Technology Programming

Service Design – What is it and what are its implications for the modern society?

According to Wikipedia, service design can be defined as any activity that involves planning and organization of people, communication, infrastructure and material components of any service. The main purpose behind this concept is to bring about improvements in the quality of service offered, promote interaction between customer and service provider and also enhance the customer's experience with the company or organization providing the service. With the explosion of the service industry, this concept has also gained economic importance and hence requires proper planning, management and execution.

One of the main aims of service design is customer satisfaction and that means providing relevant, usable and reliable service to all kinds of customers. Hence both the form and function of the service has to undergo a design change to be able to cater to the customer's need. For the service provider, this concept means designing services that will help the company to be unique, efficient and effective. Service designing and implementation is now being taken up across all sectors of the industry as service has become more customer-oriented than ever before. Only an organization with a good design service can offer clients the best service and taste success in today's highly competitive market.

Service design is a systematic and empathic quest to unearth the hidden and unmet needs of customers which is then translated into development and incorporation of new service solutions. It can also be an improvement of the existing services which will thereby provide reliable, useful, effective, desirable and efficient service from the customer's point of view along with being feasible, profitable and viable from the producer's perspective. A variety of tools and methods are incorporated into making this concept a reality these days. These can vary across disciplines like product design, graphics, social sciences, marketing, business modeling, analytics and interaction design.

This concept is not just about customer focus but also about interdiscipline and branding. At its best, design service incorporates a perfect blend of both intelligence and innovation of design, technology, business management and social sciences. Branding is another major focus and brand value, perception and content can evoke a sense of trust among customers and make them come back for more services. A holistic and rounded approach to a service is what is required to get the best out of this design implementation and make it more user-centric.

Service design has become an integral part of every company or organization as customers these days are better informed, cosmopolitan and know exactly what they want. Unlike traditional service which depended only on market data and profits, today's service is all about customer focus. The emergence of Internet, social networking and similar technologies have thrown up the doors for various services which customers are ready to use as long as they are offered reliable and trustworthy service for their money. Only the implementation of the right business plan and design will enable companies today to meet this rising demand of clients. A practical approach along with creativity and a sound business strategy is what is required from every service provider to give his best to the customer.



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