Episodes
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What does it take to spend more of your time creating real impact...
That's the central question we're exploring in our Journey Management Playbook series.
In the last episode, we did something pretty amazing: we took a pile of raw data and, with a click of a button, watched AI generate a structured journey map in a matter of minutes.
I'll admit even though I was a bit skeptical to start with, this felt pretty magical.
But the truth is that this first draft is just the beginning.
As you have hopefully seen, an AI-generated journey gives you an incredible head start, but it's not yet something you should bet your business on.
So, how do you move from this first draft to a decision-making tool you can truly trust? How do you make it yours?
That’s exactly where we're going in Episode 4. This is the essential next step.
Once again, Tingting and I roll up our sleeves and show you the practical, step-by-step process of:
Prioritizing what to tackle first, so you don't get overwhelmed.
Verifying AI-generated insights to build confidence.
Enriching the journey using properties to add depth.
Using filters to focus on what matters most.
As you'll see, we're now entering the areas where the power of modern AI-driven journey management truly comes alive.
There's still a lot of work for us to do, but AI allows us to focus our time on the areas where we can add the most value.
Just like in the previous episodes, we're diving deep inside TheyDo with a lot of screen sharing.
If you're listening to the podcast version, I highly recommend having the accompanying slides handy to follow along visually. You can find them in the show notes.
Take care,
~ Marc
--- [ 1. LINKS ] ---
Playbook Slides - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/08gplSign up for TheyDo - https://www.theydo.com/service-design-show--- [ 2. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 4
01:30 What to expect in the episode
04:00 Service Design Pitfall: Over-Perfection
05:00 TheyDo & Tingting's Introduction
09:00 Previous Episodes Recap
11:00 Diving into AI Journey Scenarios
13:00 Scenario 1: AI Journey Verification
15:00 Prioritizing Insights: Where to Start
24:00 How to verify individual AI insight
25:45 Marc's verification approach
28:00 Managing Supporting Quotes & Splits
33:00 Iterative AI Workflow & Refinement
35:30 Clarifying AI-Generated Details & Sentiment
38:00 Verifying Insight Types
40:45 Adjusting Experience Impact Score
42:30 Understanding Insight Ownership
46:00 Summary of Verification Process
47:00 Batch Editing Insights for Efficiency
49:30 The Power of Tagging & Taxonomy
51:00 Statuses: Tracking Workflow Progress
59:00 Personas: Differentiating User Experiences
1:02:30 AI & Human Collaboration: Not Obsolete
1:03:00 Groups: Engaging Different Teams
1:05:00 Tags: Global Dimensions for Insights
1:07:45 Filtering & Prioritization with Tags
1:10:45 Journey Health Score (Upcoming Feature)
1:11:32 What Makes a Healthy Journey?
1:12:00 What's Next on Episode 5
1:13:00 Audience Q&A
1:15:00 Conclusion & Looking Ahead
--- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---
YouTube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-04-youtubeApple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-04-appleSnipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-04-snipdOther ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-04-other -
Let's be honest, unfortunately not many business truly cares about sustainable services...
The energy debate around AI is finally highlighting digital services' environmental impact. But every service, digital or physical, consumes resources: energy, materials, and even our time. As service designers, we have a moral obligation to design with sustainability at the core.
This episode tackles the real challenges: clients not asking, defining "sustainable," and measuring impact. Our guest, James Chudley, shares key lessons and real-world examples from his journey, showing how he integrates sustainability into daily design.
Discover what it really takes to design services that are better for customers, better for business, and better for our planet. Plus, uncover a deceptively simple design principle that guarantees more sustainable services.
Can you guess what it is? The clue is in this episode.
Keep making a positive impact on customers, business, and our planet!
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 230
05:00 How to define sustainable service
07:30 Are services sustainable?
12:00 James' unique journey
16:00 The Pivotal Decision
22:00 Integrating Sustainability
27:00 The power of minimizing
30:30 Navigating Stakeholder Talks
33:00 can we justify unsustainable services?
