Know the user
The service design tool shed includes several great methods of getting to know the user. These range from activities that lead you to think like the user to actually working with the user in the brainstorm and design process. When it comes to customer and business strategy, it is never a bad thing to know who you are serving. You will give better customer service. You’ll also sell better if you know who exactly you’re selling to and what their motivations are.Tackle the tricky problems
By focusing on problems and gaps in a service, policy, or procedure, you’ll identify some core problems that need to be addressed. Every problem your customer sees has a root in an internal problem. Common problems are those related to internal or external communication, follow-ups, or quality assurance protocols. Facing and fixing these internal problems will instantly translate to a better user experience with your service.Tap group creativity
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a village to provide a good service. So why would you have only one or two designers work on creating it? Go out and invite the village. Get the developers, the administration, the designers, the salespeople, the customers and brainstorm together how to be better. You’ll get more ideas and improve relationships internally. When everyone is on the same page and goals are aligned, your business strengthens.Get the big picture
Often we look at parts of a service as if they are separate entities. There are benefits to working this way, like intense detail and optimization. But one thing service design does is look at the service as a whole in order to find gaps and redundancies. Gaps cause problems with customer service and deliveries and redundancies cause extra work and frustration. Filling the gaps and cutting out the redundancies will save you time and money that would be otherwise wasted on an ineffective service. These four service design benefits are fairly unique to this methodology. That means that if you try creating or improving a service without a plan like this, you will not experience these benefits and you will end up with internal problems, uninspired solutions, gaps, and redundancies. And possibly the worst of all? You are more likely to end up with a service that doesn’t give the user what they want and need. Save your frustration and money and think service design from the beginning.4 Service Design Benefits
- Know the user better
- Solve difficult internal problems
- Be more creative with collaboration
- Eliminate gaps and redundancies
