Could you become a better service designer by just sharing more? According to the guest in this episode that's definitely the case! Daniele Catalanotto has been writing and sharing a lot about what he knows (and doesn't) related to service design. It might sound counter intuitive but Daniele argues that you first and foremost should share for your own benefit. If other people find the things you share helpful, that's great. If not then that definitely shouldn't make you share less. Now you might...
Jan 09, 2020•37 min
What if clients buying service design projects? Which is already happening if you look closely. It's not that the appetite for service design work is getting smaller. On the contrary. More and more clients see the need to do service design. Rather it's the fact that clients are building in-house service design teams and taking on the work themselves. This requires agencies to rethink how they are going to add value in the future. In this episode Emma Aiken-Klar, who is the SVP Human Insights at ...
Dec 30, 2019•38 min
When is a challenge really out of scope for a service designer? What's the point where it becomes obviously too far fetched? As designers we are overly optimistic. In general we don't shy away from new challenges. It doesn't really matter if we haven't worked on a similar challenge in the past as we'll just figure it out as we go along. This confidence in being able to solve any challenge often feels like a superpower. But it's also a major pitfall. Are we as service designers overly optimistic ...
Dec 19, 2019•38 min
There's a good bit of tension in most service design projects. Often caused by factors that aren't obvious when you start. Factors like the fact that designers bring a quite different approach, attitude and mindset to the table. Your typical "they just don't get it" (coming from both sides) is a pretty strong indicator that there's some tension in the room. In this episode Sarah Schulman shares how she and her team at InWithForward have found a way to embrace this tension. And actually use it to...
Dec 05, 2019•35 min
Co-creation is still an ad-hoc activity in most organisations rather than something which is deeply embedded into the operating system. How can we change that and take co-creation to the next level? In this episode you're going to get some inspiration from Swiss direct democracy. I bet you didn't see that one coming. Peter Horvath has studied how the Swiss have embedded co-creation into their democratic system. A system which has been operating for about 150 years now. Involvement of customers w...
Nov 28, 2019•43 min
Customers don't care about your internal departments. They only care about the experience they have with your service. So in order to deliver great services you need to organise around your customer. Not the other way around. But breaking down internal silos is easier said than done. Many have tried and failed. Big time. In this episode you'll learn from Emma Laurentz how customer insights can help to build those much needed internal bridges. Because when used in a smart way customer insights ar...
Nov 21, 2019•31 min
What is the best place for an internal service design team so that it can bring the most value to the organisation? A question which is becoming more and more important. Even if you're with an agency or freelancing. Because knowing where service design fits into the organisational structure allows you to help your clients more effectively. Judy Mellett leads an internal team at Telus. In this episode we talk about the benefits and the downsides of being close to the day to day operation. And whe...
Nov 14, 2019•47 min
In this episode you'll learn about some time and cost effective ways to do proper user research inspired by the world of copywriting. Successful conversion copywriter Joel Klettke takes you along his process to craft copy which deeply resonates with readers. As you'll hear that process evolves for a large part on conducting user research in order to understand the people you're going to write for. The similarities between how Joel does research and the way we do it as service designers is someti...
Oct 31, 2019•37 min
Are you saying that I have to stop practicing Human Centered Design? Well yeah that's basically the answer. According to Nik Parekh human centered design has brought a lot of positive change to the world but it's not sustainable. And to be honest Nik isn't the first one to make this argument. Former guests like Mauricio Manhaes and Anab Jain have also made a similar plea. We have to adopt a different design approach which is even more inclusive... Nik shares some inspiring examples how we can do...
Oct 17, 2019•36 min
Is all service design ** good ** service design? If we assume it isn't how do you recognise what's good and what's not? In this you'll learn about the importance of ethics in design. Because it's your moral compass that guides you forward when you have to make decisions which require certain trade offs. The guest in this episode James Samperi talks about how they are developing a manifesto to help them in this process. We also talk about craft within service design. A topic that we've addressed ...