34:40 From Sustainable to Regenerative
35:30 Case Study: Circle Community
38:15 Non-Digital Touchpoints
39:57 Avoiding Measurement Paralysis
43:30 Adding a "Sustainability Lane" to Journey Maps
48:30 Principles
42:00 Mental energy
47:30 Community Design Principle Example
54:30 Accessibility in Sustainable Design
55:30 Sustainability as Personal Practice
57:30 the trojan horse
58:30 First Steps for Inspired Designers
1:00:90 Resources
1:02:00 Question to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
Connect with James Chudley:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameschudley/http://www.jameschudley.co.uk/ James' 'Decarbonising User Journeys' approach to help you pragmatically decarbonise your highest value user journeysDecarbonising User Journeys @ UXGlasgow (Talk)Digital Sustainability Strategy template to help you build a clear, actionable plan for how you are going to minimise the environmental impacts of your digital services Simple Steps You Can Take To Decarbonise Your User JourneysThe principles for the design and delivery of greener servicesBooks:
You Can't Make Money From a Dead Planet - Mark ShaylerDesigning for Sustainability - Tim FrickSustainable Web Design - Tom GreenwoodLet My People Go Surfing - Yvon ChouinardDecarbonise Digital - Eric ZieHow To Avoid A Climate Disaster - Bill Gates The Climate Book - Greta Thunberg World Wide Waste - Gerry McGovernClimate product leaders playbookOther Helpful Online Resources:
https://sustainablewebdesign.org/https://sustainableuxnetwork.com/ https://www.sustainablewebmanifesto.com/https://designdeclares.com/ W3C Web Sustainability GuidelinesGDS Design PrinciplesGDS Service ManualTalktoFrank - The Government drugs advice websiteGreen Web FoundationWebsite Carbon Calculator
EcograderCardamon Website Carbon Calculator--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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Missing episodes?
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Have you ever thought about...
What a therapist, a grandma, and an organ donor teach you about service design?
I know, this might sound like the start of a strange joke, but it gets to the heart of a big truth about our work.
We invest a lot of time perfecting our journey maps, blueprints, and personas.
But as we know, the challenges we work on won't be solved by a deliverable.
They're solved through invisible "tools" like subtle influence, creating space for others, and building strategic relationships.
So, where do you find these tools? Well, this episode is a great start.
This episode is part of our "Inside Service Design" series, where we explore the real, unpolished practice of driving change from within organizations.
And just like in the previous episodes you get to hear two brilliant in-house professionals, share some of their most powerful, non-traditional strategies. This time we're joined by Irina Damascan and Gina Mendolia.
Gina walks us through her concept of "Setting the Trap" for engagement, and how she draws inspiration from the roles of therapists, coaches, and even grandmas to master the art of creating space and enabling teams to connect the dots themselves.
Irina introduces a powerful model for influence she calls the "Organ Donor Chain," a strategic way to build networks of reciprocity by doing "favors" that enable change across the organization, often in unexpected ways.
I have to say, it was refreshing to hear about effective mental models that go beyond design-as-usual, which aren't just theories but truly help to design better services.
Want to add some (unconventional) tools that help you drive change to your toolkit? Grab your notebook and join us for this conversation.
What's the most unconventional place you've found inspiration for your work? Maybe a different profession, a hobby, a movie? Share your inspiration in the comments on YouTube and let's continue the conversation there.
Keep making a positive impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to the May Round Up!
05:00 Irina's path to service design
07:45 Gina's service design journey
09:00 Gina defines success
11:00 Irina defines success
17:00 Challenges Gina tackles
19:00 Irina's service design role
24:45 Gina's dinner table session
29:30 Adding inspiration
30:30 Irina's session insights
40:30 Gina's life-simplifying tactics
45:45 In-house misconceptions
51:00 How Gina measures success
56:00 Advice for younger Irina
58:30 Irina shares an example
1:03:00 Gina's motivation
1:04:30 Questions to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/irinadamascan/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginamendolia/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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Ever feel like your most crucial work goes unnoticed? Just like the essential "cooling fluid" of a car, much of service design's impact—making teams efficient and processes smooth—operates in the background. But when it's missing, chaos erupts.
In this episode, our guest Kat Thackray dive into the invisible, yet vital, work that drives true change in service design. We'll explore why this intangible effort is often overlooked, what it actually looks like in practice, and actionable ways to gain the recognition and resources you deserve.
If you're tired of your crucial contributions being taken for granted, this episode is your roadmap to getting that unseen work finally recognized.
