Are commercial interests preventing clients from maximising the value they get from service design research?

Abstract:

That effective service design and innovation requires a user centred approach is accepted within the design industry. Further, it is largely accepted that the benefits that service design can bring are based on a wide understanding of user needs that incorporates considerations of user value and experience. However, knowing this does not make the accomplishment of effective service design any easier. The authors propose that companies have a range of choices in how they undertake user research for service development, and, that by understanding the different choices, companies can make more informed decisions on how to best use their financial, staff and capital resources. Companies employ numerous options to gain knowledge of their customers, from reacting to reports of customer needs conveyed by the sales people at one end of the scale, to employing anthropologists to document the lives of prospective customers at the other. Whatever strategy a firm utilises, it is likely to be driven by a combination of knowledge, expertise and resources.