Service Design Show

Are they lying to us... You often hear people say that driving change as an in-house service design professional often feels less like a sprint and more like a marathon, right? But let's be honest, that's not quite true. In reality, it's more like running an ultra-marathon (and some more). We all know that "tangible" progress in service design can sometimes feel slow and far removed. Often, the real challenge isn't about which tools, methods, or frameworks you use. It’s about keeping your internal flame burning and maintaining momentum inside the organization, especially when things get tough. But here's the good news: some professionals have found ways to play the long game successfully. So, how do you sustain your energy, passion, and impact when the work feels like a long-distance race (without a clear path and unknown finish line)? That's what this new episode is all about. It’s part of our new series where we dive into the actual, unpolished practice of in-house service design. For this conversation, I was joined by two experienced professionals, Linn Jansson and James Field. They are both deep in the daily realities of this work and truly get what the "in-house marathon" feels like. Linn and James share some honest insights – not just about their diverse journeys into service design, but specifically about how they navigate these long-term challenges and, crucially, how they keep their motivation high. In this episode, you'll discover where they find their 'fuel', including: The power of supportive teams and communities. The importance of recognizing those small (but mighty!) wins. How they’ve learned to see and appreciate the long-term shifts they are making, even when it's tough to notice day-to-day. So, if you're looking for some encouragement, practical perspectives on resilience, or simply the reassurance that you're not running this marathon alone, I think you'll get a lot from this episode. And on that note, I'm curious: What keeps you motivated when you're deep in the in-house design marathon? Hit reply and let me know. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact! Take care, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 In-house Service Design Realities 03:30 Linn's Journey 06:00 James's Journey 07:30 Defining Success 09:00 Linn's Success View 10:30 Measuring Progress 14:00 James on Influence 17:00 Measuring Enablement 18:30 Articulating Value 22:00 Why IMGD Helps 23:45 James on Influence 26:45 Org Influencing Designers 27:45 James's Sales Example 29:00 Keeping Design Sensibility 34:00 Misconceptions about SD 37:30 Linn's In-house Challenges 38:00 Linn on Failure 42:00 Gentle Activism 46:00 What to Strive For 48:30 Learning More 49:30 James's Motivation 52:30 Linn's Motivation 54:30 James's Final Point 55:00 Linn's Final Say --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/linn-jansson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/linn-jansson] * https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesadamfield/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesadamfield/ ] --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=002&utm_content=insideservicedesign]

Have we, as the design field, contributed to the erosion of our social fabric over the last years... I had a big week recently. My daughter received the news about which high school she'll be attending next year. In the Netherlands, we have a lottery system for high schools; you list multiple options and hope fortune smiles upon you for your first choice. The second option on my daughter’s list involved a 45-minute bike ride, which is quite a journey, even by Dutch standards. A few weeks prior, we’d made that bike ride together to visit the school. Reflecting on those 45 minutes, it struck me. The experience is, of course, completely different when you make that journey alone compared to when you’re riding alongside your best friend to school. Suddenly, those 45 minutes take on a totally new meaning. So, in this case to make the journey more enjoyable, you don't have to redesign the roads, you need to design for connection. This got me thinking: What if we shifted our focus in design? What would happen if we started designing more for groups instead of just individuals, for 'together' instead of 'alone,' for co-experience and communities? And what is the price we pay if we don't? It seems that many other fields already embraced the importance of community, while design seems to be trailing behind, why is that? These questions have been going through my mind a lot lately. That's why I was particularly excited to chat with James Lang. James, a founder of the collective Together by Design, has spent the last few years deeply immersed in the world of community design. In this episode, we explore why community design is an essential, yet often overlooked, part of the service design toolkit and share practical ways to build stronger connections through design. So if you're looking to design better, more humane services while strengthening our communities at the same time, this is the perfect episode for you. James and I had a fun debate about the art and science of knowing if your community is "working". I'm curious which side you’ll lean towards after listening. Keep making a positive impact and design for community! ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Intro / Welcome 04:00 Why Design Communities? 07:30 Community defined by James 10:30 Sense of Belonging 12:00 Together by Design 16:00 Why Study Communities? 26:00 Changing Our Approach 30:30 Ethics in Design 31:00 Ethics in Community Design 34:00 Cult vs. Community / Power Dynamics 37:15 Community Defined by Marc 31:30 Community Ownership & Power 40:45 Commercial Communities 42:00 Non-Commercial Communities 42:30 Money in Non-Commercial Communities 47:45 Community Health KPIs 51:45 Marc's Community Example 52:45 James on Marc's Community 56:00 Why Measure Community? 57:00 Measuring Community Signals 58:00 Intentional Community Building 1:01:00 Resources & Get Involved 1:02:30 James' Closing Thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslangresearch/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslangresearch/] * https://www.togetherbydesign.org/ [https://www.togetherbydesign.org/] * https://www.linkedin.com/company/together-by-design/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/together-by-design/] --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=227&utm_content=v2 ]

