Summary
Service designers, join us for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) with two of the authors of the recently released second edition of Service Design: From Insight to Implementation: Lavrans Løvlie and Ben Reason. Together, they will share their experiences in service design, how the field has changed since the first edition of the book was released more than ten years ago, and what’s in store for the future.
Key Insights
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The second edition connects service design closely with digital product thinking, reflecting its rise since 2013.
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Digital products are often service experiences rather than owned goods, making integrated service design critical.
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New product-focused organizational silos have replaced older ones, yet service design helps reconnect these for better customer experience.
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Organizational silos exist for efficiency and specialization, so service design must work dynamically with this reality rather than eliminate silos entirely.
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The second edition added a chapter on using service design as an organizational change methodology.
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Metrics in service design have matured, with stronger correlations to performance and customer retention, especially in public sector projects.
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Case studies in the new edition come from diverse sectors and regions, showing wider adoption and social proof of effectiveness.
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Artifacts like customer journey maps have become democratized but risk becoming tick-box exercises without true organizational engagement.
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Adapting service design requires understanding different organizational logics (engineering, clinical, commercial) and cultural contexts (e.g., US vs Europe).
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Effective onboarding is a high-value area for service design to bridge silos between sales and customer maintenance teams.
Notable Quotes
"Service design was originally formulated as the alternative to product thinking, but digital products are actually mostly service experiences."
"Organizations say they want to break down silos but often create new ones in product teams; service design helps reconnect them."
"Silos exist for good reasons like efficiency and specialization; service design works within that dynamic rather than erasing silos."
"The new chapter in the second edition looks at service design as a change methodology for organizations, recognizing how ambitious it can be."
"The proof of service design’s effectiveness is now out there in the growing diversity of case studies and practitioner voices."
"Customer journeys used to be specialist knowledge, but now they’re a normalized, even commodified, organizational artifact."
"Many new adopters use service design artifacts as a tick-box exercise rather than embracing the mindset change required."
"You have to socialize service design within organizations considering their dominant logic — whether engineering, clinical, or commercial."
"Europe has leaned more into public sector service design work, which impacts the kinds of metrics and approaches seen in the book."
"Onboarding a new customer well bridges silos between acquisition and maintenance and produces enormous monetary rewards."
Or choose a question:
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