Sep 26, 2019•40 min
What happens when you start using spaces as a distinct design material rather than a just designing a space? That's exactly the question Scott Witthoft is has been exploring for the last decade. Scott wrote the book Make Space along with Scott Doorley back in 2012 to provide a starting guide on how we can take control of the spaces around us and shape them in a way they support our needs. We talk about what has happend since the book was published and what Scott has learned years that have gone ...
Sep 05, 2019•44 min
Wouldn't it be great if we could get the design approach into the hands of many more people and empower them to improve their life? Keneilwe Munyai is on an inspiring mission to get design out of the corporate lab environment and make it accessible to people in rural areas of Africa. In this episode we talk about the barriers that we've put in place that make design less inclusive at this moment. And of course what we can do to break down these barriers. Because we can't afford to restricted des...
Aug 22, 2019•35 min
Once you start working as a service designer you'll quickly realise that climbing up the corporate ladder isn't the typical career path. Usually there is no "up the ladder" for service designers... So how do you make sure you don't get stuck in your career after a few years. The guest in this episode, Angela Yeh, has 20 years of experience helping designers to navigate their career. She works in the super interesting chasm between employers and design talent. In this episode Angela shares why a ...
Jul 25, 2019•33 min
How come we as customers rarely feel truly served even when we're surrounded by services? What has caused the disconnect between services and actually serving people. And more importantly how can we reverse this? That's what you'll in this episode with Joel Bailey. Joel is a true service design pioneer who can be credited for starting the notorious service design drinks and thinks events in the early days. We explore how the quest for efficiency has create a big gap in most organisations between...
Jul 11, 2019•42 min
In this episode Patrick Bach shares his learnings about what it takes to successfully build and lead a service design that is able to create sustainable value within a large corporate. We talk about the need to expand our existing service design toolkit with new tools and methods. This might mean that we need to tap into areas like behavioural economics and lean six sigma. Collaborating much more with people who wouldn't necessarily call themselves service designers. Next we addresses the questi...
Jun 27, 2019•41 min
What can service designers learn from how different industries, different markets and even different countries respond to the value of our field? Because as you know not everyone perceives the need for service design in the same way we do. In this episode Slavo Tuleya shares his experience from setting up an innovation lab focussed on mobility services in China. Slavo has a nice comparison as he previously setup a similar lab in Europe. It might not come as a big surprise that the perception of ...
Jun 13, 2019•32 min
Service Design can be a great driver of value. Not just for businesses but for a whole nation. Knowing this one might wonder how you can accelerate the pace at which service design spreads and is adopted by a community. As the CEO of the Danish Design Centre Christian Bason thinks about this every day. Spreading service design requires growing both the demand side and the supply side. More organisations need to be interested in applying service design to solve their challenge and there need to b...
May 30, 2019•34 min
Human Centered Design is getting a lot of attention these days. But what are we giving up if we put the human at the center? What are the limits of our current practice? In this episode Anab Jain shares her perspective on why we need to look beyond human centered design. Or at least augment it with more holistic view. Next we challenge the notion of the designer as problem solver. Are we really solving problems or are we creating more and maybe even more complex challenges? Anab advocates that w...
May 16, 2019•28 min
Is Service Design a true distinctive design discipline? According to Lara Penin it certainly is. It's certainly a topic that evokes a lot of debate in our community. The transdisciplinary nature of service design often makes it hard to point out the craft in our work. Also the fact that we don't have a tangible design material doesn't make things any easier. But in this episode we explore what makes service design a distinctive design discipline. Lara also explains why service design is actually...
May 02, 2019•38 min
What does it mean to work as a Service Designer in a team that heavily relies on #RemoteCollaboration to get their job done? Can you still successfully operate as a Service Design when you don't have the ability to physically interact with your team mates, stakeholders and customers? Jacquelyn Brioux is exactly in this spot in her role at Shopify. She shares her learnings and gives some tips on practical tools that help to make this work. We also dive into the topic of #EmotionalIntelligence and...
