SDN Team
Author - SDN Team

We asked leading practitioners giving talks and workshops at the Service Design Global Conference to answer the 3 key questions. Today we asked Jonas Piet, a service designer at InWithForward, to give us his take.

 1) Can you explain what service design is? And how your company implements it / uses that field?

In our work with non-profit and public sector we use the theater metaphor. We say service design is creating and testing all elements that make up the performance. That includes what you see and hear on-stage: the setting, actors, script and props. It also includes what happens back-stage: rehearsals, a booking system, technicians, etc.The equivalents in our world are not far off:  service settings, roles, scripts and touchpoints, as well as back-end processes, systems and back-office roles.

2) What do you believe is the greatest opportunity for your company using service design?

We build-up social sector organizations' capacity to deliver change. Service design allows us to develop, test and demonstrate what new practice actually looks like. It's a real opportunity to help organizations shift from a risk and safety culture, to continuous learning and development. 

3) Can you share three tips for implementing service design in their own practice? 

•  Whatever you do, don't see it as a one-off. It's way better to sustain something small than to stop something big.

•  Link service design with delivery. If possible, do the design on a site where you can be on top of all your users - managers, front-line staff and end-users.

•  Test everything before you feel comfortable. The vast majority of projects rests comfortably in the service design graveyard. 

Jonas Piet is partner and lead Service Designer at InWithForward. He worked across the public, private, and social sectors in Europe and North America. He’s designed services with homeless young people in The Netherlands; with older socially isolated people in London at social enterprise Participle; and with civil servants at Engine Service Design. 

Read Jonas Piet 's full biography here.

And find out more about his SDGC16 talk " Shifting practice and policy through learning platform Kudoz"  here.

 

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