The Service Design Breakfast was also a course at the Aalto University. Students needed to complete a diary of the lecture series to complete the course. Eva Rio (student at the Aalto Service Design and Engineering Master's program) did a fabulous diary and allowed us to share it with all of you.

1. Eva Rio - 279462
DIARY Pictures from slides and
SDBreakfast Facebook page
SERVICE DESIGN BREAKFAST 2012
SERVICE DESIGN THE DIARY TABLE OF CONTENTS
BREAKFAST
The Service Design This diary is a summary SD: why should I care? - 2
Breakfast is a series of the seven service The spirit of SD - 3
of open talks by design talks that took No guesswork needed - 4
place in Design Factory Work begins after the
leading service design
launch - 5
experts hosted by and Startup Sauna during
There is no such a thing as
Startup Sauna and the the fall quarter.
service design - 6
Aalto University. Service acceptance boosted
by e-learning - 7
How to fail in SD - 8
[1]

2. Risto Sarvas (Futurice / Aalto University)
SERVICE DESIGN
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
19.09.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 1
In the first Service Design Breakfast, Risto Sarvas from Futurice and Aalto University gave three main reasons
for the need of service design and explained the challenges in designing for the whole society
There are many factors shaping the end result of a physical or digital artifact (e.g. corporate culture, advances in
technology...), but design should also take into account the social context. The societal aspect (not as understood
by Facebook, but as in a sense of community) is becoming and more relevant and influencing the outcome of the
design. Time and place dimensions must also be considered in the design and construction phase of a service.
The world has changed incredibly during the last decades. This has led to the industry to rethink how products and
services should be designed. There are three main reasons that make service design a needed science:
1) Software is easier and cheaper to change. Particularly, developer tools and languages have advanced to a
great extent. Thus, engineers and designers need to spend less time worrying about technology, and can focus
on other areas like user behavior, marketing, communication, logistics, etc. We are moving from waterfall to
agile /lean software design.
2) Services are physical. Designing the UI is not enough anymore because people do not only interact with the
screen and other factors must be taken into account (walking, talking to others...)
3) A service has multiple channels. For instance, the same newspaper can be access by the same user through
many different devices (e.g printed, mobile, tablet, laptop...). For an optimal experience, all the data must be
integrated seamlessly across the multiple channels. New ways of accessing the web (cars, fridges...) emerge
every day.
In 2000, service design was about engineering usability, not only technology. In 2010, the scope changed to build
engaging and long lasting relationships between companies and customers. Now, the future is all about changing
society through design.
[2]

3. Mikko-Pekka Hanski (Idean)
THE SPIRIT OF
SERVICE DESIGN
3.10.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 2
The second Service Design Breakfast taught us how the feelings and emotions of service designers affect the
final outcome of their designs
Service designers create experiences. This experiences create memories and emotions in people, so they come
back to the service. To make the experiences complete, designers must take decisions, and for that they need to
FEEL something.
There are some process flows and ways of working in service design that are becoming standardized (e.g.
needfinding, service touchpoints...). It is in these processes where designers make decisions, and the way they feel
in that moment will affect their final outcome. The most common feelings though a service design process are:
1) First crush: designers fall in love with the project
2) Excitement: designers fantasize with early stage visualizations and what the final solution might look like
3) Frustration: in many occasions designers are not satisfied because they cannot find a perfect solution
4) Magic moment: suddenly the designer understands and sees the whole picture, knows what the service is
about and how it should like.
5) Boredom: designers have to do mundane tasks after all the exciting phases have been done
6) Relief/remorse: after the project is finished, some designers feel relieved (they can jump into new projects) or
remorse (“could I have done better?”)
Service designers are aware of these feelings and they should cope with them to be successful in their projects. For
that, Mikko-Pekka gave several tips: respect yourself (take as much time as needed for the design and do not try to
finish it in a rush), maintain the blood sugar level (eat well), re-define the project plan (create your own project plan,
aside of the company one), and reflect after the project is done (go back and learn from the project and the
processes).
[3]

4. Karri-Pekka Laakso (Reaktor)
NO GUESSWORK
NEEDED
17.10.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 3
In the third Service Design Breakfast, Karri-Pekka Laakso from Reaktor explained how concept design, user
interface design, graphic design and implementation must work together to create successful services
According to Karri-Pekka, designers should not be UI design answers
considered as gods who can make miracles with their touch. - what do users need?
They like getting things done everyday, so they should be - how to support this need?
considered as craftsmen that work with tangible things. In the - how should the service work?
same way that Newton’s method works, designers must look in order to solve it.
all the time for better approximations to the optimal design,
Graphic design gives the look and feel of the service,
to ensure that tomorrow’s design will be better than today’s
answering
one.
- how does it look like?
In the web, people buy and use things that are easy to - how does it feel?
understand. In order to succeed with service design projects, and beatifying and making it appealing so users want to buy
designers should follow a bottom-up approach, as opposed and use it.
to top-down. Building from a bottom-up perspective means In the implementation stage, the engine of the service (the
starting from the reality, that is, understanding how users will code) that makes it work is built.
use the service and what their needs are. To tackle this
To create successful services involves going where things
challenge, concept design, user interface design, graphic
happen and where the users are in order to understand and
design and implementation must work together:
build from the bottom, because some services are really
Concept design answers the following questions
complex and it is challenging to design and construct simple
- where does it hurt if you do not have this service?
and valuable solutions.
- where is the money?
- for whom is it designed?
in order to identify the problem. On the other hand,
[4]

5. Janne Toivola (Futurice)
WORK BEGINS AFTER
THE LAUNCH
31.10.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 4
The 4th Service Design Breakfast taught us what happens after the service is launched: how to align service
design and business goals, how to measure Key Performance Indicators for the service and analytics for
verifying its success and further improvement
Service designers put a lot of effort in the design and implementation phase, but few care about what happens after.
Design should be done as analytically as possible. Very often, there is no way to know if a design will work or not,
that is why analytics are needed. Although some analytics can already be build into the product, the service should
be tested after it is launched in order to get data for analysis. In order to create a service, business model, user
needs, features + content, UI+ visual design, and marketing are needed:
Understanding the goals that the designer is trying to accomplish with the product is one of the most relevant
points from a business perspective. Goals should be doable, understandable, measurable and beneficial, otherwise
there will be nothing to compare and contrast results.
Knowing the user needs allows designers to adequate the content and the delivery channel that suits and
supports them. User interface and visual design should guide and help the users in their tasks.
From a marketing point of view, the service should reach the people (though the right channel), engage and
activate them (offering value for the user so that he/she will come back), and finally nurture them in the post-service
experience (make them recommend the service to their friends).
Validation should be done in all the previous areas. In the business model, making comparison and searching for
trends are one of the most effective ways to know if goals have been met. Measuring and validating results
concerning user needs consist in answering a simple question: did we reach the users that we intended to reach?
For validating the content and features of the service it is necessary to study how people used the service. The
effectiveness of UI and visual design can be measured by knowing if people were actually able to use the service
from the beginning to the end. For the marketing side of the service, a metric that can be used is to discover where
the users came from and compare that to the channels we used for reaching them.
[5]

6. Anton Schubert (358)
THERE IS NO SUCH A
THING AS SERVICE DESIGN
14.11.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 5
In the 5th Service Design Breakfast, Anton Schubert explained how the role of service designer is critical to
help companies deliver a a consistent user experience accross the service customer journey
Organizations isolate themselves into silos. They have different departments (engineering, marketing, finance...) that
do not interact nor communicate among them. This is one of the reasons that prevent companies from
understanding their customers. Designers (service designers, interaction designers, graphic designers,
communication designers...) can fill this gap and enable dialogue between companies and their users. The mission
of a designer is to help people and companies like each other.
The customer journey is a tool that helps designers understand the users. It has 6 stages:
- Awareness: how did I hear about the service/product?
- Engagement: what makes it great? what value does it have for me?
- Purchase: why did I buy/acquire it?
- Use: what makes my user experience satisfactory?
- Use more: why would I still like to use it 2 years later?
- Advocate: why do I tell the product/service is great to my friends?
Companies should join together all the elements of the customer journey and experience to make it work. But
companies work in silos, and with different consultants and agencies, so it is impossible to deliver a consistent
message and experience to the customer. Designers should be T-shaped people, with a deep core skill and a broad
understanding of other fields, including service design. They should develop an empathy for other disciplines by
working with them on the wider customer journey in order to deliver consistent experiences and make customers fall
in love with companies.
[6]

7. Jouni Tuominiemi (HiQ)
SERVICE ACCEPTANCE
BOOSTED BY E-LEARNING
18.11.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 6
In the 6th Service Design Breakfast we discussed about the integration of service design and e-learning and
the acceptance of new services by users and companies.
New technologies have enabled new ways for self-study and the there are many existing tools that can be used for
learning (videos, social media, websites...), but the truth is that learning itself happens in the person’s mind. Self-
study material with predefined patterns of study used to be the preferred way of learning new things for individual
learners, but nowadays, people can chat and discuss with each other, making the learning experience more social.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be used by companies and individuals to keep track of their progress.
LMS are used to record course enrollments, provide a learning path according to the skills and needs of the learners,
and also for later evaluation. With LMS, people and companies can track how fast and well one has learned a certain
topic.
Users like to develop themselves and learn new topics that interest them. But they do not want to learn how to use
the service that will help them learn new things. If a user needs help in using the e-learning service, then the service
has failed. Interactive study material is of great help, but it should not replace the service design. People go through
different emotional phases once a service is launched. Usually users are first shocked and then confused. In
unsuccessful services, users will experience anger and depression right after denial, but in successful services they
will pass through a short phase mild disappointment and then they will face integration and enhanced performance.
One proposed solution for building successful e-learning services is to launch the interactive study material early
enough before the service launch and involve people in the early stages of the design, in order to make the first
shock moderate and disappointment milder. People should also be motivated not only to start, but also to complete
the course. Localization, gaming, competitions, diplomas, learning itself and so on are some of the potential
incentives that can be used to motivate individual and companies in e-learning and service adoption.
[7]

8. Reima Rönnholm (Palmu Inc)
HOW TO FAIL IN
SERVICE DESIGN
12.12.2012 - #SDBREAKFAST 7
In the latest Service Design Breakfast, Reima Rönnholm dove into the importance of testing the design with
real customers and learning and understanding the real problem that needs to be solved.
Failing is inevitable, but how to do it right and learn from it? Service design is a complex science, the basic
challenge is to design better experiences for customers, which is not always easy. To ease the process, service
designers must understand users’ behavior and the context of use. Customers are always part of the service, in fact,
services do not exist without customers. Making the intangible concrete, visual and physically available, testing with
customers, and involving them in the design help designers find the problem.
Money and effort should not be spend in designing the wrong service and solving the wrong problem. Spending time
in analyzing and identifying the problem is worthy: the solution will become straightforward because it is already
embedded in the problem. In order to discover the right problem, it is necessary to make mistakes and learn by
doing. To succeed and identify the problem to be addressed, designers must starting from the “why”, that is,
understanding users’ needs and goals and how our services can help them achieve those goals. Trying is the first
step to failure, but also the first step towards learning. Avoiding killing ideas too fast might lead to unexpected
findings. In many occasions, organizations are not able to do radical innovations, because they are already experts
and have too much knowledge. Here, generalists are ahead of specialists. Designs do not need to be complete, and
co-design is the only kind of design there should be in service design. Metrics are needed to measure what are the
reasons why services do/do not work and to understand what effects what and how, but also to measure if your
service is making a change.
Make change happen is one of the most challenging parts of service design. Designers like getting things done, but
it is difficult to get companies to adapt. Service designers enable behavior change and create tools that support that
change. Facing failure is hard, but designers must be open to learn from mistakes and find the solutions hidden in
failure.
[8]