The era of the 'Meta Product" (web-enabled product-service networks as typified by products such as iPhone/iTunes and Nike +) is well and truly upon us. Future services will be delivered using a combination of physical and virtual touchpoints. Tesco, following a successful pilot programme with Homeplus in South Korea, has finally brought their virtual shopping experience to the UK. The first UK trial is being launched in the North Terminal of Gatwick airport. Customers will be able to interact and purchase products via virtual supermarket shelves using their smartphones and a bar-code scanning application. The installation is a great example of a virtual/physical service hybrid.
Business Origami
Along with the use of personas, paper prototyping is one of the easiest and most effective tools in the software design, or service design, toolkit. A small amount of effort provides a substantial return in eliciting stakeholder feedback. It also provides valuable context for further discussion. It allows you to prototype quickly and cheaply. I came across the use of Business Origami from Jess McMullin at the Centre for Citizen Experience - a Canadian startup that advances public sector research, strategy, policy and service design.
Business Origami is a paper prototyping method that uses paper cutouts to represent different components of a system such as people, places, objects and value exchange. Originally used by researchers at Hitachi, the technique is excellent for prototyping service design touchpoints . I recently had the opportunity to test drive the technique as part of my participation in the Standford D.School Design Thinking Action Lab. I was quickly able to create a prototype by downloading and cutting out the Business Origami Shapes. The resulting model, had a much greater impact that anything I have ever put together on Visio. Everybody who visited my office was fascinated to know more about it.
For more information about how to use Business Origami and try it yourself please check out the Centre for Citizen Experience website, download a copy of the business origami shapes, and watch Jess McMullin's presentation.
Rotman Dean Roger Martin on Design Thinking
Roger Martin's book "The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage" is still one of the best Design Thinking books available. Here Martin provides a concise description of Design Thinking and why it matters to business. For a more comprehensive discussion on the intersection of business and design please watch the full documentary "Design the New Business".
What does a dedicated Innovation Space Look Like?
I'm currently enrolled in the Stanford Design Thinking Action Lab. One of the first lectures looks at the importance of space. The video offers a glimpse into Stanford's famed D.School.
Service Economy Growth
Of the 3.8 million new job opening in the US, almost half of them were service jobs. Please check out original article here.
Image Courtesy of Lisa Mahapatra and International Business Times
Design the New Business
Where is the Service in Financial Services?
Image Courtesy of epSos
The current state of the banking sector has caused many to lament “Where is the service in financial services?”. Hopefully for customers this is a trend that will soon change. The design consultancy firm Continuum are synonymous with innovation. Over on the Continuum blog, Brian Gillespie discusses service design thinking and the innovation of financial services. According to Gillespie, a principal at Continuum, “in order to regain consumer trust and create financial service innovations of the future, providers need to adopt a fresh approach to the design and marketing of financial products and services”. This is a view that I wholeheartedly endorse and one which is reflected by the growing stature of design thinking and service design in the financial services sector. Indeed, ABC News Australia’s The Business programme called “Design” the latest buzzword in the financial sector.
In Gillespie’s article, he lists a number of financial service providers who are leveraging service design and design thinking including Jyske Bank, Umpqua Bank, ING Direct. I would also add to the list Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Fidelity Investments. It will be interesting to see how the growing demand in service design and design thinking skills is reflected in the hiring policies of financial services companies. Joel Bailey, Director of Service Design at Capita, predicts that most companies are maturing towards embedded service design teams as opposed to the outsourcing model that is currently favoured. Accenture's recent acquisition of Fjord design illustrates that some companies may acquire smaller design firms to build on their internal design capabilities.
Adaptive Path on Service Design
Adaptive Path are a hugely influential user experience strategy and design firm that helps companies create products and services that deliver great user experiences. Here Patrick Quattlebaum discusses Adaptive Path's thoughts on Service Design.
Stanford D.School's Design Thinking Crash Course
Design Thinking for Business
ABC Radio National's By Design programme discusses how businesses and governments are increasingly turning to design, and design thinking, as a source of competitive advantage. The podcast features Sir. George Cox, former chairman of the British Design Council and author of the Cox Review of Creativity in Business.