Enjoy the conversation, and keep making that positive, even if sometimes invisible, impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 229
04:15 Who is Kat Thackray
05:00 The Consultant's Dilemma
07:45 Kat's "Aha!" Moment: Prioritizing People
10:30 Painful Status Quo of Teamwork
15:00 Why Organizations Overlook "Soft Skills"
19:00 How COVID-19 Shifted Design Focus
21:00 Bridging Strategy & Delivery
26:30 The Need for Team Coaches
29:00 The "Ted Lasso" Effect
32:00 Expanding the Designer's Toolkit
34:45 Jack of All Trades vs Specialized Expert
35:45 Unpacking the "Golden Thread" of Collaboration
40:45 Practical Steps for Healthier Team Dynamics
43:45 Navigating Tricky Power Dynamics
47:45 Recognizing Team Vulnerabilities
51:15 The New Skills Emerging in Design
51:45 Empowering Your Team Members
53:45 Connect & Learn More: Resources
55:15 Kat's Final Advice for Designers
57:15 A Question to Ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinethackrayhttps://the-shift.ghost.io/ https://www.peopleequalspurpose.com/ Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Book)--- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---
YouTube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/229-youtubeApple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/229-appleSnipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/229-snipdOther (RSS) ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/229-other--- [ 4. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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It's time to continue our journey...
In episode 1 of the Journey Management Playbook we pinpointed a key business challenge that we want to tackle.
The focus of episode 2 was all about gathering qualitative and quantitative data to understand the 'what' and the 'why'.
But now comes the big question: How do you transform all that valuable material into clear insights and identify the opportunities that will actually make a tangible impact, fast?
Where should you even start to make sense of it all and prioritize your efforts?
This is where the rubber meets the road, and it's exactly what we address in episode 3. We're diving into the crucial first steps of structuring and scoping.
Just like in the past episodes, we're joined again by Tingting Lin from TheyDo, who shows us how to take our raw data and, with AI as our powerful co-pilot, quickly generate an initial, structured journey map.
This episode helps you understand how to:
Take your raw qualitative data (like survey responses or interview notes) and use AI to generate an initial, structured customer journey map
Begin making sense of AI-generated insights by understanding different insight types and how to initially prioritize them.
Enrich an existing journey structure with new data using AI, effectively showing how to augment prior work with fresh insights.
Our goal with this whole series is to help you use journey management to make tangible impact faster, and as you'll see AI is a great tool to accelerate this process.
Important Note: This episode features a lot of screen sharing as we build a journey live inside TheyDo. So to get the most out of it, I highly recommend watching the video version on YouTube or having the accompanying slides (link in the show notes) handy if you're listening to the podcast edition.
Enjoy and keep driving that positive change.
~ Marc
[ RESOURCES ]
Playbook Slides - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/0nz_4Sign up for TheyDo - https://www.theydo.com[ GUIDE ]
00:00 Episode 3: What to Expect
02:30 Introducing Theydo & Tingting's
06:00 The Big Picture
07:30 Episode 2 Recap
08:30 Offboarding Sources
09:30 The Goodbye Email Data
12:00 Working with Unstructured Data
13:30 Miro Board: Structuring Insights
14:30 First Step in Journey Management
15:00 Generating a Journey with AI
18:00 Starting a New Journey in Theydo
20:00 AI-Generated Journey from Scratch
23:00 Enriching an Existing Journey
31:00 Blank Slate
36:00 Collaborating with AI: Verifying Insights
42:00 Check Mapped Insights
46:00 Workspace Insights Overview
49:00 3 Ways Prioritizing Verification
50:00 Prioritizing with Pain, Gain & Observations
51:30 Starting with Pain Points
1:04:00 Bonus Questions from Previous Episode
[ RSS LINKS ]
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Why does doing good service design often feel like an uphill battle...
Okay, I'm on a mission this year to find the best recipe for BBQ Chicken Wings (recommendations are welcome, by the way).
Over the weekend, I was experimenting with a new one (I'd give it an 8.5/10), and then it struck me.
I can have the most delicious recipe, but if my guests turn out to be vegetarian, we spontaneously decide to go out for dinner, or the kids are just tired of eating chicken again, it won't matter.
No one will appreciate my tasty chicken wings, no matter how hard I try.
And obviously, the problem isn't with the recipe itself.
Well, you might be surprised how often this exact scenario plays out in our work in service design.
We pour our hearts and souls into crafting solutions that should create a positive impact on users and our organizations.
Yet, somehow, a lot (maybe most?) of these well-designed solutions never actually see the light of day.
Is it because they are bad solutions? Assuming you know what you're doing, most likely not.
So, there must be something else going on. Are there other critical success factors (like knowing your guests are vegetarian) that we tend to overlook when we're so focused on perfecting the "recipe"?
It turns out there are (which probably isn't a huge surprise to many of us).
So what are these other success factors?
And most importantly, how do we understand them and maybe even turn them in our favour?
That's what we discuss in this episode with our returning guest, Brad Alphonso.
Brad has led numerous service design initiatives from the initial idea all the way through to implementation inside a large, regulated, and pretty complex organization.
