Service design tools and methods are available in abundance in written or online materials, guidelines, toolkits and templates. Some of them target an audience who are interested in developing public services; others provide general advice for service design(ers). We have collected a selection of tools that can be used as a ‘starting toolkit’ for a public sector organisation willing to engage itself in service design. This selection of tools is accompanied by short descriptions about what each tool is useful for as well as a selection of links to online resources where further details, guidance, templates or cases can be found.
In a design brief, the service owner (maybe with the with help of a service designer) defines the central problem that has to be addressed, identifies service users, sets goals and describes time and budget boundaries, constraints and risks and expected outcomes. A design brief is usually informed by initial research about the current working of the service (if the project focuses on existing service) or the prospective service users (if designing a new service).
Templates and examples online:
- https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files
- https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/develop-plan.html
- https://www.servicedesigntoolkit.org/assets2013/posters/
- https://www.servicedesigntoolkit.org/assets2013/posters/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160804093222/http://sdt.fi/materiaali/
- https://projekter.aau.dk/projekter/files/
Clients are not alike. Their motivations, needs and knowledge are different, and we must take these differences into consideration when we design a service. Personas, with brief and lively descriptions, represent our most important client groups. Prepare 4–6 cards, describe the characters by using categories relevant to the service (e.g., age, sex, occupation, education, motivation) and make it lively with a picture, a quote and a background story. You can use these personas later to see the service through their eyes, evaluate your ideas of how they think or use the prototyped service they would most likely choose.
Templates and examples online:
- https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods/creating-personas-2
- https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods/creating-personas
- https://servicedesigntools.org/tools/personas
- https://www.servicedesigntoolkit.org/assets2013/posters/EN/P3-persona%20dimensions-A1.pdf
- https://www.servicedesigntoolkit.org/assets2013/posters/EN/P3-persona-A3.pdf
- https://www.archives.gov/files/digitalstrategy/persona-composite.pdf
- https://pageandpage.uk.com/Clinical-Nurse-Specialist-Personas.pdf
Visualising the service process from the perspective of the service user helps to gain an overview about the service process in its settings/platforms, to analyse touchpoints and connected emotional responses, even certain roadblocks on the map. These maps can be designed to synthesise research insights and can be created as a part of the ideation process as well.
Templates and examples online:
- https://servicedesigntools.org/tools/journey-map
- https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods/mapping-journeys
- https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods/journey-mapping
- https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/
- https://www.designkit.org/methods/journey-map
- https://crealodesign.com/portfolio/wcig-customer-journey/
If you need first-hand personal experience and understanding of your service you can go on a ‘safari’. By behaving like a service user and going through the service process) you can observe your own experience with it and how other users experience the same service and service context. You can record your impressions via field notes, sketches, audio, video or photos as well.
Templates and examples online:
Mapping stakeholders or the ecosystem of your service can support the introduction of the service or service innovation by clarifying their roles and your organisation’s relationships with them. Traditionally, stakeholders are analysed along two dimensions: level of influence and level of interest or engagement. The positions of the given stakeholders in this matrix help to determine how to deal with them in the different stages of your project.
Templates and examples online:
- https://www.thisisservicedesigndoing.com/methods/system-mapping
- https://servicedesigntools.org/tools/stakeholders-map
- https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/method-card/actors-map/
- https://toolbox.hyperisland.com/stakeholder-analysis
- https://www.groupmap.com/portfolio/stakeholder-analysis/
- https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm
- https://elanawolpert.home.blog/2019/02/11/ecosystem-map/
The evaluation or decision matrix, also called idea portfolio, helps to prioritise the collected ideas and concepts of our ideation process by assessing them against the most relevant criteria. These criteria are specified by you, but usually contain two of the following: impact on customer experience, complexity/effort, added value, employee experience, feasibility, novelty and revenue potential. Each concept is evaluated and the top solutions for prototyping can be chosen.
Templates and examples online: