder Bedürfnisse jedes Einzelnen anpassbar. Die Anmeldung welches beide Seiten bedient. tung mitzuteilen. Gleichzeitig soll er Einsicht haben Stadt hat nun ebenfalls mit einer eigenen Benutzer-
gern bei Harald im Auto mit!“ erfolgt unkomliziert in einem der teilnehmenden auf bereits umgesetzte Projekte. oberfläche den direkten Blick auf die Bedürfnisse
(Marie Rosenthal, 68 Jahre) Unternehmen, in Arztpraxen, Apotheken, im Internet oder in und kann so schneller und gezielter auf diese ein-
einer der vielen Service-Filialen. gehen.

Master Students: Nicole Olik, Alina Naujoks, Monique Saparautzki, Jill-Catrin Thiel, Anne Ittner, Irina Fischer, Clara Höfs, Hannah Salk, Mario Kersten and Adriana Wagner
Das sichere Mobilitäts-Netzwerk | SoSe 2016 | Pilotprojekt | Nicole Olik, Alina Naujoks, Monique Saparautzki, Jill-Catrin Thiel, Anne Ittner-Czech

Irina Fischer, Clara Höfs, Hannah Salk, Mario Kersten, Adriana Wagner

Connecting citizens: Similar projects led to the development of co-buying

illustrations of concepts to build mobility solutions for Germany’s ever-ageing rural areas.
Engineers at Sennheiser helped another team of students
networks in rural areas (left) prove the feasibility of ‘Learning Ears’, an educational
and an initiative to re-establish citizen's service aimed at children working in refugee camps.
Managers at Deutsche Bahn (the German national
sense of ownership of their cities (right)
railway) witnessed the results of largely independent
work carried out by students under guidance of Prof.
Stefan Wölwer (Interaction Design) and Holger Fricke.
The generic initial question was “What services
could improve the customer experience in regional
transportation at DB?” To find answers, students applied
their skills in ethnographic research to gather insights
that formed the basis for decisions for an entire portfolio
of solutions including concepts such as ‘Family Travels’,

76 Touchpoint 9-2

‘Capacity Information Panels’ and ‘The Future of the
Ticket Vending Machine’. Publications of this project’s
results stimulated further interest in collaborations from
transportation and software companies alike.
Partners in Education
During their involvement with students, all partners
gave multiple presentations that sometimes stretched
far beyond simple project briefings. They opened their
doors and arranged for access to their respective partner
institutions in manufacturing, sales and development.
And because the results of projects were usually
presented on the partner’s premises, students were able
to gain additional insight and receive feedback from
diverse stakeholders on the partner’s side.
Methodology and analytical techniques could also
be introduced and applied with the help of visiting
lecturers who are successful service designers in their
own professional lives. Mathias Richter (Managing
Director at Syneo Tools) and Stefan Freitag (Head of
Design at Indeed Innovation) both acted as facilitators of
co-creation workshops and shared their expertise with
the teams. In guest lectures, Nancy Birkhölzer of IXDS
and Barbara Franz of IDEO, among others, shared their
insights into how superior service design becomes reality.
The team of More-than-Metrics, the company behind
customer experience tool ‘Smaply’, supported several of
our projects with software and training.
It must also not be understated that it is solid education
in all the ‘traditional’ and technology-led fields of design
that puts service design teams in the position to work
on the highest technical and creative levels. This makes
internal collaboration within the faculty a mandatory
prerequisite for smooth and successful external
partnerships.
Workload and semester duration
Both the semester length (16 weeks) and degree
programme duration (four semesters) do not necessarily
align well with industry’s own fast-paced requirements.
At HAWK, it is our highest priority that students
completely fulfil their curricula while their individual
e d u c at i o n a n d re s e a rc h
well-being is also assured. This means that the average
workload must be contained within European university
standards, rather than match the typical demands
of agency employment. Despite that, students often
work long hours to digest research and come up with
convincing solutions.
We will soon examine if and how we can stretch
partner collaborations over the entire duration of the
Masters programme. In a joint effort with a global
technology group, we will endeavour to organise a
four-semester series of projects, all of which will meet
academic requirements and ensure students earn a great
deal of real-life experience.
Forms of co-operation made simple
Over the last four years we have managed to keep the
contractual set-up of all projects simple. The HAWK legal
and administrational departments have helped facilitate
a straight-forward approach to the various forms of
co-operation. In our service design projects, HAWK
as an institution has regularly renounced commercial
exploitation, but has reserved the right to publish all
work and make use of it in research and education. At the
same time, individual students’ legal positions regarding
intellectual property remain intact.
Outlook
We hope that we have demonstrated what pivotal role
private and public service providers can play in the
enhancement of service design education, and how
service design has evolved to become an integral part of
Design Management courses at our school.
Student project work from previous semesters illustrates
how students immerse themselves into the discipline
of service design and how ‘education-on-the-job’ which
builds on underlying theory can result in great service
concepts. We can take this as an indication of how such
cooperative projects foster the role of service design in
the respective organisations.
Touchpoint 9-2 77
 Anne Stenros
Meet the service designer

