As I was thinking about a way to describe service design in simple terms – to prospective clients, friends, neighbors, etc – it hit me like a ton of bricks:
Service design is about asking, “How can I help?”

- How can I help make your flight better, less stressful, more meaningful, more fun, etc?
- How can I help you do business with me more efficiently?
- How can I help you in your time of need, (death, sickness, job loss, etc) as it relates to the service(s) I normally provide you?
- How can I help you get the information you need quickly?

But the key is in asking the question with a pure heart, as in, “How can I help you?” as opposed to “How can I help you help me make more money?” The fact is that if you truly add value – if you really help – then the money will naturally follow.

Sometimes, the help that a customer wants or needs is adjunct to your core business. Sometimes it logically comes before or after your typical point of engagement with that customer. And therein lies the opportunity to not only help, but to also create new revenue opportunities for your business.

In the end, if people would embrace this core idea of “how can I help” then the world of business – and the world in general – would be a far better place.

So… how can I help you?

Here’s a better question: what does it cost if you don’t talk with your customers?

In the case of the U.S. government and the Homeland Security Administration, one recent failed project has cost the U.S. taxpayers over $2 billion USD. Why? Because in the rush to get the project done, no one ever thought to go ask the people on the ground – the ultimate end-user or REAL customer – what they wanted or needed. No one put on their boots and suntan lotion to actually go out into the desert to see what people actually needed to do their job more effectively. Amazingly, this happens every day in business – from small projects to large, from new brand launches to roll-outs of massive software systems. Watch the brief video excerpt from 60 Minutes below to learn more…
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That is “service”—WITHOUT MODIFIERS—is a sacred word.
To “be of service” is the highest aspiration possible.
To have “been of service” is the highest tribute possible.
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So true. This is what service design is about; helping companies to “be of service” that really matters to their customers.

As a result, your customers will give you the insight you’re looking for. The problem is – you have to ask them! This is a key issue in that a lot of companies just don’t ask their customers what they think, how they feel, what they want, etc. A lot of people think that market research has to be very complex with long surveys, and thousands of respondents.

Our experience – time and time again – is that you simply need to go out, sit down eye to eye with folks and have a conversation. Of course, you need to have enough conversations to get a good cross-section but in the words of Nike, “just do it!”

For the most part, you’re going to get pretty consistent answers pretty quickly if you actually have a sit-down conversation with people. And ask clarifying questions to get to the root of the issue. For example, “What do you mean when you say that?” or “That’s interesting – can you elaborate a bit more about that?” It’s useful to record the audio of these conversations and then have somebody – who was not involved in the conversations – review the transcripts to identify consistent themes that come out over and over and over again in those conversations.

What we’ve found is that while people have a problem filling out a survey because they don’t get around to it, they see it as a bother, etc. they are often glad (even thankful) to talk with someone from your company if they are approached in a direct, heartfelt conversational style. The approach is the key. When someone calls you with a survey, can’t you tell they’re reading it straight off the paper? No one wants to deal with that!

We’ve covered this theme before in other blog posts but it’s worth repeating over and over; the key to success in service design is to simply talk with your customers. That’s it.

Airports are interesting from a service design perspective because they serve as an aggregation point and hub for a wide variety of other independent services (both commercial and governmental) in an environment that is charged with stress caused by time (arrivals, departures, delays), security clearances, risk of life and limb (from engine failure to terrorist plots), crowds, money (hundreds or thousands of dollars at stake via airfares) and purpose (from business travel to once-in-a-lifetime vacations to your father’s funeral.)

So you would think that the designers of airports would take all of these factors into consideration when designing an airport. I could write a whole paper on this topic (note to self: do it!) but for now, I will share these quick observations:

- Chicago – Beautiful airport, but where are the electrical outlets? Travelers are sitting on the floor plugging their phones and laptops into any outlet that is available. There is a whole social dance that takes place when one has to approach a fellow traveler and ask, “Can I use that other plug?” This is an untapped business opportunity. (See “Dallas” below.)

- Dallas – Nice airport, but what is with the layout of the restrooms? Virtually everyone in an airport has something slung over their shoulder or is dragging something behind them on wheels, right? In this airport, it is impossible not to bump into fellow comfort-seekers as you enter, exit and awkwardly wait around because they have few too many toilets. (I can only imagine that this problem is even worse for the ladies.) However, you can easily juice up your phone or computer at any number of charging stations, which are essentially electrified billboards that serve a purpose.

- Key West – After a few days in paradise, you really don’t want to leave. So the airport has built an faux outdoor lounge next to the gates where, once you’re through security, you can enjoy your last Mojito before you board. It’s a clever laid-back layout built in a glass enclosed atrium, complete with a boardwalk, sand, beach chairs and Jimmy Buffet tunes. However, keep an eye on your watch because the airport’s pubic address system does not provide boarding alerts in this little respite. (Maybe this is designed to get you stay longer in the Keys?)

Once again – as in most service design “misses” – these all are very easy issues to address if only airport designers and their municipal clients would actually go and watch what people do, and then ask those people what they want and need. It is far less expensive to design and build it right the first time, than it is to go and correct these issues after the fact. If there is any space that should be designed to minimize stress and hassle (besides hospitals), it should be our airports that serve as non-stop, human transport switches.

