How do Service Design practitioners use AI in their daily work?

In this short article we’ll share with you some highlights from the webinar that took place on Wednesday 22 February 2023, co-organized by the Swiss Service Design Network Chapter and the Swiss Innovation Academy.

Summary

The webinar focused on AI and Service Design and was divided into three phases:

  1. a brief introduction,
  2. group discussions,
  3. and a pitch round.

During the webinar, participants talked about how AI can be used in service design work. Some of the use cases discussed included using AI for preliminary research, generating ideas quickly, categorizing cards, drafting service blueprints, and creating personas and prototypes. Participants also shared real-world examples of AI being used in service design work in Switzerland, such as the experience of Swiss Agency comparing AI-generated personas with personas created by humans.


The webinar also touched on important questions about the future of AI in Service Design work, such as how to ensure that AI tools remain ethical and customer-centric. Despite the potential benefits of AI tools, participants emphasized that expert input and guidance are still necessary to improve the quality of work generated by these tools.


Overall, the webinar provided valuable insights into the potential of AI tools in Service Design work and sparked important conversations about the future of this field.


We'd like to thank all the participants for sharing their experiences during the webinar!


Below you’ll find the Whiteboard used during the workshop and notes from the webinar.

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Webinar Miro board

Open the Miro board

Access a cleaned-up version of the Miro board used during the webinar

Real world examples of Service Design work with AI

These are practical and documented examples that have been shared during the webinar

Use Cases for AI-assisted Service Design Work


Research

  • Conduct preliminary research with AI
  • Conduct competitive analysis with AI, for example, show all checkout pages...
  • Use chatGPT to write a research plan
  • Perform a SWOT analysis with the help of AI
  • Use AI to identify connections between qualitative and quantitative data
  • Mix quantitative and qualitative data with the help of AI
  • Ask AI to create strategic foresight scenarios to get the first good ideas out


Ideation

  • Generate ideas quickly with AI-assisted fast idea generator.
  • Utilize AI to accelerate the first 10 minutes of a workshop activity by providing initial ideas.


Design

  • Sort and categorize cards using AI to streamline the design process.
  • Generate presentation imagery with the help of AI to speed up the creation process.
  • Draft a service blueprint with the assistance of AI to save time and effort.
  • Create a storyboard using text and visuals using different AI tools to accelerate the process.
  • Create a moodboard mid-journey with the help of AI to guide the design process.


Prototype

  • Creating personas with AI that have tested quality in comparison to manual work
  • Create first drafts for all components of the design process
  • Draft personas quickly and efficiently using AI
  • Generate an initial user flow with AI assistance
  • Use AI to quickly generate product screens and prototypes based on user flow and design system
  • Utilize coding solutions to assist in the prototyping phase
  • Develop thought prototypes with the help of AI


Other

  • Help write a text to explain the value of Service design

These are some of the use cases for AI in service design work that were mentioned by the webinar participants in the three different discussion groups.

The webinar host

The webinar was hosted by volunteers working in the Service Design field.

Lincoln Neiger
Lincoln Neiger - Facilitator

Senior Service Designer at Interwell Health

Daniele Catalanotto
Daniele Catalanotto - Swiss SDN representative

Founder of the Swiss Innovation Academy

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