Last year the SDN launched the first Service Design Impact Report
dedicated to the topic of the public sector. Due to its success and
enthusiastic reception, the next two editions are already in the
making. The next one will focus on the health sector, and will be
published to coincide with the SDN’s Global Conference 2018, in
Dr. Anne Stenros CDO Madrid. Aline Alonso, the manager of the SDN Impact Report series,
is a thought leader on
strategic design and creative and Zeynep von Flittner, an Impact Report collaborator, had the
leadership, speaking and
lecturing around the world.
opportunity to interview Anne Stenros, the Chief Design Officer
Since September 2016 she
(CDO) of Helsinki, about her vision of the design impact in the city
is the Chief Design Officer
(CDO) of the city of Helsinki. of Helsinki. Anne sees the city as an organisation and her objective
She has been rewarded with
the Gold Estlander Medal is to to utilise design knowledge and enforce an experimentation
(2015) and the Gold Medal of
the City of Helsinki (2013). culture among the city leaders.
She is a founding member of
Women in Tech Finland.

Aline Alonso and Zeynep von Flittner:
The city of Helsinki is undergoing a lot of
changes. What is the role and the value of
design in these transformations?
Anne Stenros: The city of Helsinki wants
to renew the working culture and the
leadership in the city. As a CDO, I have
introduced something like a ‘Service
Experience Camp’ to the top leaders of
the city. They have really enjoyed the
idea of small, agile, fast-speed workshops
with templates that they can fill in by
themselves or as a group. These have
been very valuable tools to spark strategic
discussions.
I believe one very important tool of
design is to make futures visible. From
my experience, if we only use numbers
or text, the discussions tend to be very
abstract and 'un-emotional'. However,
if we use any type of visualisation, for
instance scenarios and personas, it enables
the people present in those meetings to
use their empathic skills too. In order to
understand better how the future is going
to be. This way we will not be talking only
about hard numbers but values too; ‘what
kind of future we would like to see?’