He's open about the fact that not all of these initiatives had the impact he hoped for, but over the years, his success rate has gone up significantly.
In this episode, we look back and reflect: Was it luck? Was there a magic breakthrough, or did the 'game' itself change somehow for him?
So if you want to move the needle with your work, instead of it feeling like a constant struggle, this episode offers important clues – around understanding your organisation's real momentum and how decisions actually get made – that could help you navigate much more effectively.
This conversation made me reflect on the fact that I see so many talented service design "players" out there. And I do wonder how many of us are, at times, playing the wrong game... let's try not to be that person.
Keep making a positive impact!
Take care,
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 228
04:00 Brad's hopes for the conversation
06:00 Challenges in Brad's role
09:30 Business challenges
11:00 What gives teams headaches
13:00 Service design definition
15:00 Current operating systems
20:30 Importance of service design
24:45 Problem ownership
27:00 Alternative O.S. for solving wicked problems
30:00 Types of tools used
32:00 Strategy document examples
33:00 Three questions to ask your CFO
34:30 What is "good enough"?
36:30 Observing changes in your work
39:45 Tools for clarifying the operating system
42:00 Avoiding naivety
45:00 Winning the 'game' as a toolkit
47:00 What are we missing?
49:00 Obvious next steps - idea to inception
53:00 Why some projects fail
55:00 Pitfall perspective - pre-mortem activity
56:30 Summary of the Alternative O.S.
58:00 Question to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-alphonso--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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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-janssonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesadamfield/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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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.togetherbydesign.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/together-by-design/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
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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-8728308/Journey AI Episode: https://youtu.be/ImPCICkw9CITheyDo - https://www.theydo.com/[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)
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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.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/
[ Signed Copy Contest ]
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--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
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-
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/ Nicole's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerosebennett/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
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-
I'm sure you recognize this...
A stakeholders comes up with a new idea they want to explore, which you are highly skeptical about.
Or take the opposite scenario where you see value in pursuing an opportunity but have a hard time getting your business stakeholders on board.
The underlaying question in both situation is really how do you know which opportunities to pursue and which one are just a waste of time?
Once we have the ability to predict the future this question will become irrelevant... but up to that point we have to rely on tools and frameworks that help us make educated guesses about the future.
There's already many, many frameworks out there already that try to help you navigate theses kinds of strategic questions.
All of these frameworks come with their pros and cons and should be used in different situations.
But I'm pretty sure that you haven't yet come across the PRFAQ framework, at least I hadn't until I met Marcelo Calbucci, who recently wrote a book about it.
So, why should you care about another framework?
Well, for one PRFAQ has been used internally heavily inside Amazon for over 20 years already, helping them decide which projects to focus their resources on. And I think we can agree that Amazon has had a few success over the last years.
So why didn't this framework get out sooner and find broader adoption outside of Amazon, that's one of the questions I had for Marcello as well.
When I got more familiar with the framework, what fascinated me is that it has a strong emphasises writing.
Yeah, I know the idea of having to write instead of visualising might scare off a few people at first but trust me, you don't have to be novelist in order to leverage the power of this framework.
As you'll hear, Marcelo explains in this episode that writing has deeper and more important purpose than putting words on paper.
Does this mean it's less suited for the design community? The opposite couldn't be more than true, this framework should be a natural fit for us, and you'll learn why in the conversation.
So if you want to make important strategic decisions faster and with more confidence the PRFAQ framework is absolutely one of the tools you should consider.
And this episode will help you get up to speed about it in no time.
In a world where many people around us are more comfortable with the written word (and spreadsheets), having a framework like this can make the difference between finding the connection with them and not.
Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to episode 225
04:13 What is PRFAQ?
06:30 The problem PRFAQ solves
08:30 PRFAQ's Origin
10:00 Structure of a PRAFQ
13:00 When to Use
14:30 PRFAQ Power / Use
17:30 Thinking about PRFAQ
19:00 An Example
21:30 Strategic writing elements
24:00 Avoiding Nitpicking
25:00 Who Struggles / Benefits
26:45 Biggest misconceptions
29:00 AI Influence on PRFAQ
31:30 When to be careful using AI
33:30 How to Start using PRAFQ
35:00 Using Marc as an example
37:30 How to express the problem
39:15 Sustainability
41:00 Retention
44:30 Strategy: Can vs Should
45:45 The Spark
46:00 Marcelo's Next Steps
47:30 Does PRFAQ Take Long?
49:00 PRFAQ Superpowers / Importance
52:00 Writing Challenges
54:00 Possible Book Sequel
55:30 Question to ponder
56:15 Learn More about PRAFQ
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelocalbucci/The PRFAQ Framework (about the book)https://calbucci.com/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
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-
Ever feel like you're pushing a boulder uphill with journey management... Yeah, we've all been there. But guess what? There's a smarter way!
That's why we're launching a brand new deep dive series on the Service Design Show. In this series, we're pulling back the curtain on how you can get tangible business results faster through journey management.
Helping to grow trust with stakeholders, and finally getting the green light to do (more of) the work that truly matters.
For this series, I've brought in Tingting Lin from the TheyDo team. Tingting has pretty much seen it all. The wins, the stumbles, and everything in between. She's guided countless teams and knows precisely what separates the journey management champions from the rest. And over the coming weeks, she's sharing all the secrets with us.
In episode one, we're tackling a step that's often overlooked - a step that can derail your whole project later on. So, if you want to set yourself up for long-term success, this episode shows you the first key step on that journey.
P.S. Got questions? Share them in the comments on YouTube or Spotify and we might just answer yours in a future episode.
[ RESOURCES ]
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tingting-lin-8728308/Slides - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbookTheyDo - https://www.theydo.com/[ EPISODE GUIDE ]
00:00 TheyDo Ep 01: Tingting
01:30 Tingting's Background
02:30 Introducing Theydo Platform
04:15 Journey Management Struggles
08:15 Marc's Business Case
09:00 Episode Content Preview
10:00 Defining Effective Challenges
15:30 6-Month Challenge Example
16:30 Challenges vs. Goals
18:30 "Why" Before "How"
20:00 Quarterly Challenge Example
21:00 Marc's Target Example
23:30 Community Experience Challenge
26:30 Debit Card Focus
32:00 Bridging Journey Gaps
35:00 Setting Goals & Targets
36:00 Challenge Impact Analysis
38:15 Journey Achievement Goals
41:00 Reviewing Key Slides
43:00 Defining Good Challenges
45:00 Proving Contribution Value
47:30 Challenge Important Notes
48:30 Episode Content Recap
49:00 Audience Q&A Session
50:00 Next Episode Preview
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It's just not designed for me...
That thought hits me every time I'm in the kitchen, wrestling, trying to prepare a healthy meal for the family.
Reading recipes six times over, scrambling for ingredients, juggling the chaos of parallel cooking... yeah, it's a mess.
And then, there's my wife, a natural chef, gliding through it all with effortless grace. Watching her is like watching poetry in motion.
This stark contrast reinforces that the kitchen and everything in it feels utterly alien to me.
Now, as a white, middle-aged, English-speaking, physically able male, I'll be the first to admit this feeling of alienation is rare for me when dealing with most products and services. And yes, cooking is a trivial example.
But countless people who face do face this daily in situations far more critical.
Imagine navigating healthcare, financial services, or public services, feeling like they weren't designed for you. Now that's a serious problem.
Unfortunately, this is the reality for more services than we'd maybe like to admit.
Sure, from a service design (and business perspective), it's easy to justify focusing on the majority.
Time and resources are limited, so we design for the "center of the bell curve," the biggest group or the most profitable users. If that means excluding some, well, that's just business, right?
But our guest, Jess Kessin, argues that good design does not exclude.
She proposes an alternative approach: inclusive design that's both effective and cost-efficient. In fact, she insists it pays for itself.
So, how do we bring more inclusive practices into our design process? How do we make the business case? And what are some practical starting points?
We dive into all of that and much more in this episode.
As I've often said on the Show, making our services inclusive is our responsibility as a design community.
Even (especially) when no one is asking, it should be our own professional standard for good design.
Enjoy the conversation, and as always, keep making a positive impact.
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00Welcome to Episode 224
03:30 Meet Jess
05:15 Discussion of D-School
06:30 Barriers to Implementing Inclusive Design
08:30 The Business Case
11:00 Addressing Stakeholder Profit Concerns
13:30 Prototyping Inclusive Design
15:00 Identifying Key Focus Areas
17:00 Living up to design standard
22:00 Engaging "Edge Users"
25:00 Designing for Extreme Users
29:00 Expanding Design to "All" of Humanity
32:00 Community-Driven Design
33:00 Untapped Market Potential
35:30 Misconceptions Among Design Students
41:00 Blind Spots in Design Education
44:30 Learning from Users with Disabilities
45:00 Discovering Insights from Outliers
46:00 Importance of Good Design
49:00 Practical tips for designer
51:30 The Future of Inclusive Design
55:00 AI as a Tool for Inclusive Design
58:00 Taking Leadership in Inclusive Design
1:00:00 Food for Thought
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicazkessin/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
-
I try to avoid conflict... most of the time.
It creates tension that I usually find counter-productive.
But what if this tension is actually the catalyst for growth?
Have I been missing out?
Our guest Tash Willcocks thinks so.
She's a self-proclaimed former conflict avoider who now champions the idea of "running towards the conflict" to unlock its potential for positive change.
Yes, conflict creates a tension that most of us instinctively shy away from.
But according to Tash, this tension can foster collaboration and drive personal growth when channeled in the right ways.
There's just one small problem.
Conflict in the workplace often occurs when people give (or receive) feedback. But most of us aren't really great at this.
So, instead of using feedback as a constructive opportunity, things either spiral out of control, or people conceal the key message out of politeness.
In both cases, it's a missed opportunity.
The art is to find that sweet spot between kindness and clarity, where we can give and receive feedback in a way that feels supportive and helps us grow.
I have to say, Tash's journey from conflict avoidance to embracing tension is quite inspiring.
So, if you want to turn those tough conversations into moments where you learn and grow the most, this episode has you covered.
Tash made me think: What is the best feedback I've received, from whom, and what made it so powerful? What would be your answer...
Enjoy the episode, and keep making a positive impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to episode 223
04:00 Embracing creative conflict
05:45 What sparked her interest in this topic
07:00 Take hard conversations
10:30 Run towards the conflict
13:00 Teaching conflict
16:00 Opening up wounds
19:00 Radical candor
23:30 Avoiding hard talks
21430 Overcoming avoidance
27:00 Feedback and timing
30:00 Giving & receiving feedback
32:30 People solve problems
35:00 Beyond reading design books
38:00 Starving artist mindset
39:15 Takeaways so far
43:30 Drama triangle vs Empowerment triangle
47:00 Creating self-awareness while drawing
49:30 Drawing as journaling
51:00 Ruthlessly curious
53:00 Piece of advice
54:45 Question to ponder
55:00 Resources
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashwillcocks/https://www.instagram.com/tashwillcockshttps://bsky.app/profile/tashwillcocks.bsky.socialResources:
Radical Candor (Book)Radical Candor (Podcast)Turn the Ship around - BookLadder of leadership MindSpring Presents: "Greatness" by David MarquetJohari WindowGiving and receiving feedback - cards Susan Wheelan Team DevelopmentDrama and Empowerment TriangleScott Berkun - Why Design is hard--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
-
When advice goes wrong...
My daughter is an avid soccer player.
On a recent cold and dark Saturday morning, I was standing on the sideline cheering her on at a match - the priceless perks of being a dad.
At some point, the opposing team coach was shouting to their players, "You need to defend better!"
And all I could think to myself at that moment was, "That's terrible advice."
Not because they were defending well - rather the opposite.
But, I mean, "defend better" - would you know what you're supposed to do?
Should I press higher, get closer to the attacker, make more forward runs?
This type of advice often just leads to more confusion and coordination problems.
Now, in design, we also get this type of well-intended but counter-productive advice all too often.
Want a classic example?
How about "designers need to understand business"?
No sh*t Sherlock.
We hear this ALL the time.
Very rarely does someone go beyond the surface and get specific about what "understanding business" actually means.
Fortunately for us, we have someone on the Show today who does - Ryan Scott.
Ryan has an impressive track record in design, but he also holds an MBA degree.
This combination is quite unique and gives him the ability to look at challenges from different perspectives with empathy for both sides.
So in this episode, we unpack what it actually takes to bridge the gap between business and design.
You'll be surprised to hear how many skills you already have to make this crossover successfully.
It's not easy, but it's not as hard or distant as you might think, either. MBA degree not required.
So, if you've ever felt frustrated by the lack of respect and appreciation for design from "the business side," this conversation might just hold the clue on how you can turn that around.
I've always said that designers can be some of the best salespeople.
It's really time that we start using this power to our advantage.
Because we are all selling already, every single day.
Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to episode 222
03:00 Broad Designer Role
05:00 Business vs. Users
07:30 Why an MBA?