Who pours their heart and soul into journey maps that end up gathering dust... Exactly no one of course! Sure, we all want our journey work to have more impact, faster. But the question is how? That's exactly what we're exploring in the Journey Management Playbook series in collaboration with TheyDo. What makes this series different is that it's built on the real-world lessons learned from companies who are deep in the trenches of implementing journey management. Success leaves clues – clues we're sharing with you. Just like in the first episode, this second part dives into a step that many professionals (myself included, sometimes) tend to skip, overlook, or take for granted. Yeah, it's the kind of oversight that often comes back to haunt you later on. This crucial step is all about grounding your journey efforts in solid evidence, blending the what with the why. It’s what separates informed action from guesswork. Getting this right brings clarity on what truly deserves your attention and what noise you can safely ignore. Without it, you’re essentially sailing in the dark, hoping for the best. And let's be honest, hope isn't the most reliable strategy when stakeholders are looking for tangible results. So, join Tingting Lin and me to learn how to prevent your journey management efforts from failing to make the impact they deserve. I thought I already had things pretty well dialled in with my own journey management, but this conversation was an eye-opener. Tingting showed how looking into a few simple things differently could help me ground my journeys in even stronger evidence. Take care, ~ Marc [RESOURCES] * LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tingting-lin [⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tingting-lin ] * Journey AI Episode: https://youtu.be/ImPCICkw9CI [https://youtu.be/ImPCICkw9CI] * TheyDo - ⁠https://www.theydo.com/ [https://www.theydo.com/service-design-show?utm_medium=service-design-show&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=sds-podcast&utm_content=jm-playbook-ep02] [EPISODE GUIDE] 00:00 Episode Preview 04:00 Meet the Expert: Tingting 06:30 EP 1 Recap: Business Challenge 08:30 Data in Workflow 11:30 Analyzing with Data 16:30 Data Types & Sources 18:00 Siloed Data Challenge 19:30 Numbers vs Emotions 21:30 Why Data Quality 22:30 Understanding Quant Data 25:30 Correlations & Indicators 28:00 Comperehensive data 32:30 Adding Data Context 35:30 Actionable Data Context 37:45 Quant Data Takeaways 39:00 Qualitative Data Example 41:00 Churn Example with Qual 43:00 Unstructured data 45:00 Naturally occurring data 48:00 Key qualitative data insights 49:45 AI for Quality Analysis 50:45 Putting Data Together 53:00 Data Combination Insights 56:00 Data in Large Businesses 57:30 The Business Journey Tool 58:30 Episode 3 Preview 1:00:00 Audience Q&A (EP 1)

