Quests for gold • 1
Inspired by an article in Harvard Business Review about the underlying quests for corporate transformation (Anand & Barsoux, 2017), I have identified six categories of service design projects. While this quest-based classification is hardly MECE, it is interesting to see how different the categories are in terms of purpose, methodologies, approach, project sponsors, and desired outcomes. This is a far cry from the one-size-fits-all approach most toolkits in innovation management, product development, design thinking, and service design seem to promote.
The six project categories are:
Service Design for Disruption & Growth
Service Design for Customer Excellence
Service Design for Employee Engagement
Service Design for Operational Excellence
Service Design for Ethical Circularity
Service Design for Organisational Change
In the descriptions below, I am presuming that many (if not most) service design projects would benefit from an insights-driven, solution-agnostic approach. (See blogpost Lean & mean innovation machine • 2 for a deep dive into the differences between upstream and downstream work.)
1. Service Design for Disruption & Growth
Purpose: Crafting purpose-driven, people-centric scenarios, strategies, and concepts to help organisational leaders place strategic bets on the future and invest in transformational endeavours with confidence. In this context, strategic bets are ‘big ideas’ to (a) reinvent the core business(es), (b) create adjacent, ‘close-to-the-core-business’ businesses, and/or (c) envision ‘new-to-the-core-business’ businesses. (See blogposts Get the balance right! • 1 and Get the balance right! • 5.)
Common themes: Weak signals. Speculation and provocation. Alternative futures. White spaces and opportunity areas. Backcasting. ‘Big ideas’ to shape the future. MAYA. New sources of value. Purpose-driven, people-centric North Stars. Strategic bets. Innovation uncertainty/risk. Etc.
Preferred methodologies/toolkits: Strategic foresight and futuring (environmental scanning, trend analysis, speculative thinking, scenario planning, etc.). Design fiction and design provocation. Blue Ocean Strategy. Business model innovation. Strategic thinking. Design thinking. Product & service design. Innovation portfolio management. Etc.
Exploring the problem space: Understanding industry and market dynamics. Understanding organisational strategies, operating models, cultures, and change needs. Analysing current solution portfolio (products/services/experiences). Exploring alternative futures and defining plausible scenarios. Crafting tentative North Star. Determining innovation ambition levels. Visualising and analysing current innovation portfolio/pipeline. Identifying white spaces and opportunity areas for innovation. Designing provocations to challenge assumptions, provoke reactions, and stimulate discussions. Framing or reframing challenges/problems. Etc.
Exploring the solution space: Crafting and prototyping ‘big ideas’ for the future (imagine alternative business models, strategies, value props, production & delivery systems, etc., to either reinvent the core business or create new businesses). Continuously testing tentative solutions through storytelling, rapid prototyping, experimentation, and piloting. Continuously adapting, downselecting, and prioritising tentative solutions. Defining stakeholder and business impact. Crafting compelling stories and value cases for change. Identifying roadblocks, creating roadmaps, defining requirements, and mobilising resources for implementation and sustained success. Etc.
Project sponsors: Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Brand Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, CEO, or equivalent
Desired outcomes: ↓ innovation risk, ↑ clarity/focus, ↑ engagement, ↑ organisational learning, ↑ business growth (new sources of value)
2. Service Design for Customer Excellence
Purpose: Crafting approaches, strategies, services, processes, and tools to make end-to-end customer experiences feel reliable, convenient, immersive, enjoyable, and meaningful. This includes finding smart solutions for value creation as well as value facilitation (see blogpost Get the balance right! • 2).
Common themes: Core product and supplementary services. Production & delivery processes. Three experience phases (pre-delivery, point-of-delivery, post-delivery – or pre-purchase, service encounter, post-encounter) with moments that matter and prioritised touchpoints. Customer segments, mindsets, archetypes, and/or personas. Customer outcomes/goals/jobs. Customer activities, customer–provider interactions, and customer–employee interactions. High-touch and low-touch engagement models. Frontline employees and backstage teams. Service roles and scripts. Line of visibility (between onstage and backstage components). Value creation, value facilitation, and value co-creation. Unmet, underserved, or overserved needs. Pain/friction points. Service quality gaps. Experience mapping. Service recovery system. Etc.
Preferred methodologies/toolkits: Design research. Services marketing/management. Service quality (SERVQUAL or Service Gap Model). Customer experience management. Journey management. Outcome-driven innovation (jobs-to-be-done theory). Design thinking. Service and UX design. Ecosystem and experience mapping (value exchange maps, value stream maps, journey maps, service blueprints, flowcharts, etc.).
