Lab+9

Who is an employee at [|www.integratedplace.com], describe the tools and methods of ‘service design’. Ethnographers use Customer journey maps to illustrate how the customer views and experiences the service interface on a point by point basis to really break down a trip to its barebones service encounters. Service blueprints are also used to break down or “block up” a service experience to look at each of the critical elements in a quantitative way. This helps in answering the serious environmental, social and economic challenges to sustainability. Ideation, context mapping and participatory design are other tools and methods used to uncover users’ conscious and hidden needs. Service Prototyping such as storytelling, storyboards or real world experience simulations are used to reduce support costs, increase customer satisfaction as well as improving the perception of the brand to make it look more complete, competent and put together. From your personal experience, what would be a scenario in which these methods would be useful? From my personal experience, a scenario that these kind of methods would be useful is working with kids with mental disabilities. Some children have a whole spectrum of different difficulties that may need to be isolated and treated by themselves while still keeping the other issues in mind. In my time working with kids, I have worked with ADHD as well as severe autism and in both cases it was my responsibility to create a personal activity and goal oriented daily schedule where what might be a normal daily activity to another child is turned into more of a learning exercise or game, working towards the mentioned goals whether it be physiotherapy, speech therapy, play therapy, concentration exercises or learning how to button buttons. Figuring out how to design situations and games during the day that would accommodate these goals as well as keeping a 7 year old occupied requires a lot of service design that I didn’t even know was there until I learned about it in this class. Another specific example would be when I accompanied a family with one ADHD children and one autistic child to a theme park and I had to completely map out which rollercoasters and rides each child could go on (considering each child’s needs and boundaries) and where would be a good place for the parents to rest or get a snack as well as which areas to avoid because of being over crowded. This was very much like journey mapping or a service blueprint except it is aimed at understanding a trip for certain individuals not in a broader context like we’re talking about in class.

Notes:

service design- not just the customer to consider but the stakeholders such as business, branding, technology, operation, industry commentators. Making what you do more useful, usable, and desirable for your users and more efficient, and effective and valuable for you. Human-centered approach that focuses on customer experience and the quality of service encountered as the key value for success. Touch points- The spaces, objects, people or interactions that make the total experience of using a service. Tools&methods- ideation, context mapping and paticipatory design. Reveals users conscious and latent needs, experiences hopes and expecations. service prototyping- scenarios, storytelling, storyboards, real world experience simulation