78 Touchpoint 9-2

How did these ‘Service Experience Camps’ work?
To open up the discussion about the future
transformational trends, we created a foldable map
with four scenarios for Helsinki by 2030, seeing the
city as a civic platform. It was based on the idea that in
the future, more and more is going to happen either in
collaboration with citizens or as a bottom-up activity.
The aim was to discuss the presence of this collaborative
environment in the city. For example, in the scenario of
the ‘Resilient Welfare City’, the collaborative environment
almost doesn’t exist. On the other hand, in the ‘Civic
Sharing City’ scenario, things happen in co-production
in a very much actively-collaborative involvement. These
parallel views can be combined, as all of them will happen
eventually in the future. And serve as a base for discussion
for the city officials and city leaders.
We were looking for the different functions of the
city, such as placemaking, lifelong learning and cultural
life. With the aim to create the best citizen experience.
We were looking for the generation of value, functional,
emotional and also life changing values that would
deliver real social impact.
Design can support citizen democracy, and that is the
biggest driver when it comes to the city’s organisation
in the future. Cities have been closed organisations, but
they must open up themselves and become platform
organisations in the future, where each independent unit
will become more agile and collaborative. It will take
some time, depending on the cultural and social context
of each city, but I believe this transformation is inevitable.
The activities and methods you described are very
similar to service design. Do you use the term service
design to refer to them?
I would rather refer to it as strategic design because it
didn’t follow the service design process ‘by the book’. It
was more focusing on using design to get the people out of
their comfort zone, than in a final service outcome. And
this was possible to see in the faces of the civil servants
during the workshops. In the first hour they were a little
p ro f i l e s
bit confused. Their expectation of a workshop was that
they would sit and listen to somebody, and now we put
them in the centre of the action. But soon they got into
the flow and got really engaged; much more than with
top-down approaches.
How does the use of these design methods impact the
work of the civil servants and city leaders of Helsinki?
I heard from different departments that they are using
this type of approach in their own strategic discussions.
That shows that the use of the methodology is very
valuable for them.
We had ten workshops with more than 250 people in
total. The outcome was a booklet called ‘City Compass
of the Future’, in which we collected a summary of the
discussions. Dynamic, attractive, open and equal are
some of the trends for the future of the city. In the end,
we built a map pointing to what should be done at the
leadership level - the steps to get to the kind of future
that we want to see.
The last activity of the ‘Camp’ with the city leaders
was to build a house of cards with the promises of each
one of us answering the question: “What I am going to do
in the coming four weeks to support the changes in the
leadership level?”
We use different types of design methods and tools
to inspire people to approach everyday problems in a
totally different way than they have been doing. And they
enjoy it because it opens up new avenues. Rather than
discussing about numbers – for example, “If we have
these many people, how many houses we need to build?" –
the discussion changes to, “If we need more housing, how
can we ease the regulations to make it happen easier and
faster?”
Can you see the difference in their way to work? Is it
already possible to spot the impact of the introduction
of design?
I believe design has introduced new types of approaches
and a new type of thinking for the city leaders. But also a
Touchpoint 9-2 79
new way to understand where we are heading to. As we
all know, linear thinking is not applicable anymore for the
complex issues we are dealing with.
I can see that the city leaders are more interested in
the future and they are more willing to test new ways to
approach a challenge. They enjoy very much this kind of
multidisciplinary discussion and different viewpoints.
Even the politicians, they love it! Since they are just among
people that share the same set of values as they have, the
exchange of viewpoints has a strength on its own.
How do you measure the impact that you are creating?
We are just taking the first steps, so we haven't had
the time to measure it yet. But after my two years as a
Chief Design Officer, we will need to do this employee
experience assessment in order to see how much it has
been changed. However, we have to understand that
there are so many other changes going on at the same
time within the city of Helsinki that is hard know what is
the impact of design alone.
But I may say that as a public sector organisation, we
don't have really a good criteria for measuring the impact.
If we think about design in business, there are already
some measurements, especially when we talk about the
hard stuff, like technology. But if we want to understand
the impact we should not only have the hard measures.
The Mayor is more interested in what kind of cultural
changes we can create within the city organisation
to be more agile, resilient and effective. He is talking
about digitisation of course, but on the other side he is
emphasising the importance of soft values.
So then, how do you believe this impact can be
measured in the long term?
We can measure citizen satisfaction, like most companies
have a system to measure customer satisfaction. But
maybe we don't have to ask questions, because we can
screen the understanding of the collective mind from
data. If we start to use artificial intelligence following
the discussion of citizens, we can come up with a quite
80 Touchpoint 9-2
good understanding of how happy people are. Data and
technology can allow us to get a more coherent picture of
society, with real-time understanding.
In the discussion about impact, of course we can
always improve. But if we build the most efficient
machine, we can end up forgetting the human side. We
need a person, a human heart, interfering in critical
moments and saying: “No, we are not following the
process now because of this human reason.” This is
more relevant for me than this endless search for a more
efficient system.
This year the focus of the Service Design Impact
Report is the health sector, and the publication aims to
investigate the impact of service design in healthcare
in different countries. The Finnish health system will
undergo a big reform in the coming years. Does design
have a positive impact on how current healthcare reform
is being defined and managed?
The current healthcare reform is quite a top-down
process and therefore gets a lot of criticism. I haven’t
been personally involved in any of the discussions and
don’t have much information. But I assume that a more
collaborative and involving decision making process
(which design could bring) would have benefited the
adaptation and implementation of the decisions.
The design process can help to create a buy-in, and a
mindset change before starting to implement a decision.
It can lead discussions and the creation of a shared set
of values. During our processes, we mixed different city
divisions with very different political views, and it was
very interesting to see how people came up with shared
ideas about how we should live in the future.
From my perspective, there should be more pressure
for cities to promote healthier lifestyle. We should
think holistically and create visions on how the city
environment can support a healthy lifestyle, for example
with more bike lanes, offering sports, culture, etc.
We have in Helsinki a very nice case, where design has
been used in a very impactful way: the city’s new central
library. Before the architectural project began, there have

