A Symphony of Service — Service Design Midterm Reflection

As an experienced vocalist, I see service designers as conductors of an orchestra. It’s a musical metaphor that helps me understand service design better from the context of my interest in music and my experiences with performing.

A service designer has the high level perspective of all the moving parts that make up a symphony of service (also known as systems thinking).

Conductors use the double diamond model to:

• Discover the needs of musicians that may not be performing in time with the pulse of the rest of the orchestra.
• Define their interpretation/vision of what the song should sound like.
• Develop hand gestures and other signals during rehearsals that help communicate their artistic direction to the musicians.
• Deliver a performance to the public that is harmonious.

Source: Designing Services at Engine by Anne-Laure Fayard, Ileana Stigliani, and Elin Williams

Conductors take systems thinking approaches to leading their orchestras

The map of the orchestra arrangement largely resembles that of a stakeholder map.

A conductor must consider each instrument section as stakeholders with varying levels of influence on the sound of the music.

For example, the violins are positioned closest to the conductor because they often carry the melody for the entire orchestra, while further instruments might play more of supporting roles. Thus violins are a primary stakeholder in the orchestra because without the melody, the general rhythm would fall apart.

However, conductors also take a user-centered approach to identify ways in which the music can be improved. A conductor might stand at their podium or move around the floor to listen to specific sections/musicians. This kind of focused listening can give conductors a better idea of the individual sounds that make up the holistic symphony so that they know who to give direction to when making changes to the sound.

The only way to solve a design problem is to see the big picture and then zoom back in — Systems Thinking with Mayo Nissen

A conductor will often even encourage each member of the orchestra to also take a systems thinking approach themself. Orchestra musicians can easily get to focused on their own parts and forget to understand their role in the orchestra’s performance as a whole. A conductor might suggest to individuals to listen more to their surrounding section or even another section for cues that might remind musicians when to jump in, be quieter, louder, etc.

User centered view has risk of focusing too much on an individual and missing the context in which they live in — Systems Thinking with Mayo Nissen

And like a service designer, a conductor doesn’t need to be an specialist at every instrument in their orchestra. They just need to know the general characteristics of each musical stakeholder and how they fit together in a performance.

How I can be a conductor in the product design space

I’ve sang in more performances that I can remember, both in choirs and with orchestras. In the process, I’ve always had some sort of interaction with other front stage stakeholders (fellow singers, the conductor, instrumentalists) and backstage stakeholders (stage technicians, costume designers).

However, learning about service design in Service Design Innovation class has given me the conductor’s perspective that I’ve never been able to experience. It’s helped me realize that there was a method to my conductors’ madness and that like service designers, they are constantly analyzing and adapting to the needs of their musicians in order to make a better performance.

As I enter the field of digital Product Design, I hope to apply my new knowledge of service design to the products that I design and teams that I work with. Rather than complete my assignments, I aim to be more critical of the tasks that I am given and understand how they influence the work of others in my teams. This will help me set my priories straight not only for the work that I deliver to my teams (front stage and back stage), but also to my company (the orchestra’s organization), my users (the audience), my users’ connections (the audience’s friends), and society as a whole.

Written by Sofia Wheeler