11:00 Business for Designers
14:00 People Skills & Clout
15:30 Design Gaslighting
21:00 Joining the Conversation
22:30 The Gap
32:00 Management-Led Design
34:00 Shaping Your Perspective
36:00 Sales & Brand
38:00 Biggest Roadblock
41:30 Reframing Our Identity
46:15 Adapting to the System
48:45 Imposter Syndrome
51:45 Proving Your Impact
54:00 Competitive Analysis
56:30 Design Career Path
1:01:00 Question to Ponder
1:02:15 Resources
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanscottcreative/ How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie (book) - https://a.co/d/0VTXtJ3 48 laws of power by Robert Greene (book) - https://a.co/d/ftLLRom https://www.acceleratedesign.com/ Maven Learning - https://maven.com/ryan-scott--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
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-
AI won't take over your job...
An 8-year-old girl with AI will!
Don't believe me? Check ou this video which was making the rounds on LinkedIn a while ago.
In the video a young girl coding a Harry Potter quiz game with the help of AI. In a matter of minutes.
It's a funny and striking example of where things are heading – or should I say, where they already are.
It'd be naive to think service design won't be affected.
But the current conversations about AI's impact often lack depth, nuance, and practical examples.
We don't seem to get much further than: "AI is good" or "AI is bad."
What are we even talking about when we say "AI"? We need to unpack it. Go beyond the surface.
Fortunately, our guest for this episode has done some of the heavy lifting for us.
As an educator at one of the leading design institutes, Pablo Fernández Vallejo has to live in the future.
He's always thinking about the skills future professionals will need in 4 years' time when they graduate. And of course, being able to make full use of AI is high on the list right now.
So in this episode, we sit down and talk about big questions like: Do we need to become AI experts ourselves, or should we focus on further developing our critical thinking skills? What are the risks and opportunities of bringing AI into the design process? What are the tasks that we can safely outsource to AI and which ones should we be more careful with.
So, whether you're an AI skeptic or optimist, I feel this conversation will challenge your thinking and help you make more informed decisions moving ahead.
A thought-provoking question in this episode is what will happen to our professional identities when AI starts to blur the boundaries between disciplines. It's not a question of if it will happen, but how quickly.
Curious to hear your thoughts, so make sure to leave a comment on below.
Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 221
04:00 Grandparents' influence on AI perspective
06:00 Over-represented large language models
08:30 AI with a bias
11:00 Designing at the age of AI
14:00 Current state of designing with AI
17:30 Automation vs. Augmentation
19:30 AI’s Impact on Students
26:30 AI Possibilities vs. Limits
29:00 AI & Expertise Balance
30:00 Calculator analogy
32:30 AI & Service Commoditization
35:00 How AI impacts non-digital services
38:00 AI power dynamics
38:30 Service design for ai
42:30 AI as an active participant
44:30 Gaps in the society
47:15 Questions we should be asking
53:00 Sustainability & AI
55:00 Learning about past mistakes
57:00 Tech development and society conversation
59:30 The future we can build
1:00:40 Resources
1:02:00 Questions to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablofernandezvallejo Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick (Book) Pablo's talk on Impact of AI in Service Design Pablo's post-SDGC article on the state of the conversation https://www.fernandezvallejo.com/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
https://servicedesignshow.com/circle
-
I crossed a line...
Recently, while working on redesigning our online community platform, my excitement got the better of me. I dove headfirst into prototyping a few things in the backend system.
"How hard could it be, right?" (Keep this line in mind throughout the rest of the email.)
Sure, I know a thing or two about programming, and if everything else fails, there's always AI to help out, right?
Well, the honest conclusion a few days later, when we brought in a true expert developer, was that I had no clue what I was doing.
Before the developer could implement the updates properly, we had to undo all the changes I had made. So we lost time, not once, but twice.
The silly thing is, this seems to be a habit I can't shake.
And I see it a lot around me as well: saying yes to challenges that are better left to experts.
Of course, there are many situations where being confident and experimental gets things done.
Instead of waiting and debating, we build a prototype and iterate from there.
Frankly, this approach is encouraged and celebrated in our design process.
But... there's a major pitfall.
In the story above, the cost of my "how hard can it be?" approach was lost time.
That's unfortunate but not something that will cause any major, long-term damage.
Now, imagine working in a context where the stakes are much higher.
Where you're intervening in people's lives. Where your solutions impact the well-being of communities. Where your approach has the potential to reduce—or increase—systemic inequalities.
KA McKercher, our guest in this episode, argues that in those scenarios, we can't just rush in and take on every project that comes our way.
Because when we do, and we go in with a beginner's mindset, chances are high that we might end up causing actual harm to the people who need help the most.
In those situations, losing time on a project is the least of your worries. There are clearly much bigger stakes at play.
So the tough question becomes: How do we know which challenges are a good fit for our skillset and which ones should we say no to?
Especially when we want to do good and contribute to a positive outcome in those high-stakes challenges.