been many design projects done in order to understand
the needs of the citizens and exploring new roles that
the library could play in city life. This design work and
the vision it created influenced the new mindset and
culture change among different stakeholders before the
actual project started. Making it much easier to start to
implement new ways of working.
The current library concept is not only about books,
there are different hubs, it offers different type of
activities; it is a learning space for citizens. The city
strategy should influence the physical city and building
decisions. And they need to be shaped by larger discussions
on shared values, and how citizen experience should be.
To wrap up, how do you see the global evolution of service
design for the public sector in the next ten years?
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p ro f i l e s
I see the next level as political. I think we are coming
back to the era of value discussion in design, how to
change by design. I haven't had this discussion since the
1980s, when I finished my studies. It is interesting to
see that in all these years in between, design has been
considered as a non-political activity. Recently a young
designer told me that service design is always a political
act. Yes! Because it has an impact on people. We can't say
that we are non-political designers and still do service
design. You have a set of values beyond your decisions. I
see young people starting movements by political design.
Instead of waiting for the cities to implement something,
they are doing it themselves. I don't want to emphasise
that it should be political, but the world is nowadays more
political than it used to be.
Touchpoint 9-2 81
Congratulations to the Service
Design Award 2017 Finalists
Out of over 100 agency,
corporate and student
submissions from around
the world, 14 Finalists
were selected by an
international jury of service
design experts due to
the exceptional standard
of their work and the
contribution their projects
have made towards
progressing the field of
service design.
Four ‘Professional, Commercial’
projects, one ‘Commercial-student
collaborative’ project, four ‘Non-
profit / public sector’ and five
‘Student’ projects have been
shortlisted, setting new benchmarks
for world class service design.
For the 2017 Award we have
seen an increase in the quantity
and standard of the student work
in particular, with 34% of entries
by students compared to 26%
in 2016. The SDN, as host of the
Service Design Award, is delighted
to showcase, promote and support
the best new talent in this rapidly
growing field. The Finalist work will
be on show during the entire Service
Design Global Conference in Madrid.
On 2 November, the winners will
be announced, and they will share
their work in pecha-kucha style
presentations the next day.
82 Touchpoint 9-2
project | location
Mahi-Mahi Project (Spain)
company
Apitropik
client
Askora Plus S.L.
category
Professional, Commercial
How does a company move
from serving food to designing
experiences? This is what agency
Apitropik set out to answer in 2016,
when Spanish catering company
Askora asked for help to improve
their services for school canteens.
One year later, a new concept started
to take shape and the Mahi-Mahi
experience was born.
Apitropik decided to rethink the
whole canteen experience, including
before and after the meal itself. An
important step was facilitating a
co-creative process for all the people
involved. The concept was tested with
more than 900 children who continue
to enjoy the new service to this day.
Currently, new schools are starting
the same journey, choosing to
experience mealtimes in a different
way.
project | location
Redefining the TELUS Renewals
Experience (Canada)
company
Bridgeable
client
TELUS
category
Professional, Commercial
In 2015 TELUS was facing a set of
complex problems: more customers
looking for new contracts, greater up-
front costs of hardware subsidies, and
increased customer reliance on high-
cost channels. Realising that mobile
contract renewals are a critical
moment of truth for customers,
the service design team at TELUS
engaged Bridgeable to transform
the renewals process, creating a
seamless, personalised experience for
customers while reducing cost-to-
serve for the business.
Bridgeable enlisted the help of a
cross-functional team from across
the TELUS organisation, bringing
together stakeholders who had
never before been in the same room
to co-create solutions. This omni-
channel service design approach led
to wins for both the customer and the
TELUS organisation.

project | location
Money Coaching at Capital One (US)
company
Capital One
client
Christian De Pace, Business Director,
Capital One Cafés
category
Professional, Commercial
Historically, banks have been viewed
as trusted partners in safeguarding
their customers’ finances, but trust
in financial institutions has eroded
over time. Nowadays, people often
view their banks as simple utilities
rather than trusted partners. That’s
why Capital One is redesigning the
banking experience — making things
simple, straightforward, and a fitting
banking experiences more naturally
into people’s lives.
Capital One created Money
Coaching to help people feel more
confident in their relationship with
money and how they talk about it.
The service takes place in Capital
One’s Cafés, which aim to create a
comfortable, stress-free environment
in which customers get help with
their finances. Money Coaching is
a one-on-one, judgment-free and
guided programme.
project | location
Airport Experience - Commercial
Journey Vision (The Netherlands)
company
Essense - Service Design
client
Schiphol Group (Amsterdam
Schiphol Airport)
category
Professional, Commercial
Essense worked closely with the
Consumer Marketing team at Schiphol
Group (Amsterdam Airport) to develop
a customer experience vision for
commercial touchpoints in the entire
passenger journey, across multiple
channels. Using existing research and
new learnings, insights and challenges
were mapped on a customer journey to
gain a holistic overview, build shared
ownership and identify commercial
opportunities. These informed
relevant commercial scenarios through
co-creation with both passengers and
Schiphol client staff. Based on that
work, Essense defined a CX vision
structured around three CX pillars:
‘Guide Me’, ‘Relieve Me’ and ‘Excite
Me’. Balancing these CX pillars and
business targets shaped the marketing
roadmap, which currently ensures
team-wide focus and guides Agile
implementation teams.
inside sdn
project | location
The Glasgow School of Art
& The Royal Bank of Scotland:
Future Bank 2025 (Scotland)
team
Eloise Smith-Foster, Aleksandra
Kozawska, Rosie Trudgen, Lizzie
Abernethy, Will Brown, Josefine
Leonhardt, Robyn Johnston, Amber
Jones, Ottavia Pasta, Ole Thomas
Tørresen, Josh Woolliscroft and
Struan Wood
client
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
category
Professional, Commercial-student
collaboration
The student and new graduate GSA
team partnered with the Royal
Bank of Scotland to develop the
company’s emerging user-centred
design process and integrate a future
forecasting methodology in 2015-
16. They conducted user research
into Generation Y, designed service
concepts, future-oriented ‘tribes’ and
a ‘future world context’ – outcomes
that continue to impact the design
approach of RBS. The success of the
project resulted in an innovative,
industry-academic educational model
being adopted by the GSA Design
Department.
Touchpoint 9-2 83
project | location
Design In Schools Australia
- A Design and Education
Collaboration (Australia)
company
Design Managers Australia (DMA)
client
Macquarie Primary School
category
Non-profit / public sector
In 2015, Design Managers Australia
(DMA) was approached by Macquarie
Primary School in Canberra, Australia,
to tackle a ‘dangerous’ school car park.
An immediate partnership was formed
between two disciplines (education
and service design), and between two
organisations (the school and DMA).
The resulting programme, ‘Design In
Schools’, established 18 eleven-year
olds as a formal service design team.
The process was built around the
creation of six structured design
modules with a launch of the rebuilt
car park in October 2016. The project
had real design outcomes (an improved
car park experience), methodology
outcomes (the development of a
re-useable methodology) and a lasting
impact on both teachers in the school
and designers from DMA, who have
evolved their own practice.
84 Touchpoint 9-2
project | location
Delivering Easy, Effective, and
Emotionally Satisfying Experiences
for Veterans (US)
company
Doblin Deloitte and The US
Department of Veterans Affairs
client
The US Department of Veterans
Affairs
category
Non-profit / public sector
The United States Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) is the second
largest department within the US
government. With more than 20
million Veterans, providing excellent
service to those who served their
country is of paramount importance
for VA. In 2015, in the midst of
increased public scrutiny, a loss
in Veteran confidence, and a lack
of employee engagement, VA took
enterprise-level action to address
barriers in serving Veterans and their
families. As a team, Doblin Deloitte,
the Veterans Experience Office, and
VA collaborators engaged Veterans,
employees, and stakeholders in a
human centred, design led approach
to help improve Veterans’ experiences
with service delivery at VA.
project | location
¤217 Million Worth of Mobility
Services Developed Based on
Personas (The Netherlands)
netherlands based company
Muzus
client
The Municipality of Rotterdam
category
Non-profit / public sector
The municipality of Rotterdam faced
the challenge of issuing a tender for
transport services for elderly and
disabled residents. This is a complex
service, consisting of up to 17,000
transport movements per day in the
dense city of Rotterdam. It has a
budget of €31 million per year and
was to be tendered for a period of
seven years.
The municipality took a
daring, fresh approach: they put the
user in the centre of the offer of the
carrier. Agency Muzus mapped the
user needs of Rotterdam citizens
and translated the insights into a
framework and tools that offered
better transportation concepts. This
insight framework now forms the
beating heart of the future transport
concept.