The article is a good one for anyone involved in service design. Zaslow points out a number of examples of people with good intentions, but bad results. While many of the examples are from the world of charity, the lessons directly apply to business and the design of services. From the article:

‘Most of us want to be effective, he says, “to make the world better. But before you help people, you have to ask them, ‘What do you need? What do you want?’” Every day, we see reminders of the limitations, and even the dangers, of good intentions. In Haiti, U.S. missionaries who said they only wanted to save orphaned children ended up arrested on child-trafficking charges. In Asian countries hit by the 2004 tsunami, residents still shake their heads over the warehouses filled with unusable donations, including winter coats and stiletto shoes. And earthquake-ravaged Chile is sure to receive its share of “useless aid” in the days ahead.

And from another section:

Ms. Hogan tells of going to a village in Peru where an aid group brought in tourists to help build public toilets. The group ran out of money and time, the tourists ended their volunteering vacations, and the toilets were never completed. The aid group had thought access to restroom facilities was needed to boost living standards, Ms. Hogan says. “But when I asked people in the community what they wanted, they said, ‘What we really needed was irrigation, and to have our bridge fixed, so we could take our goods to market.’” The never-completed toilets were gaping holes that had to be covered. Villagers feared their children would fall in.

We see these types of well-intentioned efforts all the time among businesses. At best, the companies really do (mistakenly) believe that they are working in the best interest of their customers. At the worst, the companies actually seem to have a sub-conscious contempt (see our previous post) for their customers and the very people who will be using the service. Either way, it comes down to a simple (almost too simple?) bottomline: JUST ASK.

This is what we do for our service design clients via ethnographic research; we go out and talk with their customers (internal or external) and have conversations. We observe, engage and ask questions. Then we compile those findings and bring them back to reveal what people want. This works for everything from service design, to volunteering, to parenting and spousal relationships.  It’s absolutely amazing what you can learn when you put aside what you think is right, and just ask.

In effect, would you make a deal with your car insurance company that you promise not to go over the speed limit, in exchange for a 10% decrease? How about 15 or 20%? In order to prove that, would you be willing to let the insurance company install a small device on your vehicle that tracked your speed? Maybe you get one or two chances, but then the third time you speed – bing – you lose the discount.

Well, that future is here. Progressive Insurance has announced the My Rate Program, which provides a small device that plugs into your car’s on board computer. The device tracks things like when and how you drive your car including acceleration, hard braking, etc. and then sends that data back to Progressive wirelessly. (The system is not based on GPS, so it’s not tracking where you go but still, we can imagine that in a future generation.)

Let’s take this one step further: How about a deal where you promise your life insurance company not to text or talk on the phone while driving, in exchange for a very big discount? After all, that behavior has shown to increase the likelihood of accidents by a factor of four. After an accident, it would be a simple matter for the insurance company to compare the time of airbag deployment with your cell phone bill to determine if you kept your promise. If not, no health care for you or no death benefits for your loved ones. Would you take that deal?

There is a saying that “everything in life is a trade-off,” and with advances in technology these types of automated trade-offs will start to permeate our relationships with service providers and impact pricing options. Watch for these trends in everything from insurance to mortgages to TV and shopping. It’s one thing to have privacy taken away from you, but it’s quite another thing to trade it for cash. So what’s your “break-point,” at which you would give up details of your private life in exchange for a discount? 10%, 30%, 80%? Everything’s negotiable.

In this particular case, Verizon agreed to waive the fee after the story got a ton of press. But typically, on an “oops I made a mistake” case like this, Verizon will split the charge with the customer. (So, Dad would still be on the hook for $11,000!)

The website The Consumerist raises the question: why not create a fail-safe system that would alert a customer if there was an unusual spike in their usage? Credit card companies have done this for years, mostly related to preventing fraud. But is it the job of a corporation to prevent customers from spending too much money on their goods or services? How about sellers of luxury goods or automobiles or casinos? Should companies become their “brother’s keeper?”

Actually, we would suggest a middle ground. When signing up new customers, Verizon should provide the account owner with the option of being notified in case of a spike in usage or fees. They could even offer levels of 100, 200 or 500 percent over normal. These are (or should be) simple variables that can be plugged into their management systems that in turn, would add a great deal of value to customers, if they chose to participate.

(And no, Verizon – you shouldn’t charge for the alert service. Use it as a point of differentiation!)

- ColorQuick, a software company developing game-changing technology in the printing industry. Our ethnographic research turned up new and compelling benefits for their target market.

- BlackGold BioFuels, an energy technology company that has a patented system for converting waste products into high quality bio-diesel fuel. We helped them design new services that support the technology product, as well as innovative new business models for rolling out their products and services.

- A major hotel chain and our work with them on designing new service revenue opportunities related to rapid developments in the Connected-TV space.

- A major luxury retailer and a series of card sort exercises we did for them related to a new product design initiative.

Also, after a number of requests from our business partners, we created a one-page executive summary about Frontier Service Design that can be downloaded here.

Read, learn and enjoy!