Having the self-awareness to know you limits and limitations is a sign of maturity and professionalism.
If you care about growing your self-awareness, this is a conversation you don't want to miss.
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to Episode 220
04:00 Good intentions are not enough
06:30 Why this matters
09:00 Lived experience aligning to design
12:30 What's good enough?
14:30 What is co-facilitation
16:30 Emotional curiosity
20:30 Being conscious of the water
27:00 What to do
30:30 Is it a yes or no?
35:00 Intentions
38:30 What's within the scope
41:00 Material based practices
45:30 Impostor syndrome
48:30 Reviews on the article
50:00 Hoping the conversation evolves
52:00 When it's out of your scope
54:30 When to step away
58:00 Question to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-mckercher Ethical Curiosity with Trans and Non-Binary Clients by Lucie Fielding (book) www.BeyondStickyNotes.com--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
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-
You've never heard this on the Show before...
I'm referring to a design tool that most people disregard, even laugh about when they first hear about it.
They say it's childish, something you can't take seriously in a professional context.
But as you'll hear in today's conversation, this tool holds immense power.
Not only that, it helps you better align with your true self and what you truly want to contribute to the world.
And the best thing? You already have this tool in your possession. We all do.
So, what is this magical tool?
It's your dreams.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Dreams, really?!
But hear me out, it's actually not that crazy.
Why do we always talk about design thinking and design doing, and not about design dreaming?
If anything, I'd argue that the times we live in demand we dream more to envision a better future.
Our amazing guest, Courtney Morgan, helps us tap into the power of our dreams.
She shares practical examples of the power of collective dreaming.
We address the misconceptions around dreaming and discuss how to get people to tap into and share their dreams in a design process.
You'll notice that the conversation doesn't begin with dreams, but we naturally gravitate in that direction and fall down the rabbit hole.
So, if you want to go beyond the usual design tools and methods and tap into something truly transformative... make sure you don't miss this episode.
A simple practice to become more aware of your dreams is to start writing them down. This is what I've incorporated into my morning routine. Very curious to see what effects this will have in a few months.
Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome to episode 219
03:30 Defining "one percent"
05:00 Focus of the 1%
13:00 Non-profit & community
13:50 Importance of lived experiences in work
17:00 Building trust first
18:30 What happens with lack of trust
21:30 Designer vs Community member role
24:00 A "World Creator" role
26:30 5 years ago vs today
30:30 What is efficiency?
33:00 What does good look like
34:30 Patience and her son
36:30 The role of dreaming
39:00 Courtney's dream
41:00 How we can become better dreamers
43:30 Prejudice against collective dreaming
47:30 Unsurppressing dreams
54:00 Advice she wished someone told her
59:30 Question to ponder
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-morgan-associate-aia-noma https://www.thescrd.com/--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
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-
This one is a bit different...
Not the usual interview that you're used to.
In this episode, you'll actually hear me answering the questions.
Why? Well, it's become a bit of a tradition to start the year by reflecting on the lessons learned while building the Circle community.
The Circle started 3.5 years ago as an idea to see what would happen if we created a safe space for in-house service design professionals to connect and share regularly.
Today, it's grown to a healthy size with members from companies across the globe and in almost any industry you can imagine — from big tech to church organizations (I kid you not!). Service design professionals are everywhere these days.
I'm very grateful for where the community is today, but it certainly hasn't been a straight line up.
Designing a service (which is essentially what our community is) for service designers is quite hard, who would have thought? ;)
So, for this episode, I sat down with Ru Butler who's one of our Circle Council members to discuss the biggest wins, challenges, and ambitions for the coming year.
Even if you're not working in-house, I think you'll still enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how we're thinking about and trying to design our community.
I'd love to hear what you think of this episode format. Would you like to hear it more often? How could we make it better? Any other feedback is welcome, too.
Send me a message or reach out on LinkedIn.
Happy 2025 and take care,
Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 The Circle 2024 Special episode
03:00 Who is Ru
04:30 What stood out last year
09:30 Marc's key motivations
13:00 Ru's Circle Highlights: 1-on-1s
17:30 Benefits of 1-on-1s: accountability
19:00 Leading the Circle community
24:30 Favorite sessios in 2024
31:00 The community's growth
37:00 The importance of community
43:00 2025 Vision and The Loop
46:00 The follow-through
48:30 Seasons for the Circle 2025
54:00 2025 Goals
58:00 For the Self-Doubting Designers
--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubutler https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcfonteijn Advancing Service Design Talk: Increase your confidence, influence, and impact--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.
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