project | location
NSB Train Replacement Services
(Norway)
company
Uniform Strategisk Design AS
client
NSB (Norwegian State Railways)
category
Non-profit / public sector
In 2014, more than 20 percent of the
approximately 68.5 million Norwegian
train passengers were affected by
train problems due to rail traffic
stopping fully or partly. Customer
experiences in the exception situations
was revealed as the major challenge
in a customer satisfaction survey. The
Norwegian Minister of Transport
and Communications demanded
immediate initiatives and long-term
plans to improve the situation.
The key strategic deliverable from
the project was redefining a purely
logistical challenge into a seamless and
holistic customer service. Strategic
responsibility for customer experience
was defined in top management.
The holistic service was developed,
renamed, and a new visual identity
was created. Part of the new service
was launched in 2015, and evaluated
and further developed in 2016.
project | location
Reducing Patient Anxiety and
Uncertainty Throughout Their Care
in a Hospital for the Elderly (Brazil)
team
Carolina Pizatto Girardi
university
Universidade Federal do Paraná
client | external stakeholder
Hospital do Idoso Zilda Arns
category
Student
The Elderly Hospital of Curitiba,
in Brazil, had a series of issues that
were negatively affecting their
patient’s satisfaction yet were
unknown by the hospital directors.
To support decision-making, this
project identified and mapped all
of the service’s weaknesses, and
delivered co-created solutions to
guide the hospital in improving
patients’ experience.
Besides the ideal service journey,
an action plan including 42 challenges
and their solutions (organised by
short, medium or long term) was also
delivered. This brought user centred
guidance, and once implemented, will
positively affect the 4,500 patients
that typically attend the hospital each
year.
inside sdn
project  | location
Servizz Design (UK/ Malta)
team
Ella Walding
university
The Royal College of Art
client | external stakeholder
The Government of Malta
category
Student
Servizz Design is a set of service
design tools aimed to create change
in the Government of Malta, and
which has the potential to create
change in any organisation. These
tools have been implemented in
Servizz.gov, a one-stop shop in Malta
that citizens can use as a single point
of contact for all public services.
What started as a service
optimisation project has evolved
into a service for change and set of
deliverables that can empower service
users. This project has demonstrated
that it is possible to use service design
to create both process change and
culture change to deliver enhanced
outcomes both for those delivering and
receiving services.
Touchpoint 9-2 85
project | location
Smart Black Taxi Service: Flo (UK)
team
Hyunyim Park, Jaehyun Park and
Culainn Boland-Shanahan
university
The Royal College of Art
client | external stakeholder
Hannah Kops - Transport For
London Project Coordinator, Nick
de Leon - RCA Service Design Head
of Program and Nicolás Rebolledo -
RCA Project Coordinator
category
Student
Air pollution in London is estimated to
cost the economy around £3.7 billion
every year, due to the health impact.
The Flo project aims to help tackle the
air pollution challenge by influencing
the behaviour of black cab drivers.
The service tailors and delivers
real-time, open data to help black
cab drivers make informed decisions
about where to find passengers, so
they can reduce the amount of time
“drifting” without passengers, thereby
reducing pollution. By using the Flo
service, black cab drivers can save
an estimated £4,093 per year, which
translates to a saving of £81,860,000
for the 20,000 black cab drivers in
London.
86 Touchpoint 9-2
project | location
Communi.Care (Colombia)
team
Lina Antolínez, Diana Sánchez, María
Andrea Luque and María Ordóñez
university
Universidad de Los Andes
client | external stakeholder
Healthcare staff at FSFB Hospital,
Student Advisors Juan Manuel
Gonzalez and Christiaan Job Nieman
category
Student
Nurses and support teams play a
fundamental role in healthcare
organisations. Communi.care is a set
of tangible interventions within the
internal patient transportation service
at FSFB Hospital in Colombia. Using
existing tacit codes between actors, it
facilitates communication and makes
clear the shared responsibilities
amongst nurses and the support
team, so they can take care not only
of patients, but also of co-workers.
This will also help FSFB to deliver a
low-cost, more efficient and caring
patient internal transportation to
positively impact patients’ experience
by improving the perception of being
vulnerable and unprotected and
reducing the amount of time waiting
to be transported by 37.5%.
project | location
Factory NextGen: Connect to Sustain
(UK/ Taiwan)
team
Szu-Ying Chen
university
The Royal College of Art
client | external stakeholder
SME manufacturers in Taiwan
category
Student
Due to an ageing workforce and
a lack of succession planning, the
manufacturing industry in Taiwan
is facing a severe skills shortage.
The problem is made worse by a
significant decline in sales. More
than 35,000 SME manufacturers in
Taiwan are projected to survive for
only the next five to ten years.
Factory NextGen seeks to address
this issue by building bridges between
the young and old workforces.
It provides a platform for senior
factory technicians and the younger
generation, including working
professionals and students, to
exchange skills, ideas and resources
to develop innovative, sustainable
solutions in SME manufacturing.
 r u b ri k

