Service Design Research Articles

Creating a more prosperous life through beauty: how entrepreneurship education empowers women MSME in Indonesia

This research aims to determine whether a top cosmetic company’s Beauty for Better Life Women's Empowerment Program (BFBL – WEP) has encouraged women to become entrepreneurs in the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, and identify the various obstacles and challenges they face in navigating their entrepreneurship journey. Launched by the L'Oréal Foundation in 2009 in 27 countries including Indonesia, the BFBL Program believes that a program like this will play a central role in helping vulnerable, underprivileged, or marginalized women regain their self-esteem, develop self-confidence and enhance their well-being. Using a qualitative research design with primary data collected through semi-structured interviews of thirteen (13) female beneficiaries of the Program, the research covered six (6) regions in Indonesia. Additional data was obtained from two (2) more key informants representing the Head of the BFBL Program in L’Oreal Indonesia and a beauty coach. Interviews were done through hybrid methods of offline and online engagements with respondents, enabling reach as well as convenience as the respondents came from different regions across the country. Findings show that the BFBL produces successful women MSME entrepreneurs through a) training in the planning and design of beauty services; b) resource support provides mentoring and coaching, and c) marketing support skills through social media promotion, creating a business portfolio, and learning ethical practices in dealing with clients. Geographical challenges in program implementation as well as logistical capabilities of participants were detected. Implications to organizational practices related to women’s entrepreneurship promotion are presented.

Development of the Empathy in Design Scale: Measuring Employees’ Empathy Toward Users in Service Design

Abstract To design user-centered services, it is essential to build empathy toward users. It is hence strategic to trigger empathy for users among professionals concerned with shaping service user experiences. There is, however, a lack of quantitative tools to measure empathy in design. Through two studies, we report on the development and validation of the Empathy in Design Scale (EMPA-D). The tool aims to measure service employees’ empathy toward users. Grounded in theories from psychology and design, we first generated and tested a pool of items through expert inspection and cognitive interviews. In Study 1, we administered 16 items to 406 full-time service employees from various industries, including employees in customer-facing positions. In Study 2, we iterated on additional items and administered a revised scale to 305 service employees. The selected model consists of 11 items and has a three-factor structure (Emotional interest/Perspective-taking, Personal experience and Self-awareness), which showed an adequate model fit and good internal consistency. Evidence of convergent validity was provided by moderate correlations of the EMPA-D scale with empathy measures in psychology (SITES, Empathy Quotient, Interpersonal Reactivity Index), whereas discriminant validity was demonstrated by low correlations with the narcissism measure Narcissistic Personal Inventory. We outline how this self-reported empathy measure can support organizations in enhancing their services and discuss potential limitations of quantitatively measuring empathy in service teams. Research Highlights We present the development and validation of the Empathy in Design Scale (EMPA-D), a self-report measure of employees’ empathy toward users of a service. We report on two validation studies and document the psychometric properties of the scale. The selected model consists of 11 items and a three-factor structure (Emotional interest/Perspective-taking, Personal experience and Self-awareness). The resulting EMPA-D scale contributes to filling the gap in metrics to assess empathy in the service design context. In industry, measuring employees’ empathy support the selection of appropriate empathic interventions to foster the service user-centeredness.

Community-Working Occupational Therapists’ Involvement in Research and Development Projects in Norway

The aim of this study was to explore community-working occupational therapists’ involvement in research and development projects. A cross-sectional survey of occupational therapists working in community-based services in Norway (n = 617) was conducted. In all, 117 of the 617 participants responded that they were involved in research and development projects. Greater likelihood of participation in research and development work were found for occupational therapists who had completed further education. Current and prioritized research topics were professional development and the development of interprofessional and professional service designs for occupational therapy. Service and quality development, rehabilitation and technology were areas where more knowledge was considered needed. To increase the growth and success of occupational therapy research and development, it is important that more occupational therapists in the municipality continue to complete further education. High-quality occupational therapy practice should be based on research and development projects in the municipalities.

Exploiting Container-Based Microservices forReliable Smart Mobility Applications

Smart mobility is emerging, addressing heterogeneous scenarios with high impact on technology infrastructures, solutions, and people. Safety and availability are mandatory, forcing the design of new reliable services for localization, health monitoring of the user, maintenance of vehicle, and protection of the environment. This paper proposes a container-based microservice approach to the edge computing in IoT smart mobility scenarios. Since smart mobility backends must manage a large heterogeneity of applications, the proposed approach is promising with respect to the classical solutions (based on "monolithic hardware+software" devices), from the point of view of flexibility, upgradability, security, scalability, and reliability. A demo use case, based on industry-grade hardware and Docker, has been realized and multiple implementations of the same services have been executed in parallel, showing strong independence between them. Moreover, average delays of less than 10 ms are obtained, confirming the usability in several smart mobility (and smart city) applications.

