Service Design
02 / Research & Journey
Key question
How do people experience the service today?
Good service ideas don't start at a desk, but where the service actually happens. Those who observe, join in and listen will discover the moments that make people feel frustrated or delighted. The customer journey brings these moments together into a story.
Learning objective: You can research a service using simple methods and create a customer journey with phases, experiences, and emotions.
Conduct research where the service happens.
2.1 / Research on Site
Participate, observe, ask.
Three methods deliver real insights quickly, without a big budget.
01
Service Safari
Using the service yourself, just like a customer. With notes and photos at every step.
02
Work shadowing
Accompany and observe people as they use or provide services, without intervening.
03
Short interviews
Ask directly on site: What was difficult today? What went well?
Observations are more valuable than opinions. People often say what they think is right, and then do something else.
Observing beats asking.
2.2 / The Customer Journey
A story in phases.
A customer journey map shows a person's path through the service, stage by stage. Each stage includes actions, thoughts, feelings, and touchpoints. The emotional curve highlights where things take a turn.
The journey is based on research, not assumptions. It describes a specific person with a specific goal, such as a tourist who wants to hire a bicycle for an afternoon.
The curve shows where it tips.
2.3 / Formulating insights
From frustration to opportunity.
Pain points turn into insights: what is the real problem behind them? A good insight connects an observation with a reason, such as: 'Tourists return their bikes too late because they can no longer find the station in the evening.'
This leads to a design question that encourages further thought: ‘How might we make returns so straightforward that no one needs to search?’ Find out more in the Design Thinking course.
Behind the anger lies the opportunity.
Exercise
An on-site journey
Task: Research a local service and create a customer journey.
STEP 1
Go on a service safari: use the service yourself and note down every step.
STEP 2
Observe two people using it and briefly ask them about their experiences.
STEP 3
Create the journey in the tool with five stages and the emotional curve.
STEP 4
Formulate an insight and a design question based on the biggest pain point.
Evaluation: Which observation surprised you the most?