A user's guide to service design

Do you know what service design is?

If you don't, it might sound like something that's complicated, difficult and costly to get involved in.

To help you get to grips with service design, we've talked to the experts, read the academic papers and compiled a set of case studies of some well designed services.

This users' guide to service design contains lots of information about how we at the Design Council are demonstrating that design can improve our public and consumer services. But it also contains great examples from design agencies, universities and businesses and public services who've used design.

 

Domino's pizza delivery service

What is service design?

Service design is all about making the service you deliver useful, usable, efficient, effective and desirable. 

FedEx service

Design for service businesses

How different design disciplines can help service businesses.

Design for public services

Design Council research among public sector organisations found that service providers are often unfamiliar with design-led approaches to service innovation.

Case studies

Public services and service business that have used graphic, product, web and interior design to improve their services.

Bill Hollins

The business case

Service Designer Bill Hollins shares his thoughts on why service design makes business sense and argues that more businesses should invest in employing a service designer.

Listen to a podcast

Designers Gillian Crampton Smith, Chris Downs, and Heather Martin outline some examples of good, and bad, service design and discuss what the core skills of service designers are.

Ben Reason

Design for Darzi

In this article, Ben Reason from service design company live|work, applies the core aspects of what he calls service thinking to healthcare.

Transformation Design paper front cover

Recommended reading

Articles, blogs and other publications about service design

Free guides

Running a small business and want to make the most of design services? Download one of our great guides:



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