Service Design; theory and practice
Last week I attended the Service Design in Government conference in Edinburgh. It was a 3-day event packed with 45 sessions across 4 tracks; talks, workshops and case studies.
If you’re curious what I’ve learned about service design, service designers and the future. Or how it made me think about the future, just keep on reading.
From the virtual world to reality
Service design and UX community are very active online but moments, when we can meet, are a great opportunity to explore things together, discuss hot topics or share our thoughts about talks and our problems in real-time. Conversations are dynamic and spontaneous with various people joining and sharing their views. A big advantage of such events is that the knowledge which you gain there leaves a long-lasting mark in your mind as the environment we’re in forces us to constant intellectual gymnastics.
We can’t pause it. We can’t leave the laptop to make tea as we do working or learning from online courses. We need to be here and now. No procrastination allowed.
We had 3 days to focus solely on ourselves and things we’ve been talking/listening about. We didn’t have to do it in the meantime; we had the time to focus and dedicate ourselves without ignoring our family or work responsibilities.
Things I’ve learnt
The focus of the event was to look at the bigger picture, how services we design can affect not only individuals and communities but also the back office teams and the environment. The best analogy related to the conference topic gave Carrie Bishop saying that “Service Design in a public sector is like crochet; looping things together, hooking people in; you may miss few bits but it’s a solid construct.
Here are just a few things from many which resonated with me. I don't think you’d have enough patience to read the whole essay which I’d write if I’d like to share it all.
Lesson 1
Never, ever give up*
As designers, we need to do all in our power to design best services. But as Nabeeha Ahmed highlighted, there may be a point (especially in the discovery phase) that we need to say *stop to the project as the idea for solving a problem can not be delivered (because of legal requirements etc). But we can’t treat it as a failure, just a smart and informed decision.
What also we need to remember, that if they won't listen, even if you have all the evidence supporting your design and they’ll drop it and develop a service which is not good, don't worry, they’ll be back.
Lesson 2
Design responsibly
Service designers have the power to influence how things work. This is a power which we need to use wisely and responsively.
User first does not mean user only. What about other people? Society? Non-humans? Our Planet?
Lesson 3
Build relationships and collaborate
A huge part of our work is based on relationships with other people. Without social skills, we can’t influence decisions and implement the best services. Even the best service without support from stakeholders won’t be a service we’ll deliver.
Sharing our problems with a community and reaching out to another organisation can save us a lot of time and money. Collaborate!
Lesson 4
Don’t design for yourself
Designing we need to remember who we design for. We can’t be locked in our bubble. Silicon Valley does it and it brings more toxicity and bias than anything else. We need to go out and ask people, get to know them and their needs (perform an outward-looking discovery!). Later we can think about what we (or the organisation) can offer to answer these needs (inward-looking discovery!).
Lesson 5
Organise good meetings
Avoid meetings where people are not saying what they really think. We all have been there.
Sometimes few 1–2–1 meetings can give you and the organisation more than plenty of meetings in a big room with many (important) people.
Lesson 6
Small steps towards a better future are ok
Sometimes to get the best result you may need to take smaller steps and make steady incremental improvements.
Paper form> better paper form> online form> better online form
Lesson 7
User-centred design is a tricky concept
Don’t think only about users, but also about whole systems your service will affect. What about the back-office people? Will it make their work easier? Try to find the balance and help both sides.
Lesson 8
Tell your story
To explain your design decisions you need to be able to tell a good and compelling story. This is how you hook people to the idea, this is how you get people on board.
Lesson 8
Design is a political act
At first, it’s difficult to agree with that statement but after a while there are analogies. Ask questions, challenge assumptions, and be open to input from others. It's about influence, power, problem-solving, decision making. It’s politics, but with a human face.
Working on a project and trying to get people on board you can’t do it by changing only an individual. To make it work you need to change the culture.
*Lesson 9
Update your twitter picture
If you want to be recognised at the event, please use on Twitter your most current picture on which you look like yourself. It helps people to recognise you and say hello.
The connection
I didn’t know most of the people presenting but after their talk, I felt I got a piece of their wisdom. It was not only a conference about service design in the public industry, but it was also about people, relationships and storytelling.
I need to admit that from time to time I felt like at a support group meeting where we were sharing our problems, good and bad stories, like at a good group therapy session. Everything in a safe environment with professionals overlooking our actions.
Versatile experiences
As high intellectual stimulation was exhausting, before the beginning of a third day, with Rita, a friend who I met at the conference (and knew from Bristol, Ladies that UX meetup) we walked on top of the mountain (Atrhur’s seat) which was teasing us through the window since the beginning of the conference. We didn’t exactly go the way we planned; we missed one turn, but as we’re resilient we adopted to what the mountain offered and took a narrow path with a bit of scrambling in two sections. All the time in full sun and no wind. We reached the summit, enjoyed it for about 5–10 minutes and managed to be at the conference 10 minutes before the first session of the day started. Our heads were refreshed and ready to absorb more.
During these 3 days, we’ve been given hope that things can be better and we can do better. We were infected with passion, enthusiasm and a strong motivation. We got new energy to keep us going and fighting for this year. It was a sparkle on the surface of muddy water.
What also was important for me, on the “stage” I saw great people; intelligent, passionate, motivated. Great people who, in the majority, were women, what doesn't happen on such conferences. It gave me the confidence and hope, that one day I may be there speaking.
Representation matters.
Service design is female!
The end of the conference is not the end of networking. Twitter is a parallel reality where we’re sharing our notes, presenters their slides, and we’re able to catch up on sessions we couldn't come to or share comments which were trapped during the event.
Keep an eye on my twitter, I’ll try to share links to few twitter accounts of people who you can check to find out more about the conference.
But as you managed to reach the end of this post, THANKS! here is a link to Aimee Tasker’s notes. I saw her writing it and I envied her how she was able to listen and record so much at the same time (and it’s all readable!!!)
Thanks for reading my 29th story from My 52 problems series. It was the first one which wasn’t published on Tuesday, but I needed more time. It’s not ideal but as they said at the conference Done is better than perfect!
