I just returned from World Cafe Live where I saw Nouvelle Vague (and The Submarines). It was lots of fun. I have a few photos and a couple of quick videos for the more fanatic readers.
I enjoyed every song and it was a bummer that I had to go alone… though that didn’t stop me from singing along and Dancing With Myself (which they opened the show with by the way). I was pleasently surprised with The Smith’s Sweet And Tender Hooligan - waaaaaaaaay cool. Much much fun.
Panel with Jeanette Blomberg, Maggie Breslin, Mark Jones, and Rick E. Robinson moderated by Shelley Evenson.
Jeanette Blomberg focused on co-construction of value in B2B services, specifically her work at IBM. Since 2000 the company realize the shift towards a services economy. The big changes are a) service providers and clients co-produce value b) services require the participation of the receiver of the service (hair stylist - client, doctor - patient) c) relationships really do matter.
Participatory Design community brings relevant principles: mutual respect for different knowledge the participants bring to the interaction; opportunity to learn about each other’s domains; goals are jointly negotiated; recognize that outcomes should benefit all participants; focus on the organization context in which participation is possible.
Example:
Outsourcing: the delegation of tasks or jobs from internal production to an external entity. (NOT offshoring: relocation of business processes to a lower cost location, usually overseas) at IBM’s B2B service. Created a portal for clients to assess how IBM was performing.
Client assumed information itself was enough to fullfil agreements. The research looked at how important was the WAY the information was communicated (status, network health, etc); information more than a resource - portal as a forum for colaboration.
What are the directions for service design? (b2B)
IT focus on reduce costs, but moving forward, creating value.
Mark Jones, IDEO talked about the Future of Service Design. He described a model to discuss what is Service Design is asked to do - waves from the past into the future.
1) Technology driving experience (Service design details the user experience )
“we gotta be on the web!”
Technology > Strategy > Experience
2) Strategy driving experience (Service design makes a strategy tangible)
“we have a strategy, realize it”
Strategy > Experience/Technology
3) Experience and strategy drives technology (Service design explores the experience)
“What should we need to accomplish?”
Experience/Strategy > Technology
What should we prepare for? More complex projects, Longer time frames, bigger teams (co-creation), working with more diverse skillsets, working across many parts of the organization, desinigning for multiple touchpoints at the same time, serial projects (not everything can be tackled at once).
Rick Robinson, PhD talked about Research & Service Design.
All products are in essence, a tool. The things you do with the tool may or may not be what they are designed for. Services are a toolbox/environment, which makes their use more flexible - services are more plastic. They are altered as they are delivered, they are constantly redesigned. IT doesn’t meet needs, it changes behavior. Personal banking doesn’t just allow you to do banking, it gives you more time in the day.
Mary Douglas defined dirt as matter out of place. Works for anything (weeds, gossip)
Making, not just discovering, is what makes research relevant. Application doesn’t happen with a simple list of findings.
Traditional view: Specify > Design > Test > Deliver
Today: Research < -> Design < -> Deliver
Future: Longitudinal research!
Communispace - service that pulls together online communities around brands. Usually lasts 1 year, some have been around since 99. More interesting, 100% client renewal rate. Every company that used their service has chosen to continue - value of longitudinal studies. See this.
New tools enable new research methods - a good model: Digital Business Platform. Create a community, build things on top of it.
Jennie Winhall talked about public services. If we want people to come and/or live in our countries, the quality of public services has a large impact. And this does not compete with the private sector.
How service design can change people’s behavior - inserting co-creation opportunities into existing services. Also, how to design new services from scratch - different approach, they are not restricted, there are less boundaries, much more open-ended. Holistic, system-thinking approach to consider the variables. Design is getting bigger and longer (See Tom’s presentation from yesterday). Service designers have a different competition - management consultants (PriceWaterhouseCooper for example - who create multi-disc teams, spend upfront time thinking about the problem, prototype solutions and communicate internally with videos, etc). Cost:
Discussion:
longitudinal studies + longer involvement + multiple groups. How to take advantage of those interactions to continue innovation and change. New technologies enable relationships that weren’t possible so different insights may be possible in different ways or moments of the maturation of the design.
More later…
