PRODUCTHEAD: Bad service! *Sit*
» Bad services can arise from not realising the service and the user need have drifted apart
» GenAI shifts the focus from shipping products to stewarding living systems that are continually learning and adapting
Tag: service design
PRODUCTHEAD: What is a product? What is a service?
» Services are best identified as verbs rather than nouns
» You cannot have services without products, nor products without services
» A service is something that helps someone to do something
PRODUCTHEAD: Becoming a service organisation
» Context helps to make a service good as opposed to simply existing
» By not consciously designing our services, we instead force our users to link actions together
» Outcomes for users are core user needs that a service helps them to meet
» A starting point can be to ask different teams what ‘good’ looks like to them
PRODUCTHEAD: Understanding the user’s perspective
» A common language about research is vital for building a team’s capability
» Customers are only reliable sources about their own experiences
» The way we think about product is determined by the language we use
PRODUCTHEAD: Defining services
A service:
» is defined from an external end user’s point of view
» describes something someone would want to do, in their language
» has an outcome that relates to the organisation’s goals
» includes all the steps between the user and provider
» includes all the parts involved in delivering it
85: The agency trap
How can product management fit into an agency business model? Spoiler alert: _not easily_
PRODUCTHEAD: The hidden patterns within design systems
» Federation squares the circle of having both a cohesive design system and autonomous product teams
» A successful design system closely meets the needs of developers of apps and the end-users of those apps
» For a design system to appeal to third parties, it has to accommodate their brand identity and niche audience needs
PRODUCTHEAD: Service mapping for product managers
» Service maps help teams and stakeholders to understand interactions with a service across touchpoints over time
» They provide a visual representation of an abstract and often wide-reaching process
» Think of your service like a theatre: front stage, backstage and behind the scenes
» Service mapping helps your team to tell their story to the wider organisation
What to do when service transformation goes wrong
When companies set out to redesign a product or service, the results can sometimes be underwhelming. Instead of delivering service transformation, the team recommends only minor efficiency tweaks. If this has been happening to you, there can be many underlying causes. I’ve identified a few common problems and what you can you do about them.
PRODUCTHEAD: Pimp my system
» 6 core concepts of systems thinking will help you start solving complex problems
» Systems thinking complements the more familiar analytical (reductionist) thinking
» It is a way of creating a shared understanding of how something works
» It provides useful tools for surfacing and breaking reinforcing cycles of blame
