BunnyfootBunnyfootBunnyfootBunnyfoot
  • Our services
  • About us
  • UX training
  • Our clients
  • Blog
  • Contact us
    Home Brain Bites: 2 Minute Insights Service design and User Experience design: a complex partnership

    Service design and User Experience design: a complex partnership

    By James Eyke | Brain Bites: 2 Minute Insights | 0 comment | 14 March, 2014 | 0

    The idea behind service design (SD) is to make ‘services’ easier, quicker and more delightful to engage with. Sound familiar? It’s not too dissimilar from user experience (UX) with its goal to improve effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and more recently, desirability.

    The major difference between SD and UX is neither the overarching aim of the work nor is it the tools, techniques and methodologies used. What sets them apart is the scope, both internal (within a company or organisation) and external (dealing with those outside company or organisation).
    UX has traditionally centred around digital interactive touch points, like websites or mobile applications. However, when using a SD point of view, people start thinking about and looking beyond the digital, to other touch points, such as the shop layout, the information poster, or the brand.

    How Service Design and User Experience overlap

    While the scope of SD and UX can differ, they both aim to create and deliver something people can, and want to, use. Whether these people are internal or external, called customers or users, it doesn’t matter. We still need ways to find out what these people need and how best to serve them.
    To this end a number of the methods and tools used within UX are also used within SD, albeit sometimes with slightly different names. These include:

    • Customer journey maps
    • Personas
    • Storyboards
    • Ideation workshops
    • Prototyping
    • User research

    By using these methods and tools, we can discover where problems exist and ascertain if anything is missing. From here we can develop the best solutions that will not only allow easier engagement, but also provide more desirable engagement for existing and future users.

    User Experience and Service Design: universal challenges

    There are a range of prevailing challenges and problems that affect both UX and SD. One of the most important of these is problem definition.
    All too often, neither enough time or effort is given to trying to find out exactly what it is that needs to be solved.
    Albert Einstein put it best when he said:

    “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

    By not correctly defining the problem, no matter how well the rest of the project goes you won’t be able to deliver the best solution.

    Other challenges and problems that affect both fields include:

    • Managing client expectations
    • Working with prototypes that:
      • The user doesn’t take as a finished product
      • The client doesn’t take as a finished product
    • Removing moderator bias for user research

    All of these challenges and more exist in both fields, yet you rarely find situations where we are working together to solve them.

    The future for Service Design and User Experience

    I have shown so far there is a strong overlap between the skills and knowledge that can be found within UX and SD, so it could be argued that the UX field is a part of the SD area, however this is currently not true. Instead there is a definite disconnect between the two fields and a lot of this can be lead back to how we communicate.
    As SD is such a multidisciplinary field there are naturally areas that cannot be covered by traditional UX (and nor should it). Similarly in some cases, a digital design needs to be addressed separately by UX professionals in order to preserve the usability of the application, website or digital journey.
    However rather than having both as separate entities we should be looking at how SD and UX can better complement and learn from each other. Even if the tasks within a project are being completed at different times, we should be exploring both areas within the project. And while project limitations or scope means we can’t explore this other area fully, we need to know it is there.
    Overall it’s not just a case of better recognising each other’s work, but also working together, pooling our knowledge and experiences. This will lead to greater understanding and consistency in terminology for the various tools and methodologies.
    Ultimately this will help us create better ideas and give people the best ‘service’ they are looking for.

    Want to learn more?

    • Training Course: Service Design
    Customer Experience, Service Design, UX

    James Eyke

    More posts by James Eyke

    Related Posts

    • ‘AR’-commerce – a novel and functional shopping experience

      Jan 26, 2021

      In my previous post I wrote about how augmented reality (AR) is changing our daily activities like watching sports, studying or navigating around. This post is an overview of AR-powered e-commerce trends. AR applications in e-commerce have been around for... Read more

    • AR isn’t mainstream… or is it?

      Jan 7, 2021

      For many years augmented reality (AR) has been portrayed as the next big thing. Apple CEO Tim Cook has voiced his excitement about AR technology on numerous occasions. In 2017 Apple developed their AR developer framework ARKit, opening the door... Read more

    • It’s time to act – reducing the carbon in your digital footprint

      Sep 28, 2020

      Change is upon us There is no denying that we face an environmental crisis. The scientific community has made it clear that human activities are warming the planet and degrading our environment to the point where, if no action is... Read more

    • What is the best Service Design tool?

      Sep 16, 2020

      Design Thinking and/or Service Design tools and methods are all high on the agenda for many companies, especially in this time of uncertainty we live in when we have to re-think many of our services and how our customers/users interact... Read more

    Leave a Comment

    Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published.

    NextPrevious

    Recent Posts

    • ‘AR’-commerce – a novel and functional shopping experience January 26, 2021
    • Webinar: UX & Sustainable Service Design January 12, 2021
    • AR isn’t mainstream… or is it? January 7, 2021
    • What makes an effective UX Consultant? Bunnyfoot speaks to UX Usability Podcast December 11, 2020
    • What’s in a name? User Experience and UX Design vs. Design Thinking November 24, 2020

    Categories

    • Brain Bites: 2 Minute Insights
    • Brain Feasts: Longer Reads
    • Brain Licks: 10 Second Wisdom
    • Bunnyfoot Updates
    • Content: White Papers, Research Reports and More
    • Events
    • News and Announcements
    • Talks and Presentations
    • Tools and Resources
    • Uncategorised

    LONDON

    4th Floor
    54 St John’s Square
    Farringdon
    London
    EC1V 4JL

    Tel: 0207 608 1670

    SHEFFIELD

    The Old Chapel
    8 Mortimer Street
    Sheffield
    South Yorkshire
    S1 4SF

    Tel: 0114 478 2950

    OXFORD

    Boston House
    134 Downsview Rd
    Wantage
    Oxfordshire
    OX12 9FF

    Tel: 01235 606 140

    Cyber Essentials (PLUS) Logo
    • Copyright Statement
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Training Course Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Jobs
    © Bunnyfoot Ltd 2020 | Bunnyfoot is part of the Sideshow Group
    • Our services
    • About us
    • UX training
    • Our clients
    • Blog
    • Contact us
    Bunnyfoot
    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Privacy PolicyREJECTACCEPT
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.