Exploring the problem space: Defining customer mindsets/archetypes/personas. Understanding customer drivers, needs, goals, behaviours, and blockers in existing experiences. Crafting mental models to highlight moments that matter, pivotal touchpoints/interactions, common pain points, and unmet customer and employee needs. Uncovering deep insights across multiple research methods and sources. Crafting tentative North Star CX, determining ambition levels, and identifying opportunity spaces for improvement. Framing or reframing challenges/problems. Brainstorming initial ideas and hypotheses. Etc.
Exploring the solution space: Finding smart solutions for value creation (empowering customers to get the job done better than today) and value facilitation (empowering frontline staff and back-of-house teams to serve and support customers better than today). Creating smart solutions for effective service recovery (principles, policies, programs, procedures, etc.). Continuously testing tentative solutions through storytelling, rapid prototyping, experimentation, and piloting. Continuously adapting, downselecting, and prioritising tentative solutions. Crafting ideal, future-state end-to-end experiences (onstage and backstage) for prioritised customer segments or mindsets. Defining stakeholder and business impact. Crafting compelling stories and value cases for change. Identifying roadblocks, creating roadmaps, defining requirements, and mobilising resources for implementation and sustained success. Etc.
Project sponsors: CXO, Chief Customer Officer, Chief Brand Officer, or equivalent
Desired outcomes: ↑ service quality, ↑ brand engagement, ↑ brand loyalty, ↑ customer satisfaction, ↑ NPS, ↑ customer lifetime value
Note: Desired outcomes could also cover effectiveness and efficiency indicators to measure performance in moments that matter (e.g., emotions evoked, customer response time)
3. Service Design for Employee Engagement
Purpose: Crafting purpose-driven operating models, policies, services, workflows, tools, and rituals to help leaders, employees, and teams grow, perform, and thrive in the workplace. (See blogpost Let’s accomplish amazing things together for a taster.)
Common themes: Talent and performance management. X-capability collaboration. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. Employee engagement and empowerment. Health, wellbeing, and safety. Learning & development. Hybrid work. Customer centricity and intelligence. Purpose-driven organisations and brands to provide meaning, focus, and direction. Continuous learning and improvement. ESG and CSR. Creativity and innovation. Organisational and employee adaptability and resilience. Emotional intelligence at work. Operating models, work structures, culture(s), and leadership for the future. Agile organisations, functions, and work structures (e.g., holacracies).
Preferred methodologies/toolkits: Strategic thinking. Business agility. Operating models. Organisational culture(s). Employee experience. Design research. Design thinking. Service design. Behavioural design. Process/workflow design. DEI design. Workplace design. Etc.
Exploring the problem space: Understanding organisational & HR strategies, operating models, cultures, and change needs. Defining moments that matter in end-to-end career journeys and employee experiences (from Bonjour to Au Revoir). Uncovering unmet, underserved, or overserved employee needs in these moments. Uncovering deep insights across multiple research methods and sources. Identifying opportunity spaces for improvement. Framing or reframing challenges/problems. Brainstorming initial ideas and hypotheses. Etc.
Exploring the solution space: Generating compelling ideas and crafting holistic concepts (ideally in a series of co-creation sessions with employees, leaders, and HR professionals). Setting strategic directions and creating strategic platforms. Continuously testing ideas, concepts, and strategies for desirability, feasibility, viability, etc. (through rapid prototyping, experimentation, and piloting). Continuously adapting, downselecting, and prioritising tentative solutions. Defining stakeholder and business impact. Crafting compelling stories and value cases for change. Identifying roadblocks, defining requirements, and mobilising resources for implementation and sustained success. Etc.
Project sponsors: CHRO, SVP People & Culture, SVP Employee Experience, or equivalent
Desired outcomes: ↑ organisational agility, ↓ organisational waste, ↑ employee engagement, ↑ employee satisfaction, ↑ employee loyalty, ↑ employee retention
Note: Desired outcomes could also cover effectiveness and efficiency indicators to measure performance in moments that matter (e.g., emotions evoked, goal fulfilment)
The other three categories will be covered in the next blogpost.
References
Anand, N. & Barsoux, J-L. (Nov–Dec 2017). What everyone gets wrong about change management. Poor execution is only part of the problem. Harvard Business Review.
