In this interview, Touchpoint Editor-in-Chief Jesse Grimes interviews Dr Tina Weisser, who - as a Guest Editor of this issue, and a trainer with the Service Design Network Academy - has been sharing her expertise with successful service design implementation with the community for the past several years.

On 8 January 2024, after more than six years of meticulous planning, development and testing, Astrobotic Technology launched their Peregrine lunar lander into space, with the aim of being the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since 1972. Seven hours after launch, a propellant leak was discovered, and the difficult decision was made to abandon the mission and allow Peregrine to burn up upon re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. One week ago, a follow-up mission from Intuitive Machines did succeed in landing Odysseus on the moon’s surface. But in what was later attributed to both cutting corners and forgetting to unlock a laser’s physical safety switch, Odysseus touched down on its side, hampering its solar panels and communications, and causing the mission to be aborted.

As service designers, we're constantly juggling; balancing the needs of end users with business objectives, while keeping an eye on equity and sustainability. When ‘fixing’ a mature service, we diagnose and address factors that have been previously overlooked. But when creating new services, or playing a larger, embedded role in implementation, how can we decide what to tackle first?

Too frequently, consideration of service implementation is left until the end of the design process. As a result, energy and support for bringing the service to life often dwindles, and a potentially great service is shelved. The organisation is left with intent only, which alone cannot produce significant outcomes.

As service designers, we might like to think that service design alone is the answer to delivering great services. But the truth is, we cannot be effective without collaborating, challenging and even compromising with many others we work with.

Enhancing adoption and meaningful connections with service offerings are critical metrics for service designers and businesses. To achieve this, we meticulously shape user experiences, testing for desirability and usability. Nonetheless, adoption of a service offering beyond its appeal to early adopters is often elusive. To overcome this, we need to reshape habits in a desirable, achievable manner. We realised this at Philips Sonicare, when faced with the challenge of designing a service that empowers our audience to keep up with tooth brushing habits consistently.

The airport environment is a complex and interconnected ecosystem with many stakeholders, both local and global. Schiphol Amsterdam Airport’s Innovation Hub aims to change aviation’s status quo. Our way-of-working is built upon Design Thinking. In this article, we introduce two project cases that have successfully gone from vision and ideation through to implementation: ‘Timeslots for Security’ and ‘Cobro’.

In the evolving landscape of service design, with more organisations embracing it to address increasingly complex problems, understanding a service's position within a larger ecosystem becomes crucial. Consequently, we must ensure our service measurement approach encompasses the entire ecosystem and does not solely focus on creating value for customers.

How can service design create value from initial conception through to the scaling of a service? We use the example of a newly developed tax-filing service to outline how service design creates value during different stages of the product lifecycle. By navigating through the initial design challenges, implementation hurdles and the critical phase of scaling, we uncover the dynamic nature of value creation and service design’s impact on both users and businesses.

A ‘Multi-layer Service Aggregation Model’ was developed for the Liyang region in China by applying service design to construct visions and policies in a practical and innovative way. The system not only enhances the tourist experience, but also aligns with the city's cultural and economic goals, demonstrating the utility of a structured approach towards service design.

From CEOs to individual contributors to consultants, we all share a common desire: to ensure that our investments of time, energy and resources yield meaningful outcomes. We aim to make a positive impact on our organisations and the people they serve. In short, we all want to create value.

Service design initiatives face challenges in digital product development as they navigate cross-functional teams and rigid processes. Drawing inspiration from programme management techniques used in the successful 2012 London Summer Olympics, the article below will showcase tools and methods which offer potential solutions to a service designer’s operational challenges.

A transformative shift is underway in the field of service design – one that goes far beyond the traditional boundaries of user-centred approaches. The introduced approach of ‘conscious’ service design prioritises societal and environmental impacts, challenging assumptions and amplifying marginalised voices to proactively shape a more sustainable future.

The film Everything Everywhere All at Once was 2022’s runaway hit, winning praise for blending characters, genres and timelines. To some, it made perfect sense – to others, it was chaos. I saw in it a parallel to the environment in which in-house customer experience (CX) teams operate, especially in large organisations with millions of customers and thousands of employees. With multiple user segments, business goals, time horizons and journeys – it’s everything, everywhere, all at once!

TP14-3 Resolving Implementation Conflicts in Service Design: The Evaporating Cloud Tool

Service research methodologies must address holistic experiences for on-going practical value. This article details a case study on a novel walkthrough method for a Taiwanese home retailer. Aiming to enhance services for younger generations, the project goes beyond basic needs, focusing on a holistic shopping experience aligned with brand values.

Shaping future management practices through collaborative scenario experimentation

Service design implementation is an area of growing interest for both practitioners and organisations. By fostering a service design mindset, organisations can not only transform external outcomes but also internal culture.

Addressing the persistent challenges implementing service design projects, this article focuses on how service design projects can transition from the drawing board towards implementation. Gathering insights from a workshop at ServDes 2023, it delves into key themes including prioritisation, engagement and the collaboration between service designers and other stakeholders, offering pathways to bridge this divide.