An introduction to service design and user research, in theory and practice, for the wider team at the consultancy Rainmaker. A recent 10 week project at HS2 is used as an example of how service design principles can be applied. Session includes workshop about where Rainmakers' individual skills and activities fit in and around the service design process.

1. service design & user research
an introduction

2. service design & user research: an introduction
hello
quick convo: what do you understand as ‘service design’?
designers’ version of service design:
process, principles, techniques (20 mins)
HS2 examples & GDS principles (20 mins)
what parts of service design do you do/support? (15-20 mins)
Rainmaker principles workshop (20-30 mins)

3. what is
service
design?

4. what is service design?
a definition
This is Service Design Thinking, 2012
when you have two coffee shops right
next to each other, and each sells the
exact same coffee at the exact same
price, service design is what makes you
walk into one and not the other.
- 31 volts service design, 2008

5. service design
process

6. service design
process
Design Council, 2005,designcouncil.org.uk

7. service design
process
shift surrey innovation process
discover
discover user needs.
clearly define
the problem.
design
ideate.
decide an idea/solution
to take forward.
visualise and prototype.
develop
test prototype and learn.
decide
decide whether to
implement solution.
communicate decision.
deliver
allocate resources.
implement, measure
success, and learn.
Shift, 2014, shiftsurrey.org

8. research ideas prototype
& test
implement
repeat to develop
service design
process
develop service according to changing circumstances

9. research ideas prototype
& test assess,
communicate
& decide
implement
repeat to develop
service design
process
co-design,
divergent
thinking user testing
define brief(s)
develop service according to changing circumstances
if digital:
user stories
blueprints,
ideal customer journey
touchpoints, ideal
scenario storyboarding
guidance &
upskilling for service
providers, launch
digital service
potential outputs:
personas, customer
journey mapping,
storyboarding
example techniques:
visual interview
techniques, Day In The
Life, cultural probes,
surveys, quantative
analysis

10. service design
value of approach compared to traditional methods
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Inaugu-
ral_meeting_city_council,_Toronto,_9th_January_1911.jpg

11. service design
value of approach compared to traditional methods
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Inaugu-
ral_meeting_city_council,_Toronto,_9th_January_1911.jpg
research ideas prototype
& test assess,
communicate
& decide
implement
repeat to develop
co-design,
divergent
thinking user testing
guidance &
upskilling for service
providers, launch
digital service
idea
example techniques:
visual interview
techniques, Day In The
Life, cultural probes,
surveys, quantative
analysis

12. service design
principles

13. user centred
co-designed
sequenced
holistic
iterative ideas, prototyping & testing
service design
principles

14. user centred
make it work for the user - not just the client
service design
principles

15. co-designed
• participatory with all stakeholders
• users are experts of their own problems
• clients know the issues well
• (but don’t have the environment/culture/
techniques/skills to make the necessary
changes)
service design
principles

16. sequenced
• designed in sequence like a comic strip
• each interaction in a service is an opportunity
for change
service design
principles

17. holistic
• look at the entire environment of the service
• adaptive to context - bespoke services,
sensitive to nuances of the audience
service design
principles

18. iterative ideas, prototyping & testing
• divergent thinking: ideate widely to hit on
innovative concepts... then prototype the best
ones
• think big, start small: quick & dirty proof of
concept (means you can test several ideas for
the same budget as a big pilot)
• take a range of small risks and expect failure
rate in order to find something that really works
• try out something then develop as you go:
continuous testing
• changing world --> service is never ‘finished’
service design
principles

19. service design
techniques

20. service design
techniques
- design thinking*
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers
*intuitive process, principles at heart
Pride&Produce, 2014

21. service design
techniques
- design thinking
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers

22. service design
techniques
PERSONAS OVERVIEW
REMOTE
CONTROLLERS
ENABLERSAMBASSADORS
MOBILE
CONDUCTORS
PUBLICCHAMPIONS
What HS2 staff
need from
technology
depends on the
nature of their
work. Here are
the six types of
workers there
are in HS2.
INFORMATION
PROCESSORS
- design thinking
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers

23. service design
techniques
- design thinking
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers

24. service design
techniques
- design thinking
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers

