Interdisciplinarity and change

Deputy Director of C4D, LCC, University of the Arts, London

1. In your view, how is your research/work related to Service Design?

My interest in service design stems from my industry-funded PhD with Thorn Transit Systems International (now part of Cubic). The doctoral research investigated public transport engineering specification of revenue systems (this involved 4 case study partners including 2 in the UK and 2 in Europe) and the need to incorporate them within a designed service framework. The thesis demonstrated that this would result in more effective public transport systems from an operator perspective and a more seamless journey for the passenger. I was also an active researcher in a European Union Framework IV research project MIMIC (Mobility, Inter-modality and Interchange) looking at the relative and absolute barriers to interchange across seven EU sites.

As Deputy Director of C4D, Centre for Competitive Creative Design, a Cox funded Centre for excellence in interdisciplinary working, between Cranfield University and LCC, I have been able to facilitate and extend the role of service design into areas such the visualisation of complex data for product service systems in the aerospace industry and introduce the value of service design tools in assisting the development of medical technology and devices in creating human-centred service systems within medical engineering research.

2. In your view, what is the most/less interesting aspect of Service Design?

In my opinion the most interesting aspect of service design is its Interdisciplinarity. Services rely on an inter-connectedness of different components many of them intangible or open to unpredictable behaviours, temporary ownership and access, changes in capacity, limited shelf-life and co-production. To address the potential uncertainty of services their design requires the input of social scientists, designers, users, technical and management expertise; this makes them an incredibly exciting area to work in.

The potential of services to be drivers of change is also another valuable contributor of service design. Product service systems have huge potential for reducing consumption, extending end-of-life and upcycling in products. Service design offers opportunities for us not to live our lives on a trajectory of more ‘stuff’ but one that is focused on value being designed through a more sustainable agenda.

Simple and effective service design interventions may also change perceptions of a service. The count down London bus information is a case in point. The information changed passenger perceptions of service reliability, waiting times and increased levels of satisfaction and usage. The reality was that the bus timetables and service had not in-fact changed but the information removed the uncertainty of waiting and not knowing when a bus was due.

3. Can you tell us about a Service Design research project(s) you did or read about?

Through C4D, service design projects have been undertaken between masters students at LCC and medical engineers at Cranfield University. The scenario building and the mapping of the service experience around new technologies have fed into research projects and provided user insights for the development of the technology such as a febrile response indicator. These projects have frequently been used as a springboard to introducing service design to engineering research.

I recently produced a case study on the role of service design for public sector innovation relating to Lewisham Council’s LoveLewisham site. Through this relationship with Lewisham I have been in conversation with a major retailer, the Institute of Materials and UCL’s department of Anthropology looking at the disconnection between materials, artefacts, consumer behaviour and end-of-life product issues relating to waste; to ask ‘what are the opportunities for service design to create more holistic service systems that create and transfer value around the purchasing and disposing of goods’

4. Are there area(s) that you would like to do or see research on?

I’m particularly interested in the role of service design and societal change whether at a local government level or on a personal basis through empowering individuals. There are two areas that are of personal interest: one relates to the above in terms of an interdisciplinary approach to public sector innovation and waste.

The second area of interest is in the development of medical devices and the design of relevant human centred services that are holistically integrated and not bolted on as an after-thought. In the West we are faced with spiralling health costs and an ageing population and the emphasis on stand alone technologies as drivers of medical services needs to give way to a more human-centred approach that designs and delivers services that have the potential to be more effective and less costly.

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Your suggestions for the blog:

Who would you like to invite in this conversation about Service Design Research?

I would like to see the forum opened up to non-designers, people involved in policy and government to debate the barriers to innovation within local government. Local government is risk averse and consequently this hampers innovation.

What is the question do you have about Service Design?

There appears to be a divide between service design and service management. Service management provides robust models for service delivery, whereas I see service design creating a ‘whole’ perspective of service experience and touch points but limited in how services will be delivered and the relationship with revenue yield management. I would like more discussion in this area.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, public sector, service management, social change, visualisations