Here’s a list of NN/g’s most useful introductory articles and videos about service design and related topics. Within each section, the resources are in recommended reading order.
Service Design: An Overview
Service design focuses on how an organization creates and delivers users’ experience.
Service design is the activity of planning and organizing business resources (people, props, and processes) in order to improve the employees’ and the customers’ experience.
There are 3 key components of service design: people, props, and processes. We need to consider each to deliver the intended experience.
- People. This component includes anyone who creates or uses the service, and individuals who may be indirectly affected by the service.
- Props. This component refers to the physical or digital artifacts (including products) that are needed to perform the service successfully.
- Processes. These include any workflows, procedures, or rituals performed by the employee or the user throughout a service.
Each component can be broken down into frontstage and backstage (a key delineation in service design), depending on whether the customers directly interact with it.
If you’re new to service design, we recommend you explore the following resources in order, from top to bottom.
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Number |
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Format |
Description |
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1 |
Article |
Definition of service design |
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2 |
Video |
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3 |
Article |
How UX and service design differ |
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4 |
Video |
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5 |
Video |
Benefits of service design |
Service Blueprinting
A service blueprint is the primary visual representing service design.
A service blueprint is a diagram that visualizes the relationships between different service components — people, props (physical or digital evidence), and processes — that are directly tied to touchpoints in a specific customer journey.
Think of service blueprints as part two to creating customer-journey maps. Blueprinting is an ideal approach for experiences that are omnichannel, involve multiple touchpoints, or require a crossfunctional effort (that is, coordination of multiple departments).
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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1 |
Article |
Definition of service blueprints and their components |
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2 |
Video |
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3 |
Article |
How to create service blueprints |
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4 |
Video |
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5 |
Digital Template |
Downloadable spreadsheet template for a service blueprint |
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6 |
Article |
Answers to the most common service-blueprinting questions received in our full-day course |
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7 |
Video |
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8 |
Article |
Practitioners’ tips for who to include in a service-blueprinting workshop, when to blueprint, and how to define the scope of a blueprint |
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9 |
Video |
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10 |
Article |
How to avoid common blueprinting mistakes |
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11 |
Article |
Checklist and suggested agenda for service-blueprinting workshops |
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12 |
Service Blueprints: How to Choose What Experience to Visualize |
Article |
How to choose a blueprint scope |
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13 |
Service Blueprints: How to Choose What Experience to Visualize |
Video |
Recommendations for overcoming three common service blueprinting problems |