What is the secret to consistently delivering high-quality work, day in and day out... Recently, I was chatting with my neighbours who run a bespoke interior design and manufacturing business. They make truly stunning, customised pieces for the upper market. It's easy to think their success hinges on exceptional craftsmanship, which is surely part of it. But what really keeps their business running smoothly is something far more fundamental. In my conversation with them, we agreed that most of it comes down to things like having the right supplies available, making sure everything in its place so it can be found quickly, that tools in tip-top shape, and even something as simple as having lunch prepared so you don't have to worry about it. These basic and somewhat "boring" conditions, are what enable them to deliver consistently high-quality work. Without them, production would be a slog, quality would be all over the map, and let's face it, they probably wouldn't be in business for very long. We often take these kinds of conditions for granted. When things are running like a well-oiled machine, we assume that's just how it's supposed to be. But you, as a service design professional, know that the conditions for delivering your best work are often far from guaranteed. In fact, it can often feel like your organization is actively making your job harder, not easier. This brings us to the question: What would it take to create the ideal conditions for service design to achieve its maximum impact? And how can we actually put those conditions in place? Well, as you might have guessed already, that's where Design Operations (aka DesignOps) comes in. Getting started with DesignOps (or scaling it) can be a real challenge, especially in organizations that don't have a strong design heritage. But the good news is that John Calhoun and Rachel Posman have done the heavy lifting for us. They've gathered best practices from experienced DesignOps professionals and compiled them into a brand-new book "The Design Conductors". This book promises to help you kickstart or scale your DesignOps efforts more effectively, make a bigger impact, and sidestep common pitfalls. The result? Making your life as a service design professional a whole lot easier! So, with this foresight, we of course need to know more about this book. And you guessed it, that's exactly what this episode is all about. Here's already one key insight from the conversation: Every organization is already doing design operations. Most are just doing it unconsciously and missing out on the benefits. Yeah, there's a lot of low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked... --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 226 04:00 Book Title Revealed 05:00 Defining DesignOps 06:30 Starting the DesignOps Journey 08:30 Realizing it's DesignOps 10:30 Inside Design Operations 13:00 DesignOps IS Design 16:00 Honing the Craft (Iteration) 21:30 Ideal Book Audience & Origins 26:00 Book Feedback 28:00 Why Write the Book Now? 31:45 Book Structure Evolution 40:00 Favorite Writing Part 42:30 Deciding Book Content 45:30 Defining Success & Measurement 50:30 Knowing You're on Track 53:00 Current State of DesignOps 56:00 AI as a Roadblock 57:30 AI as an Opportunity 59:30 Questions While Writing 1:02:30 What Was Left Out 1:04:30 A Question to Ponder 1:06:30 Get the Book 1:07:30 Discount & Giveaway --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncalhoun/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncalhoun/] * https://www.thedesignconductors.com/ [https://www.thedesignconductors.com/ ] [ Discount Code ] Use "ServiceDesign15" to get 15% off the book. Valid till May 31, 2025. Redeemable at https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-operations/ [https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-operations/] [ Signed Copy Contest ] Leave a comment on this episode (via YouTube or Spotify) to enroll in the contest. We will pick a random entry on May 8th, 2025. Please respond within 24 hours if you have won to claim your prize. --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=226&utm_content=v1 ]

Who are they... I know there are many out there and you could very well be one of them. I'm talking about the unsung heroes who do the hard work of making the services around us a little bit better each and every day. It might sound a little bit silly, but I feel that we don't know enough what it's like to do service design on a day to day basis. Sure, we often hear about inspiring theories, useful frameworks and great case studies. But somehow we rarely get to see the honest, unpolished and messy side of our work. Well, that's about to change! We're starting an new series here on the Show. A series where we dive deep into the actual practice of service design. About time, right? ;) You'll hear two guests, both experienced in-house service design professionals, talk about their hard-won lessons, how they measure success, the indispensable skills to do their work well and much more. In this first episode, I'm joined by Shelby Bower and Nicole Bennett who both, as you'll quickly hear, bring a wealth of experience and practical wisdom to the conversation. So if you want compare if you're doing service design in a way that aligns with your fellow practitioners, and maybe learn a thing or two from their approach, this series is for you. Which question would you ask a fellow service design professional? Let me know and maybe I'll be able to weave it in into the next episode. ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to this episode 01:30 Introducing Shelby 05:00 Introducing Nicole 11:00 Nicole Definition of Success 13:30 Shelby's Success Metrics 17:30 Tracking Progress 21:45 Nicole's Dinner Table Session 23:30 Topic Choice (Nicole) 24:30 Shelby's Session Topic 26:00 Topic Choice (Shelby) 27:45 Nicole's Key Takeaways 30:45 Shelby's Key Moments 34:45 Shelby's Written Takeaway 36:00 Nicole's Post-Session Impact 38:30 In-House Design Misconceptions 43:30 Nicole's In-House Design Truth 46:30 In-House vs. Agency 50:30 Becoming Indispensable In-House 54:30 Shelby's Motivation (Burnout) 57:30 Nicole's Motivation 59:30 Nicole's Advice 59:45 Shelby's Advice --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * Shelby's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelbybower/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelbybower/ ] * Nicole's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerosebennett/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerosebennett/ ] --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle]