The Story Vacuum: Why User Research Isn’t Enough / Brian Whittaker / Ep. #252

How to Thrive When Your Company Doesn't Get Service Design / Inside Service Design / Elle & Nick / Ep. #12

You look around the room and realize you’re the only one who cares about the customer. 😫 It’s exhausting to be the lone voice begging for user research while everyone else just wants to ship the next feature. In this episode, Elle Beaumont-Bilsby [http://go.servicedesignshow.com/94t4t] and Nick Gaff [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/b-d1-] join the show to discuss the heavy lifting required to be an in-house service design practitioner. We move beyond "thick skin" and look at how to build a sustainable career in environments that don't fully understand design. You’ll learn: * Why surviving as a lone wolf is impossible and how to locate "quiet allies" hidden in other departments. * A practical framework for building resilience at an organizational, service, and personal level. * How Elle and Nick practice high-impact design without having "Service Designer" on their business cards. * Practical tips for staying sane and avoiding burnout when you are the only advocate for the user. * How to find a support crew outside your organization to help you carry the weight. I'm curious, if you had to make a guess, how many people do you have around you inside your org that get it? 1, 5, 20... let me know. Enjoy the episode and keep making a positive impact. ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to the March Round Up 01:45 Defining Resilience 03:30 Service Design in Australia 04:45 Elle’s Design Journey 07:00 Nick’s Career Path 09:00 Effects of Digitization 11:00 Higher Ed Challenges 12:30 Impact Over Tools 14:00 The Resilient Self Season 14:45 3 Altitudes Framework 16:00 Organizational Resilience 17:00 Resilient Service Design 18:00 Personal Development 19:15 Recharging and Self-Care 20:00 Resilience as a Quality 21:00 Individual Resilience Focus 24:15 Peer Support Systems 28:00 Navigating Corporate Culture 31:30 Vulnerability in Leadership 35:45 Building Internal Allies 39:00 Friday Afternoon Reflections 42:15 Success Beyond Metrics 45:30 Managing High-Stress Projects 49:00 Sustainable Innovation 52:15 Resilience as Design Criteria 56:45 Switching Off and Recharging --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellebeaumontbilsby/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellebeaumontbilsby/] * https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngaff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngaff/] --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=12&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=inside_service_design&utm_id=episode_description&utm_content=ep_12_march] --- [ 4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] --- * Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-youtube] * Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-spotify [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-spotify] * Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-apple [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-apple] * Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-snipd [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-12-snipd]

The Story Vacuum: Why User Research Isn’t Enough / Brian Whittaker / Ep. #252

Imagine making the cover of Time magazine... Okay, maybe not. Nobody gets into service design for the fame. Actually, as we’re always saying on the show, our best work is usually the stuff nobody notices. The spotlight stays on the CEOs. You rarely see the people in the trenches, the ones making sure the "faceless" public services we rely on actually work. Think about it for a moment, you can thank a mailman because he’s a human being standing on your porch in the rain. But when water is coming out of your faucet, there’s nobody to thank. It’s just "the system". That invisibility is exactly why people sometimes get hostile toward the government or big institutions. It's always "us versus them" because there’s no "them" to relate to. So our guest for this episode, Brian Whittaker, decided to change by starting a project called Humans of Public Service (HoPS). In this episode, we talk about the early days of the project and the weirdly difficult task of getting modest, quiet service design professionals to actually talk about themselves (on camera). He also shares hard won lessons on how he finally got the project to take off. It’s an inspiring conversation. It shows how much the vibe changes when you put a human face on a anonymous system. So if you’re trying to build empathy inside a big, messy organization, Brian’s blueprint really might just be what you need. While you’re listening, try to think of one "boring" story in your own org that deserves a spotlight. Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact! Be well, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 252 03:45 Family Roots in Service 05:00 Current US Service Challenges 07:30 Private to Public Transition 10:00 Modernizing Federal Tech 11:00 Passion of Public Servants 13:30 The Shift in 2020 14:15 Humans of Public Service 15:45 Growing on LinkedIn 17:00 Amplifying Unheard Voices 18:15 Shifting the Narrative 21:30 Bridging the Empathy Gap 25:45 The Power of Recognition 32:45 Institutional Design 38:30- Scaling Human Connection 44:55 The Future of Service 51:15 Advice for Change-Makers 53:30 Final Reflections --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwhtt/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwhtt/] --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle [https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=252&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=service_design_show&utm_id=episode_description&utm_content=v1] [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] * Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-youtube] * Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-spotify [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-spotify] * Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-apple [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-apple] * Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-snipd [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/252-snipd]

Why Bad CX is Your Greatest Leverage Point / Journey Management Playbook / S2E01

How do you get your boss to actually fund journey management? 💰 We’ve all felt the frustration of making an impressive map that everyone "likes" but nobody actually uses. when that happens, our practice loses credibility. Season 2 of the Journey Management Playbook is here to fix that by focusing on the BUSINESS CASE. What we cover in this episode * Why journey management is a strategic asset, not a "nice-to-have." * how to calculate the actual cost of bad customer experience. * shifting the conversation from "fluffy" CX metrics to boardroom metrics. * getting stakeholders to embrace a journey-led way of working. Martin Palamarz is the chief customer officer at TheyDo [https://www.theydo.com/]. he spends his time helping global organizations scale their CX efforts and understands the language of executive decision-making. It’s best to watch the video version on Youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-youtube] to see the examples on screen, but you can also find the slide deck in the show notes below. --- [ 1. LINKS ] --- * Playbook Slides [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/tq4e4?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=service_design_show&utm_id=episode_description&utm_term=season2&utm_content=09] * CX Cost Calculator [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-cx-cost-calculator-podcast] * The Journey Management Playbook [https://www.theydo.com/resources/journey-management-playbook?utm_source=service-design-show&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=202604-Global-Marc] --- [ 2. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Journey Management Playbook S2E01 02:00 Martin's background 04:30 Origin story of TheyDo 06:45 Series overview: CX costs 08:45 The CX Toolkit 10:00 Bridging the gap 13:45 Forrester research findings 16:30 CX & business performance 19:30 The Norway story 23:00 Boardroom metrics 30:45 The Cost of Bad CX 38:30 High-value journey steps 40:30 Drop Off Rate Explained 42:30 "Nice-to-have" trap 48:15 Service design & revenue 50:00 Starting small 52:15 Mckinsey research 57:30 AI for customer data 1:00:00 3-minute executive reports 1:01:30 Ticket value & variables 1:08:30 Bad CX VS. CX Investment 1:12:00 Building momentum 1:14:00 the final challenge --- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] --- * Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-youtube] * Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-spotify [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-spotify] * Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-apple [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-apple] * Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-snipd [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-09-snipd]

