Design of Servitude

April 30, 2012 7:37 AM

Recommended resources to learn about service design?

What are the best books, videos, websites and people to teach a beginner about service design?

I'm not as interested in digital service design for programming/user-interfaces/etc., but more like "physical" service design for things like restaurants and retail.

I know SCAD in the US has a program for this, but I'm not yet ready to pursue further education. I'm looking to see whether this is something in which I might be interested in the future. Looking for info on theory/practice, as well as some interesting projects to try.

What are your best resources for beginners?

posted by taltalim to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

A while back I compiled a summary of the past thirty years of service design literature. You might start with Lynn Shostack's papers from the early eighties on "Designing Services that Deliver" and "How to Design a Service."

Another good place to start is the 2006 pamphlet Journey to the Interface by Sophia Parker and Joe Heapy. (Don't be turned off by the title; it's not about digital interface design.) See also: Stefan Moritz's 2005 thesis: Practical Access to Service Design [PDF]. It's a bit outdated, but a nice overview.

The Service Design Network, out of Cologne, Germany, publishes an English-language journal on service design called Touchpoint. They also run a yearly conference. You'll often find papers and presentations from the proceedings scattered around the internet.
posted by Jeff Howard at 9:50 AM on April 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also, if you're interested in the physicality of retail spaces, then Mary Jo Bitner's work on "Servicescapes" should be helpful, along with Paco Underhill's book Why We Buy.

And if you're in the U.S. then you should also check out the Boston design firm Continuum. They're probably the best known firm to really embrace service design on this side of the Atlantic. They do a lot of evangelization on the topic. If you're in Europe or Australia then you'll find many more local resources including monthly meet-ups where you can learn more.
posted by Jeff Howard at 1:40 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]