This publication is valuable for a broad readership. It is a source

of insight and inspiration for both those operating in the health
sector, as well as the policy-makers and politicians that surround
it. Service design practitioners can get up-to-speed with the state
of the art in how their discipline is being applied to healthcare
challenges, and academics and students will benefit from the best
practices contained herein.

Download or order your printed copy from November 15th

Touchpoint 9-2 87
Applying Service Design
to the SDN Chapter
Foundation Process
After a successful Chapter revival at the end of 2016, the
German SDN Chapter has applied service design methods
during the building phase to identify its key audiences
and tailor the focus of activities and events to their
preferences.
In the summer of 2016, several
members of the SDN in Germany
expressed their interest to build up
a local service design community.
When the headquarters invited us
for a German SDN Chapter ‘revival’
meeting in fall 2016, we were excited
about this opportunity. However,
as riveting as it was to indulge in
discussions and idea generation, it
was crucial to channel this energy
and turn it into concrete activities
towards building up a new Chapter.
Creation of a founding team
The first challenge – assembling
a core team that was eager and
dedicated to bringing the Chapter to
life – was achieved within one month.
But how could you ensure working
in the right direction from the very
beginning? Well, we didn’t have to
look too far for the answer: Why
not apply service design methods
to the Chapter-building process? It
hadn’t been done before and SDN
88 Touchpoint 9-2
president Professor Birgit Mager, who
supported our initiatives, encouraged
us to identify a role model Chapter
structure for future foundations.
Stakeholder analysis and
interview script
The first crucial task was to identify
our key audiences and determine
their expectations towards our
Chapter. Firstly, we conducted a
stakeholder analysis revealing three
groups:

Full SDN members from different

—
fields (e.g. agencies, start-ups)

The ‘Community’ (students,

—
academics and others from service
design-related fields)