Why "Being Human" is Your Only Future-Proof Skill / Nav Qirti / Episode #251

Our brains were not designed for this pace... Just think about it. For thousands of years, humans had ages to adapt to new technology. When we discovered fire or the steam engine, we had generations to figure out the implications. Today, things are shifting so fast that trying to keep up by just "learning more stuff" feels biologically impossible. At least to me 🤣 It’s like you’re trying to run 2026 apps on the operating system of a legendary—but limited—Nokia 3310 phone. So, for this episode, I sat down with Nav Qirti from the School of Metaskills to talk about why we’re looking at the "skills gap" all wrong. Nav argues that we should stop chasing "functional skills" (which have a very short shelf life anyway) and focus on the things technology can't touch: judgment, curiosity, and reasoning. We also dive into why you can’t just read a book to get better at empathy or judgment. Nav explains that you need a "proxy environment" to train those muscles. Most professionals I know practice by just following a script, but Nav shows us how to build the mental strength behind the craft. This conversation offers an optimistic path forward by focusing on the core human abilities that technology simply cannot replace. Which of your "mental muscles" feels a bit weak lately? If you’ve got a moment, leave a comment below and let me know. I’d love to hear what a "workout" would actually look like for you 🙂 Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact. Be well, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 251 04:00 The Falling Behind Puzzle 05:30 6Adapting to AI 08:15 Seeing what matters 10:15 Obsolete hard skills 12:30 Outdated learning models 15:00 The 90/10 Imbalance 16:45 Bucketing Skills 17:15 Communication as a base 19:00 Human survival traits 21:15 Building capacity 25:45 Expertise vs. scripts 29:15 Measuring the wrong things 37:30 Leadership and meta-skills 39:45 The shift from "doing" to "leading" 42:15 Why technical expertise has a ceiling 45:00 Identifying your personal meta-skill gaps 48:15 Low-stakes practice 50:00 Defining Proxy Environments 51:30 How to practice judgment daily 55:15 Building empathy without the pressure 58:15 Anxiety to Control 59:00 Reframing the AI threat 1:01:00 Focusing on the human operating system 1:02:15 Regaining professional confidence 1:02:30 Closing thoughts --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/navqirti/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/navqirti/] * www.navqirti.com [www.navqirti.com] * www.metaskills.global [www.metaskills.global] * Skills to make us future ready & future relevant [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klGheRwxwBo] --- [ 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=service_design_show&utm_id=episode_description&utm_content=251] [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] * Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-youtube] * Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-spotify [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-spotify] * Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-apple [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-apple] * Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-snipd [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/251-snipd]

The Curse of the Competent Service Designers / Chad & Jin / Inside Service Design #11

What happens when a service design professional does their job well... Usually? Absolutely nothing. No organizational gears grind. No customers complain. No one panics. You did your job, so the disaster simply stayed in your head instead of becoming a reality. That’s the curse, though. No one's going to congratulate you for a crisis they didn't have to experience. I sat down with Jin Wan and Chad Cheverier for the this episode of Inside Service Design to talk about this "great enabler" trap. To make things practical, Jin had a great example about redesigning an onboarding journey. His biggest win wasn't a shiny new interface. It was moving a step in the verification process to the backend so nobody had to intervene manually. It saved the company (and customers) countless hours, but the solution itself is completely unseen. Chad mentioned a similar struggle. Looking at his quarterly review and realizing he doesn't have many "shiny" deliverables to show. His best work was aligning teams and coaching PMs to do their jobs better, which doesn't look like a "deliverable". So, how do you stay motivated when your best work is invisible and goes unnoticed? And more importantly, how do you sell the value of that work to the people holding the budget? We unpack all of that in this episode. If you had to make an estimate, how much of the work you do is "invisible"? Send me a quick reply and let me know. Be well, ~ Marc --- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to February Round Up 05:00 Jin's path: From IT and HR to Marketing and CX 07:30 Chad's path: From photography to in-house design 10:45 What a CX professional does at a startup 11:45 Why you should ignore job titles 14:30 Jin’s digital onboarding in financial services 18:00 Why service design feels like internal consulting 24:35 Core competencies missing from design education 31:15 Navigating the "messy middle" of organizational change 39:00 Dealing with stakeholders who bake in solutions 45:30 The power of simplifying complex journey maps 52:00 Strategies for building internal resilience 58:45 Advice for aspiring in-house service designers --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadcheverier/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadcheverier/] * https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanjin/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanjin/] --- [ 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=inside_service_design&utm_id=episode_description&utm_term=february&utm_content=ep_11] --- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] --- * Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-youtube [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-youtube] * Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-spotify [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-spotify] * Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-apple [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-apple] * Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-snipd [https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-snipd]