How do self-motivation and social motivation contribute to consumers’ acceptance of m-health services?

ObjectivesThe study aimed to propose a unified model integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM), social-determination theory (SDT), and social motivation to examine the roles of self-motivation (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competency) and social motivation (i.e., social influence and social recognition) in consumer acceptance of m-health services. In addition, the study aimed to explore whether relationships among the antecedent factors and consumer acceptance of m-health services would be moderated by consumers’ demographic characteristics. MethodsPartial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to test the proposed model with data from 614 Chinese m-health users. Multi-group analyses were performed to examine whether the results were different or equivalent across demographic backgrounds. ResultsUsage behavior was significantly influenced by behavioral intention. While self-motivations mostly exerted impacts on behavioral intention through the mediating roles of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, social motivations affected behavioral intention both directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of perceived usefulness. In addition, most of the hypothesized relations remained unchanged across gender, age, and usage experience. ConclusionsThis study reveals the important roles of varied self- and social motivations in developing consumer acceptance of m-health services. To facilitate consumers’ acceptance, m-health services should be designed to meet consumers’ internal requirements on autonomy and relatedness and earn recognition from social perspectives. The findings provide insights into the design and implementation of m-health services in support of consumer acceptance across different demographic backgrounds. Public interest summaryM-health has long been considered as a promising tool to support individuals’ health care activities and achieve improved efficiency and quality in the delivery of health care services. However, the introduction of m-health to consumers has proven difficult, and wide acceptance has not been achieved. We conducted a field survey of 614 Chinese m-health users to identify the roles of self-motivation and social motivation in consumers’ acceptance of m-health services. We found that self-motivation can exert impacts on consumers’ acceptance through the mediating roles of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, while social motivation affected acceptance both directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of perceived usefulness. In addition, these effects mostly remained unchanged across consumers’ gender, age, and usage experience. Based on our findings, we propose implications to design and implement m-health services in support of consumer acceptance across different demographic backgrounds.

Elevating Service Design and Customer Experience: Customer Value Proposition Validation and Design for New Digital Bank “Bank S” in Indonesia

Purpose: This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive framework for digital banking in Indonesia, highlighting the strategic importance of integrating business strategy and marketing to achieve competitive advantage in the digital era. Digital banking has become essential to Indonesia's financial industry, as it offers convenient and efficient solutions to customers. Banking institutions in Indonesia must understand the strategic framework required to gain a competitive advantage in the digital banking landscape. Method: This thesis explores the Elevating Service Design and Customer Experience: Customer Value Proposition validation and Design for New Digital Bank “Bank S” in Indonesia’s digital banking context. Result: This study examines the impact of digital transformation on banks’ competitive advantage by examining how emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and data science, drive innovation in the sector. Additionally, this study investigates how banks leverage multi-channel delivery, particularly mobile banking, to offer cost-effective services and enhance customer experience. Finally, it analyzes the role of trust and security in promoting the customer adoption of digital banking services. Conclusion: The findings from this study contribute to understanding the strategic approaches that banks in Indonesia can adopt to gain a competitive edge in the digital banking landscape.

The Operational Data Analytics (ODA) for Service Speed Design

We develop the operational data analytics (ODA) framework for the classical service design problem of [Formula: see text] systems. The customer arrival rate is unknown. Instead, some historical data of interarrival times are collected. The data-integration model, specifying the mapping from the arrival data to the service rate, is formulated based on the time-scaling property of the stochastic service process. Validating the data-integration model against the long-run average service reward leads to a uniformly optimal service rate for any given sample size. We further derive the ODA-predicted reward function based on the data-integration model, which gives a consistent estimate of the underlying reward function. Our numerical experiments show that the ODA framework can lead to an efficient design of service rate and service capacity, which is insensitive to model specification. The ODA solution exhibits superior performance compared with the conventional estimation-and-then-optimization solutions in the small sample regime. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management. Funding: Z. Jiang’s research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 71931007]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.00655 .

Designing AI-Powered Services: How narrow AI is transforming customer journeys and the role of service designers

The rapid advancement of AI has brought about significant changes in various industries, and service design is no exception. As AI continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, it is crucial for service designers to understand its potential and learn how to effectively integrate it into their service offerings. This article explores the relationship between service design and AI, focusing on the current state of narrow AI and its impact on customer journeys, while also highlighting the importance of collaboration between service designers and AI experts.

‘Teaming with AI’ – A Community Exploration: Integrating AI into service design teams responsibly and effectively

While AI is becoming ubiquitous in the work of more and more service designers, there is less attention being paid to how it affects teams. ‘Teaming with AI’ is an open community that enables sharing, experimentation and exploration of teamwork rules within organisations, projects, or workshops in the age of AI. The community’s first white paper presents the results of the first years of experimentation and is highly relevant to service designers. In this article we share its core messages.

Is Ethical Tech Mythical? A deep-dive into service design and social sustainability

The excitement around AI is often followed by concerns. As service designers who often play the role of advocates for our customers, how can we evolve the way we work to ensure we continue to play this role with integrity in a rapidly changing world?

AI and Risk Management: The Critical Role of Service Designers: Guiding organisations toward responsible AI adoption

The growing hype around AI follows an all-too-familiar pattern: the desire by organisations to supplant human expertise with technological tools. Service designers have a crucial role to play here as informal risk managers, guiding organisations toward an adoption of AI that enhances, rather than replaces, the human element in service.

Paving the Way for Ethical AI Integration: How design research can help guide meaningful decisions

As with any big transition, we don’t know exactly where AI will lead. Careful consideration is needed to meaningfully integrate AI into society in a way that respects people. The human-centred approach of design research within service design has already contributed to this across many life-altering digital revolutions – think of the internet and smartphones as two in our recent past. And it will continue to do so for the integration of AI, as we grow by expanding and applying existing methods and approaches.

An AI-enabled Approach to Experience Blueprinting: Co-creating healthcare experience journeys with AI

As we navigate complex service landscapes, how might we harness the power of generative AI to enhance the experience blueprinting process? Our explorations delve into the potential of AI in co-creating detailed, context-aware journeys – offering a fresh perspective on integrating AI with service design.

Meet the AI expert

In this interview, Touchpoint Editor-in-Chief Jesse Grimes interviews Yifan Gan, a Shanghai-based consultant working at the intersection of service design and AI, and a Guest Editor of thisissue of Touchpoint. In addition to his consultancy work assisting Chinese firms with AI strategy and implementation, he is a lecturer for TongJi University and Shanghai Jiaotong University in service design and strategy.

Healing and wellbeing outcomes of services for Aboriginal people based on cultural therapeutic ways: A systematic scoping review.

Aboriginal Australians experience disproportionately high rates of mental health problems as the result of European colonisation, and Western evidence-based treatment has been strikingly ineffective in improving the situation. Cultural Therapeutic Ways is a culturally specific healing and wellbeing practice framework developed by the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency that focuses on culturally based practices, trauma awareness, and self-determination. Despite wide recognition of the importance of these elements in Indigenous healing and wellbeing programs, its measurable empirical impact is currently unclear. This paper summarises findings from a systematic scoping review to ascertain the published knowledge base for Cultural Therapeutic Ways and the gaps in knowledge that can inform future evaluation. Forty-two studies of programs that applied Cultural Therapeutic Ways with Indigenous participants from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States of America were identified from the literature search. Services based on Cultural Therapeutic Ways contributed to healing and wellbeing because they create safety, strengthen cultural connections, develop empowerment and provide opportunities to release emotion, and increase social and spiritual support. As the review set out to determine the published evidence base for Cultural Therapeutic Ways, other effective approaches may have been overlooked. To develop the evidence base for Cultural Therapeutic Ways, service design must clearly describe target groups, whether the program is delivered by Aboriginal people, the processes of Cultural Therapeutic Ways utilised in service delivery, and how they are blended with Western approaches. Research efforts could also productively be focused on identifying or constructing culturally appropriate outcome measures.

Implementation of a Web-Based Outpatient Asynchronous Consultation Service: Mixed Methods Study.

Asynchronous outpatient patient-to-provider communication is expanding in UK health care, requiring evaluation. During the pandemic, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland expanded its outpatient asynchronous consultation service from dermatology (deployed in May 2020) to gastroenterology and pain management clinics. We conducted a mixed methods study using staff, patient, and public perspectives and National Health Service (NHS) numerical data to obtain a rounded picture of innovation as it happened. Focus groups (3 web-based and 1 face-to-face; n=22) assessed public readiness for this service, and 14 interviews with staff focused on service design and delivery. The service's effects were examined using NHS Grampian service use data, a patient satisfaction survey (n=66), and 6 follow-up patient interviews. Survey responses were descriptively analyzed. Demographics, acceptability, nonattendance rates, and appointment outcomes of users were compared across levels of area deprivation in which they live and medical specialties. Interviews and focus groups underwent theory-informed thematic analysis. Staff anticipated a simple technical system transfer from dermatology to other receptive medical specialties, but despite a favorable setting and organizational assistance, it was complicated. Key implementation difficulties included pandemic-induced technical integration delays, misalignment with existing administrative processes, and discontinuity in project management. The pain management clinic began asynchronous consultations (digital appointments) in December 2021, followed by the gastroenterology clinic in February 2022. Staff quickly learned how to explain and use this service. It was thought to function better for pain management as it fitted preexisting practices. From May to September 2022, the dermatology (adult and pediatric), gastroenterology, and pain management clinics offered 1709 appointments to a range of patients (n=1417). Digital appointments reduced travel by an estimated 44,712 miles (~71,956.81 km) compared to the face-to-face mode. The deprivation profile of people who chose to use this service closely mirrored that of NHS Grampian's population overall. There was no evidence that deprivation impacted whether digital appointment users subsequently received treatment. Only 18% (12/66) of survey respondents were unhappy or very unhappy with being offered a digital appointment. The benefits mentioned included better access, convenience, decreased travel and waiting time, information sharing, and clinical flexibility. Overall, patients, the public, and staff recognized its potential as an NHS service but highlighted informed choice and flexibility. Better communication-including the use of the term assessment instead of appointment-may increase patient acceptance. Asynchronous pain management and gastroenterology consultations are viable and acceptable. Implementing this service is easiest when existing administrative processes face minimal disruption, although continuous support is needed. This study can inform practical strategies for supporting staff in adopting asynchronous consultations (eg, preparing for nonlinearity and addressing task issues). Patients need clear explanations and access to technical support, along with varied consultation options, to ensure digital inclusion.

AI-Enabled Adaptive Service Blueprints: The complexities of AI in public service design

While AI technologies are being incorporated in many types of services, their application in public sector contexts creates a unique set of dynamics and opportunities. Even as distinguished from ‘civic services’ (which are managed by networks of non- profits and non-state actors for the purposes of addressing social needs) or ‘collaborative services’ (which are co-produced by states, non-state organisations and active members of the public), the dynamics of public accountability specific to state- orchestrated services merit particular consideration.

Campus entrepreneurs’ research habits and needs: a five-year study

PurposeThis study surveyed the entrepreneurship community on a large university campus in 2016 and in 2020 to identify and understand its information habits and needs. User needs can inform service design and assessment, as well as inform approaches to reference interactions. Librarians are encouraged to conduct similar surveys to better understand this niche population.Design/methodology/approachInvestigators employed repeated cross-sectional design, a longitudinal research approach that draws on samples of non-overlapping or minimally overlapping cases over time. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using online survey instruments. Data collected included demographic information, venture characteristics, participation in institutional activities such as accelerator programs and credit courses, general startup research behaviors and needs, and details of a specific instance of business or market research as well as interaction with the library and access to training. Triangulation of semantic and episodic was applied to draw reliable conclusions about respondent behavior.FindingsIn both surveys, over half of respondents were students and 75% of respondents were engaged in startup activity, most at the early stages. While respondent demographics, type and purpose of information sought remained constant between the two surveys, awareness and use of the library rose on several metrics. Coding revealed insights into respondents’ attitudes toward and strategies for secondary business research. Information obtained during the research process had a moderate impact on their ventures. These findings informed the development of library research and instruction services, programs, and collections for entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThe repeated cross-sectional design of the study is unique and shows trends in the community over time. The mixed-methods approach provides a robust and nuanced portrait of the community. These findings informed the development and assessment of library research and instruction services, programs and collections for entrepreneurs.

Redefining Future Expectations: How to unlock differentiation in the era of generative AI

We are on the cusp of a customer-service revolution, driven by generative AI. The technology, with its ability to derive deep insights and generate new content based on vast stores of structured and unstructured data, opens the opportunity to craft richer, more satisfying experiences. This, of course, is a significant opportunity for organisations looking to deepen their relationships with internal employees and end customers. But it also poses a genuine challenge for service designers: As gen AIraises expectations for targeted, relevant and useful interactions, designers will increasingly be charged not just with meeting those expectations, but constantly exceeding them.

Teaming Up with AI: Augmenting the Service Design Process

Imagine a world where designing services isn't just about human creativity, but also about smart bots working alongside us. In this article, we explore how AI is revolutionising service design by taking on some of the designers' tasks and improving the outcomes. Through real-world examples, we demonstrate how AI has become a powerful partner for designers and offer guidance on how to effectively integrate AI into the design process.