Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Services often frustrate customers and staff not because people lack effort but because each department optimises its own step and nobody designs the end-to-end experience. Solutions are then chosen before the problem is understood, and expensive systems end up automating a broken journey. This Core Concept course equips service owners and improvement teams with design thinking and service design methods to research real needs, reframe problems, generate and test solutions and specify them for delivery. Participants leave with a Service Redesign Proposal built around a future-state journey map and service blueprint.
Course Objectives
- Frame service problems from evidence using user research, empathy mapping and problem statements
- Apply the Double Diamond and design thinking stages to move from discovery to a tested solution
- Map current and future customer journeys and translate them into service blueprints covering front stage, backstage and support processes
- Generate and prioritise solution concepts using structured ideation and the Kano Model
- Prototype and test service concepts with users, then specify requirements for implementation
- Build a Service Redesign Proposal that a sponsor can approve and fund
Target Audience
- Managers responsible for customer-facing services and their performance
- Customer experience and service quality managers improving satisfaction and complaint outcomes
- Process improvement and excellence managers redesigning cross-functional workflows
- Product and digital service owners defining new or improved offerings
- Business analysis and project managers translating needs into solution requirements
- Policy and programme managers designing services for citizens or members
Course Outline
Day 1: Service Design Foundations and Current-State Evidence
- Design Thinking Mindsets and the Stanford d.school Five-Stage Model
- Service-Dominant Logic and Value Co-Creation
- ISO 23592 Service Excellence Model: Principles and Dimensions
- Contextual Inquiry and Stakeholder Interview Planning
- Current-State Evidence Review: Complaints, Voice of the Customer and Operational Data
Day 2: Design Frameworks and Standards
- Double Diamond: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver
- ISO 9241-210 Human-Centred Design Activities
- ISO/TS 24082 Guidance on Designing Excellent Service
- Jobs-to-be-Done and the Value Proposition Canvas
- Service Ecosystem and Stakeholder Map
Day 3: Journey Mapping, Blueprinting and Ideation
- Persona and Empathy Map Construction from Research Data
- Customer Journey Map with Pain Points and Moments of Truth
- Service Blueprint: Front Stage, Backstage and Support Processes
- How Might We Problem Reframing and SCAMPER Ideation
- Concept Prioritisation with the Kano Model and Impact-Effort Matrix
Day 4: Prototyping, Testing and Solution Specification
- Service Prototyping: Desktop Walkthrough and Bodystorming
- Assumption Mapping and Hypothesis-Driven Concept Testing
- Concept Test Scripts and the Feedback Capture Grid
- Fail Point and Wait-Time Analysis on the Service Blueprint
- Solution Requirements with User Stories and Acceptance Criteria
Day 5: Case Work and the Service Redesign Proposal
- Hospital Outpatient Journey Case Study: Research Synthesis
- Retail Bank Onboarding Case Study: Blueprint and Concept Critique
- Future-State Journey Map and Blueprint for an Own Service
- Implementation Roadmap and Service KPI Set Including Customer Effort Score
- Service Redesign Proposal Presentation and Peer Challenge
Skills You Will Gain
- User Research
- Problem Framing
- Journey Mapping
- Service Blueprinting
- Ideation Facilitation
- Service Prototyping
- Requirements Definition
- Customer Insight Synthesis
Why Attend This Course
- Leave with a Service Redesign Proposal for a real service, tested against peer challenge
- Base improvement decisions on evidence from customers and staff rather than internal assumptions
- Expose the backstage fail points that cause repeat contacts and delays before investing in new systems
- Work alongside service and improvement managers from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Well-designed services work because someone has examined them end to end, through the eyes of the people who use and deliver them. This course moves from service design principles and research, through the Double Diamond and the relevant ISO guidance, to journey mapping, blueprinting, ideation, prototyping and testing. The final day applies these methods to cross-sector cases and to a service from each participant's organisation, producing a Service Redesign Proposal that is ready to present to a sponsor.