The 10 Basic Principles of Service Design
Service Design is one of the many perplexing design options that are out there for businesses to use in the market today.
Service Design focuses on reshaping services from a customer's perspective to create a better, more fulfilling experience.
As design, and in particular service design, can be rather confusing it can be useful to break it down to its most simple parts.
Below is a list of the basic principles of service design.
1.
The service is a product - often the service is what you are selling or at least part of it.
A marketable service needs to be supported like any good product, with good business strategies.
If you are going to sell a service you need to approach it with the safe level of investment, research and work you would approach a new product.
2.
Service doesn't start with a purchase - the way a customer feels about a service, their perceptions of quality, cost benefit, availability are formed long before the customer walks through the business door.
Companies are part of a larger environment; they need to understand their place and the place of their customers.
3.
Setting can be key - services need to be delivered in an atmosphere which is accessible and leaves customers feeling comfortable.
These settings need to be designed, shaped to suit each particular service and staff.
4.
What's in it for the customer? - many companies fail to approach services from a customer point of view.
Why would a customer purchase this service from your company? What might the customer be hoping to gain? What are their needs from the service? These are all important questions in service design.
5.
The customer is always right- the exploration of the customer's feelings towards the service are an important element of the design process.
The way the customer feels or their experience is not the desired outcome of the company the service may need to be redesigned.
6.
Service design is more about performance and less about drawing up design plans - the many techniques of service design are innovative and interactive, directly involving customers and staff as actors in the design process.
7.
Flexibility is important - services involve people and therefore cannot be standardized.
It cannot be known in advance how each customer will behave or staff members will interact.
Service design needs flexibility to allow for different outcomes.
8.
So is enthusiasm - the attitude of staff and the corporate environment can dramatically shape a service performance.
Enthusiasm for the service can impact a customers experience and improve their overall interaction.
If staff cannot be enthusiastic about the service they provide why would customers be? 9.
Open communication - communication should flow freely between customers, staff and the environment.
It is important to have free moving information from both sides to provide and shape services.
Service Design focuses on reshaping services from a customer's perspective to create a better, more fulfilling experience.
As design, and in particular service design, can be rather confusing it can be useful to break it down to its most simple parts.
Below is a list of the basic principles of service design.
1.
The service is a product - often the service is what you are selling or at least part of it.
A marketable service needs to be supported like any good product, with good business strategies.
If you are going to sell a service you need to approach it with the safe level of investment, research and work you would approach a new product.
2.
Service doesn't start with a purchase - the way a customer feels about a service, their perceptions of quality, cost benefit, availability are formed long before the customer walks through the business door.
Companies are part of a larger environment; they need to understand their place and the place of their customers.
3.
Setting can be key - services need to be delivered in an atmosphere which is accessible and leaves customers feeling comfortable.
These settings need to be designed, shaped to suit each particular service and staff.
4.
What's in it for the customer? - many companies fail to approach services from a customer point of view.
Why would a customer purchase this service from your company? What might the customer be hoping to gain? What are their needs from the service? These are all important questions in service design.
5.
The customer is always right- the exploration of the customer's feelings towards the service are an important element of the design process.
The way the customer feels or their experience is not the desired outcome of the company the service may need to be redesigned.
6.
Service design is more about performance and less about drawing up design plans - the many techniques of service design are innovative and interactive, directly involving customers and staff as actors in the design process.
7.
Flexibility is important - services involve people and therefore cannot be standardized.
It cannot be known in advance how each customer will behave or staff members will interact.
Service design needs flexibility to allow for different outcomes.
8.
So is enthusiasm - the attitude of staff and the corporate environment can dramatically shape a service performance.
Enthusiasm for the service can impact a customers experience and improve their overall interaction.
If staff cannot be enthusiastic about the service they provide why would customers be? 9.
Open communication - communication should flow freely between customers, staff and the environment.
It is important to have free moving information from both sides to provide and shape services.
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