Apr 18, 2019•44 min
How do you turn a customer centric vision into reality? This is exactly what Priscila Willams is tasked to do within large banks and in this episode she shares her most valuable learnings. How important is support from top level management? Do you need to make a business case upfront? Who are the people you should have conversations with in order to operationalize your ideas? These are just some of the challenges that Priscila has had to deal with. Every organisation is different and requires it...
Apr 04, 2019•34 min
If you're a human being you are a storyteller. Stories are the human operating system. In this episode you'll learn that stories are not just useful for transferring knowledge or communicating results. They can also be used as a tool to explore, understand and co-create. Mary Alice Arthur proudly calls herself a story activist. She's on a mission to help people and organisations find the stories that make them flourish. It's hard to deny that stories and storytelling are getting a lot of attenti...
Mar 21, 2019•36 min
Often there is a big gap between what clients want and what they truly need to solve their challenge or achieve their goal. As a service designer you'll need to use all your diplomatic skills to open clients up for a fresh perspective. This is a crucial step if you want to make impact. We know about Service Design Thinking, Service Design Doing and in this episode Greg Lakloufi talks about Service Design Understanding. The rise of toolkits and the availability off the shelf methods makes service...
Mar 07, 2019•39 min
While law might not be the most sexy thing for designers to think about they are an essential part for delivering great services. You might not realize it but almost every aspect in our daily live has a some legal aspect to it. And the legal side of things is now primarily handled by people graduating for law school rather than by designers. But there's no rule in the law stating that rules and regulations should be boring and not user centered. Having both a background in law and design Angelic...
Feb 21, 2019•35 min
What is the secret to designing and delivering great public services? In this episode Chelsea Mauldin shares her experience from running one of the leading service design agencies in the United States that focuses on the public sector: Public Policy Lab. We talk about the challenges associated with scaling and implementation of services in a public context. And why you should never engage in a project that lacks people who will eventually be able to execute on the generated ideas. Chelsea also s...
Feb 07, 2019•33 min
What happens when stories are used just to gain a financial profit? According to best selling author Annette Simmons the impact is profound on our society. In this episode we talk about the role stories play in passing on morals and building emotional connections in our society. Further Annette elaborates om the two ways of knowing what is true. The object and the subjective kind. And especially the latter is interesting from a service design perspective. As you'll learn our clients don't want p...
Jan 24, 2019•35 min
In this special episode we look back on some of the highlights of 2018 and talk the plans for this year. Last year we had some of the smartest and inspiring minds on the Show. This wouldn't have been possible without your support. So thank you for that! One of the things that we started last year and definitely will continue this year is sharing shorter episode in which I try to answer some of the big questions within Service Design. If you haven't seen these videos yet make sure to take a look ...
Jan 10, 2019•11 min
Do you take the time to really reflect on your work and consciously think if the things you're doing are impactful? I guess we all recognise this to a certain degree: When you're caught up with the day to day operational stuff you rarely of (or rather take) the time to think critically about what you're doing. And we all know where that sometimes leads to... So in this episode Fumiko Ichikawa talks about ways to find more balance between thinking and doing as a design practitioner. We also look ...
Dec 27, 2018•32 min
In this episode Selene Castilla give us an update on the current state of Service Design in Latin America. And we also discuss what's needed to take it to really the next level. The second topic we address is a big one: measuring the impact of Service Design. Selene has a really interesting perspective on how to approach this. It's not so much about trying to measure everything but rather measuring just a few things and do that frequently. Finally we continue the converstation that we also had i...
Dec 13, 2018•33 min
DesignOps. This is a big topic these days. It basically boils down to the question how can you support design teams to be more impactful? What types of structures and processes can we put in place for that? In this episode Bernardo Torres shares his findings around this topic. The topic of DesignOps strongly ties in to the topic of leadership. In order to build and scale highly impactful design teams we need to redesign leadership as well. Leadership can't operate anymore in the models that orig...
Nov 29, 2018•35 min
