The lovely thing about designing for service is the intangibility. You can prototype it in conversations. You can act it out. No tin required - the virtual is so much more pliable. Then again, the maddening thing about designing for service is the intangibility. People have trouble getting their heads round it. How will service … Continue reading The Lost Robot Manoeuvre
Our economy will not grow bigger in scale, but we will see it become more specific, more diverse, more adapted to individual needs and desires. The economy that served us well is giving way to what I call the informative economy. According to my dictionary, “to inform” means to “imbue or inspire with some specific … Continue reading It can be these, but…
For the third time in the past few months I'm assailed by a survey so shockingly poor that I wonder why the service provider in question has bothered at all. First it was East Coast trains with a lengthy paper questionnaire about my journey, conducted entirely in mind-boggling forced-choice price/quality trade-offs. Then came a letter … Continue reading Which part of “the customer is always a co-producer” don’t these people understand?
... what the designers and engineers see as “pain points” aren’t necessarily that painful for people. The term satisficing, coined by Herbert Simon in 1956 (combining satisfy and suffice), refers to people’s tolerance — if not overall embracing — of “good enough” solutions... Frankly, I discover satisficing in every research project: the unfiled MP3s sitting … Continue reading In praise of the good enough
We're fortunate to have three great presenters for the next Service Design Thinks Leeds on Tuesday 25 October. (It's our seventh event, but we're calling it SD Thinks Leeds | 04.) In part 1, we'll have perspectives on service design in health from Jane Wood and Daniela Sangiorgi. In part 2, Rory Hamilton will show … Continue reading Let’s talk service design in Leeds. And one more thing
Kelly Goto stands on the stage at Brighton's Dome, head down, staring at her palm, a perfect mimic of the modern smartphone user, and issues a simple challenge to the dConstruct audience: "Help people to stay upright." This is the pivotal moment at which digital design finds itself. After decades training people to gaze into … Continue reading At dConstruct, the real world is calling. It wants its designers back
Thanks to @MrAlanCooper for highlighting Rahul Sen's beautifully-written piece on the relevance of the Bauhaus movement to modern-day interaction design. The world would be a better place if more designers could cultivate such a deep appreciation of the history. I tried to comment on the Johnny Holland blog but was foiled by the pernicious Recaptcha, … Continue reading Mobile experience in use and ornament
We have three great presenters for the next Service Design Thinks Leeds on Tuesday 1 February 2011. Simon East, of Drivegain, on "Designing a new eco-driving service" Jean Mutton, Student Experience Project Manager, University of Derby, on "Designing the Enrolment experience" Lauren Currie, Snook, Glasgow, (by Skype link) on "How Snook do Service Design in … Continue reading New year, new thinks
OK, so I have to get this stuff down by midnight before my head turns into a pumpkin. dConstruct was a day well-spent, listening, tweeting, scribbling and discussing design and creativity - with nine of the most thought-provoking talks we'll hear in the UK this year. And some of my smartest colleagues and former colleagues … Continue reading On a faster horse: meanders heading home from dConstruct
A day in Helsinki with my wife and three lively sons included a visit to the Design Museum. We enjoyed the permanent exhibition on the ground floor. It raised questions about what is designed and how. Also, what belongs in a design museum: Aalvar Aalto, kitchenware, ceramics, chairs, lots more chairs, and - being in … Continue reading The Best Thing in the Helsinki Design Museum
There are lots of reasons to come along to Leeds Service Design Thinks on Tuesday 14 September. So many that it's hard to know where to start. I could begin with the chance to meet and chat with some of the smart and passionate service designers who made it to our first Service Design Drinks … Continue reading Service Design Leeds, from Drinks to Thinks
I think there's a coherent narrative to be woven between all of the following, but for now, I offer them to you as a puzzle of jumbled bullet points. Fuller posts on some of them may follow. 1. It's been a few weeks since my colleagues and I at Orange moved offices from Holbeck to … Continue reading Around the city, joining the dots
User testing is always illuminating. The mirrored glass, the dimmed lights, and the unreal relay of sound from one room to the next. These things become familiar. But the users, no matter how carefully screened and segmented, are all different. They make every session both humbling and surprising. Last week I dropped in on a … Continue reading All fingers and thumbs, an observation
Over the last few days I've had a chance to reflect on the relationship between the mobile web and service design. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the two are tied together, in a way that was not the case with either the PC-based web or pre-internet mobile services. Why? Well … Continue reading A tale of attention and abundance: Why service design matters on the new mobile web
Businesses and organisations the world over are seizing the chance to re-imagine the way we do everyday things, to make them more accessible, enjoyable and productive for everyone. The tools and techniques they're using vary widely, but some of the best fall under the umbrella of service design, and its flashier cousin design thinking. This growing … Continue reading Announcing the first Service Design Drinks in Leeds
Matt Edgar writes here 