25. service design
techniques
- design thinking
- design research
- personas
- co-design
- customer journey
mapping
- communication with
non-designers*
*makes service design a bit different
from other design disciplines. Coming
from a different background forces
clients to simplify language to enable
designers to work with them. Creating
shared language = antidote to getting
lost in jargon

26. HS2 user research project
case study

27. HS2 user research project
project wall

28. The importance of talking directly to the
users
No substitute for talking to actual users
Users in their natural environment
Assumptions of user needs can quickly
become ‘facts’
Understanding what they are trying to do
The difference between user needs and
user wants
user need = end goal that the user is
trying to achieve
user want = their preference for how they
would like to achieve it
Functional and emotional needs
HS2 user research project
the value of user needs
“If you don’t know
what the user
needs are, you
won’t build the
right thing. Do
research, analyse
data, talk to
users. Don’t make
assumptions.”

29. HS2 user research project
the challenge

30. HS2 user research project
research techniques

31. HS2 user research project
developing tools

32. HS2 user research project
engagement figures

33. HS2 user research project
developing personas

34. PERSONAS OVERVIEW
REMOTE
CONTROLLERS
ENABLERSAMBASSADORS
MOBILE
CONDUCTORS
PUBLICCHAMPIONS
What HS2 staff
need from
technology
depends on the
nature of their
work. Here are
the six types of
workers there
are in HS2.
INFORMATION
PROCESSORS
HS2 user research project
HS2 user persona overview

35. HS2 user research project
overarching insights and user research toolkit

36. research ideas prototype
& test
implement
repeat to develop
service design
process at HS2
develop service according to changing circumstances
HS2 user research
project

37. research ideas prototype
& test
implement
repeat to develop
service design
process at HS2
develop service according to changing circumstances
guerilla interviews,
stakeholder mapping,
understanding the
org through existing
materials
further defining
the challenge
understanding the
high level user needs
& pain points,
thematic analysis
outputs to be iterated
and updated as the org
evolves and further user
research takes place
developing tools to
find out more on the
key themes, continously
refining tools throughout
the project, cultural
probes, survey
user personas used
as basis for strategic
decision making,
projects formed to
resolve overarching
insights, user research
toolkit used to inform
techniques (with room
to be built on by future
user researchers)

38. where do you fit in?*
process
*what parts of the service design process do you do/support?

39. guidance &
upskilling for service
providers, launch
digital service
research ideas prototype
& test assess,
communicate
& decide
implement
repeat to develop
where do you fit in? example: developers
service design process
co-design,
divergent
thinking user testing
define brief(s)
develop service according to changing circumstances
potential outputs:
personas, customer
journey mapping,
storyboarding
if digital:
user stories
blueprints,
ideal customer journey
touchpoints, ideal
scenario storyboarding
guidance &
upskilling for service
providers, launch
digital service
prototype digital service e.g.
minimum viable product app
communicate
with designer to
assess viablility
of wireframesresearch competitors
collect data to understand
how service is being
used and how it can be
improved
example techniques:
visual interview
techniques, Day In The
Life, cultural probes,
surveys, quantative
analysis

40. guidance &
upskilling for service
providers, launch
digital service
research ideas prototype
& test assess,
communicate
& decide
implement
repeat to develop
where do you fit in? example: user researchers
service design process
co-design,
divergent
thinking user testing
define brief(s)
develop service according to changing circumstances
if digital:
user stories
example techniques:
visual interview
techniques, Day In The
Life, cultural probes,
surveys, quantative
analysis
blueprints,
ideal customer journey
touchpoints, ideal
scenario storyboarding
test how people
are using the service once
it’s launched
potential outputs:
personas, customer
journey mapping,
storyboarding
user researchers differ in
qualitative vs quantative
expertise & in visual skills

41. where does your current work fit into, or support, this process?
plot on the diagram:
activities you do in your current project
activities you’ve done in other projects (perhaps with a
different colour pen)
skills and techniques you use
you can...
mark your favourite bit to work on with a heart
mark the bits you’re particularly amazing at with a star
where do you fit in?
service design process

42. what are the rainmaker
principles?
service design principles:
• user centred
• co-designed
• sequenced
• holistic
• iterative ideas, prototyping & testing