‘Potentially-interested’ people who

—
might not be aware of the fact that
they are already applying service
design
In a second step, we collected
an array of questions that were
structured into an interview script
in order to elicit the most valuable
insights about each group’s mind-
set and requirements for associated
Chapter activities.
When we would interview
SDN members and professionals
familiar with the concept of service
design (the first two groups), our
questions would be focussed on their
engagement with service design-
related topics and their particular
expectations of a German Chapter.
When interviewing people who
were unfamiliar with service design
(the third group), we chose another
approach. We would let them speak
and phrase their concerns and ideas
as freely as possible by posing more
general questions such as “What
challenges do you face in your daily
work?”, or “How do you assess your
company’s potential for innovation?”.
In this way, we would gain more
insights out of the interviews with
all groups.
Interviews and persona
development
Armed with this approach, we took a
month to scour our personal business
network as well as the accessible
professional service design network
for suitable interview candidates.
What we learned from many

interviewees was that the biggest
challenge is reaching a point where
service design is widely accepted
as a valid consulting method.
This requires the willingness
of companies to embark on this
‘venture’, and this insight further
encouraged us about the relevance of
our approach.
After compiling the results and
insights of almost 20 interviews, we
started clustering to identify positive
and negative general key findings,
basic needs and wants regarding the
Chapter’s way of working, and the
first propositions regarding concrete
activities. Distilling all those initial
findings helped us to identify
seven overall needs the majority
of stakeholders seemed to have in
common; from “I’d like to learn more
about service design methods” or “I’d
like to be able to better communicate
service design concepts”, to “I’d like
to foster peer-to-peer exchange”.
Based on these findings, a persona for
each of the seven needs was created.
Needs map and ideation phase
After each persona had come to life,
we positioned them in a needs chart,
and moved on to the ideation phase
by defining concrete challenges.
Formulating and transforming them
into actual tasks was the next step to
be able to start the design process for
attractive services and formats.
Ideas and prototypes
Well-designed tasks are worth
nothing if they are not actionable.
So we translated the tasks into
concrete actions that would have the
potential to cater to our audiences’
needs based on the characteristics
we had identified. We’re currently
fully immersed in this iterative
ideation and conceptualisation
process. Our ideas include a “dating”
app for service designers, organised
lunches with fellow practitioners
from different areas, and presenting
service design methods and their
impacts in comic book form to
potential buyers of service design.
We are happy to share more details
of our process upon request. If you
are interested please contact us at
germany@service-design-network.org.
inside sdn
Illustration of our rebuilding process –
From specifying our stakeholder groups,
gaining insights by conducting interviews
and creating personas to identifying their
needs and translate them into concrete
Chapter offers and activities
Tobias Gerhardt is service manager and
start-up founder. With the combination of
an academic background and vast practical
experience in the field, he consults
companies to help optimise their service
offers, process management and user
experience.
Juliane Amlacher is a systemic consultant,
service designer and business coach
at FEUERKOPF. She guides political and
non-profit organisations through strategy,
change and innovation processes. She is
co-founder and representative of the SDN
German Chapter.
Thomas Weltner supports innovation and
change as a freelance service designer,
interviewer and impulse giver with
background from digital transformation,
branding, arts and mindfulness. He is a
co-founder and representative of the SDN
German Chapter.
Touchpoint 9-2 89
Service Design Within US:
The first SDN National
Conference in the U.S.
Over 200 participants gathered this summer for the first
national SDN conference held in the USA, hosted by the
Institute of Design in Chicago.
Attendees from over 80 organisations
poured in from all over the country,
eager to mingle, collaborate, and
learn at the 20+ talks and workshops
lead by 30+ presenters and
facilitators. It was a proud moment
for the conference organisers,
who consisted of leaders from the
Chicago, Washington D.C., and San
Francisco SDN Chapters. It was a
momentous occasion to gather in
person after months of planning
via late night conference calls. The
morning kick-off was a reunion
of sorts; Birgit Mager took to the
stage with opening remarks to
introduce Shelley Evenson for the
first keynote. Birgit and Shelley had
worked together ten years ago to
organise the Emergence Conference
at Carnegie Mellon, marking the first
service design event in America and
an important tipping point in the
history of the field.
Talks continued throughout
the day, addressing topics such as
‘Myth of Omnichannel’, ‘Designing
with Data’, and ‘Innovation in
Government’. Between talks,
90 Touchpoint 9-2
the hallways were buzzing with
passionate conversations amongst
practitioners, students and leaders.
They shared inspirations and swapped
stories of how they are scaling service
design within their organisations,
collaborating with others and
communicating the value it brings.
Some of the themes that emerged
at the conference were: service design
growing as an in-house capability
across all sectors, the innovation
agenda sparking a movement within
government institutions, and the
evolving intersections of service
design with adjacent disciplines.
Other highlights included four
interactive workshops with a service
safari and business model prototyping
session, as well as a service design
bazaar. There were also two galleries:
the Student Challenge exhibit and
posters of interviews carried out with
thought leaders.
In the post-conference
survey, attendees expressed an
overwhelmingly positive sentiment
about the programme line-up and
depth of topic discussions, with
© Sean Su Photography
comments such as “What I really like
about the conference is that we are
all peers so everyone is talking about
relevant issues and ideas,” and “this
was the best service design event I've
attended in a long time.” Everyone also
really enjoyed the smaller scale of the
conference and appreciated the ability
to meet with leaders and speak in an
intimate community setting, despite
the national scale. In conclusion, it is
safe to say that the bar has been set
pretty high for the next U.S. national
conference!
Aza Damood is a part of Booz Allen
Hamilton’s Strategic Innovation Group,
leading their Service Design and Customer
Experience capability. She has 15 years
of expertise using strategy, technology
and design to solve complex business
challenges. Aza is the co-founder of Service
Design DC and leads the SDN Washington
DC Chapter.
Thomas Brandenburg is an independent
consultant, and his service design toolkit
helps retailers and brands think through
their omni-channels strategies. In addition
he teaches undergraduates at the Illinois
Institute of Technology and is co-chair of
the SDN Chicago Chapter.

