There are key challenges and issues within the service sector which are important to consider when applying design techniques to create and improve services
Traditionally educated designers tend not to be widely employed in service companies. As a result, there is a dearth of knowledge and understanding of design (management) techniques within most of the service sector.
A manufacturing company may not do design well but it will at least know what it is. In the service sector, many people believe that design is something to do with aesthetics and not relevant to them. This means that
- Staff in companies like this need to be educated not only about the importance of design, but also how to manage it
- Design projects need to have well-trained leadership and a strong product champion in order to convince everyone involved of the benefits of using design
The gap in understanding is often exacerbated by the language and terminology traditional designers use. Designers will achieve greater understanding and success in the service sector if they use uncomplicated, everyday language.
Due to the intangible nature of services, and as production and consumption often occur at the same time, it is difficult to ensure consistency and quality. The quality of a service is often down to the person giving it.
It is possible to blueprint the process through which the customer passes, but blueprints rarely take into account the need for flexibility when things go wrong or out of the ordinary events occur. Service suppliers must be prepared to cope with the unexpected. This is achieved through a combination of training and empowerment. Mistakes should be used as an indication of the need for more training and not as a reason for punishment. As one Rover employee put it, 'People are 80% of any process'.
When seeking new ideas several companies involved in the above research stated that they look at the competition or the market leaders. This me-too attitude has been shown to be an unsuccessful route to new product success. You cannot overtake the competition by just copying what they do. Companies need to seek 'unique selling propositions' to distinguish their designs from the offerings of the competition. Quite a few companies seek ideas only from inside, such as ideas from Directors, senior managers and even suggestion boxes. This should be backed up by some market research to show customers want the benefits that these new ideas may provide.
Service designers should endeavour to create channels of information that flow upwards through the organisation, from the customers to the senior managers, which facilitate effective feedback.
Quality assurance is still growing within the service sector (BS EN ISO 9001 - 2000), as is the application of 'total quality management', and many of the aims of quality assurance and total quality management can be achieved through service design.
It’s important to understand that services cannot be patented and therefore intellectual property in services is more difficult to protect and copying of competing services is easier.
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article by legal expert Iain Stansfield