Reflecting on the First
SDN U.S. National
Conference’s Student
Competition
The first SDN U.S. National Conference featured a
student show and competition highlighting the wonderful
service design work happening in U.S. schools. Sixty
students from ten schools submitted 22 projects for
consideration. An independent panel of judges, which
included Jess Poole (Level Studios), Natalie Foley (Peer
Insight), Craig LaRosa (frog), and Tim Irvine (Fjord),
selected six projects to be showcased at the conference
and ultimately the three finalists featured below.
inside sdn
1st place: Steps to Citizenship
Valentina Branada, Alix Gerber, and
Chengcheng Teng; The New School:
Parsons School of Design
The NYC Mayor’s Office of
Immigrant Affairs challenged the
Transdisciplinary Design studio at
Parsons to imagine ways to connect
existing financial empowerment
services with the citizenship process.
The central element of the winning
team’s solution is the ‘Steps to
Citizenship Cards’, which advisors
introduce during one-on-one sessions
to help patrons navigate the path
to citizenship. The cards simplify
the application into concrete steps,
highlighting financial learning
opportunities along the way as a
motivation for people to connect with
financial advisors.
In the words of Jess Poole, “Steps
to citizenship balanced customer and
stakeholder needs with a deft hand.
The students tested the assumptions
of the city about the needs of people
in the process of attaining citizenship
through qualitative research and
pushed back when the assumptions
did not match the real needs of people.”
Citizenship applicants use the Steps to
Citizenship cards with legal and financial
advisors to plan specific steps forward,
incorporating financial skills into the
citizenship application process in a way that
works for each person's unique needs.
Touchpoint 9-2 91
2nd place: Fresh Lit
Daniel Quon, Marcie Chin, Phumelele
Mthimunye, and Rebecca Luoh;
California College of the Arts
In the United States, 54 percent of
children under the age of nine live in
multicultural households, yet only 11
percent of children's' books feature
characters of color. ‘Fresh Lit’ supports
the creation of high quality, culturally
inclusive children’s literature. Using
a sourcing and certification process,
Fresh Lit hand-selects and delivers
quarterly children’s book boxes that
reflect the lives of each family.
According to Natalie Foley,
“The Fresh Lit team anchored their
concept in a user need that was
tested and validated in multiple
rounds of research. In addition, they
designed a creative business model
that captures the value created.”
Based on the idea that children need books
that are both windows and mirrors to the
world, Fresh Lit exists to help children of
color have more books as mirrors in order
to cultivate confidence and empowerment.
Fresh Lit acts as a new kind of bookseller
that selects, delivers, and leverages families'
feedback of quarterly children's book boxes.
92 Touchpoint 9-2
3rd place: Reimagining Civic
Education
Katherine Fisher and Valentina
Branada; The New School: Parsons
School of Design
The current activity in the U.S.
political landscape reflects the need
for different members of society
to be heard. The team proposed
a way to reduce the youth civic
engagement gap in U.S. public schools
through a year-long programme for
students ages 14 to 20. The solution
is an environment where youth
may explore and discuss relevant
civic topics, investigate diverse
perspectives, and create media
artifacts that challenge the status
quo of ownership in narratives while
generating a shared sense of purpose.
Andrea Fineman is a service designer at
Adaptive Path, where she works on diverse
projects across all of Capital One's lines of
business. She also programs events ranging
The Reimagining Civic Education program
from speaker series to the 2017 SDN U.S.
uses frameworks and tools for public high Conference and the 2017 Adaptive Path
school students to reflect on their interest Service Experience Conference.
and passions in relation to civic themes, and
Ruben Ocampo is the founder of Conic,
explore new perspectives and forms of civic a Chicago-based innovation consulting
participation. firm. For more than 15 years he has applied
design methods to solve challenges facing
public and private organisations in the U.S.,
Australia, Europe and Latin America.
 r u b ri k

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