Service and System thinking
Department of Computer Systems and Communications
Academic Year: 2016-2017
Francesco Caputo
fcaputo@mail.muni.cz
Service Design and Service Delivery Process
Service
Ø Something that is done to, or for, a customer
Service delivery system
Ø The facilities, processes, and skills needed to provide a service
Product bundle
Ø The combination of goods and services provided to a customer
Service Design Definitions
The Service Design is based on a strategic choise which determines
the nature and focus of the service and its market target
Service Design
Key issues in service design
Degree of variation in service requirements
Degree of customer contact and involvement
ü Services are acts, they are intangible but highly visible to the customers
ü Services contain both of tangible and intangible attributes
ü Service performance can be affected by workers’ personal factors
ü Services are created and delivered at the same time, they are not consumed but
experienced, and they cannot be inventoried.
ü Services have low barriers to entry
ü Service requirements are variable
ü Services tend to be decentralized and dispersed
ü Services are consumed more often than products
ü Services can be easily emulated
Characteristics of Services
Ø Facilities-based services:
Where the customer must go to the service facility
Ø Field-based services:
Where the production and consumption of the service takes place in the
customer’s environment
A service business is the management of all the organizations that
interact with customer to produce the service
Service Business
Components of service delivery system:
Ø Facilities
Ø Processes
Ø Skills
Service Delivery System
Service design involves:
Ø The physical resources needed
Ø The goods that are purchased or consumed by the customer
Ø Explicit services
Ø Implicit services
Ø Conceptualize
Ø Identify service package components
Ø Determine performance specifications
Ø Translate performance specifications into design specifications
Ø Translate design specifications into delivery specifications
Phases of Service Design
Phases of Service Design
Performance Specifications
Service
Delivery Specifications
Physical
items
Sensual
benefits
Psychological
benefits
Design Specifications Service
Provider
Customer
Customer
requirements
Customer
expectations
Activities Facility
Provider
skills
Cost and time
estimates
Schedule Deliverables Location
Service Concept Service Package
Desired service
experience
Targeted
customer
DESIGN DECISION HIGH-CONTACT SERVICE LOW-CONTACT SERVICE
Facility location Convenient to customer Near labor or transportation
Facility layout
Must look presentable,
accommodate customer needs,
and facilitate interaction with
customer
Designed for efficiency
Quality control
More variable since customer is
involved in process; customer
expectations and perceptions of
quality may differ; customer
present when defects occur
Measured against established
standards; testing and rework
possible to correct defects
Capacity
Excess capacity required to
handle peaks in demand
Planned for average demand
Design for High-and-Low Contact Services (1 of 2)
DESIGN DECISION HIGH-CONTACT SERVICE LOW-CONTACT SERVICE
Worker skills
Must be able to interact well with
customers and use judgment in
decision making
Technical skills
Scheduling
Must accommodate customer
schedule
Customer concerned only
with completion date
Service process
Mostly front-room activities;
service may change during
delivery in response to customer
Mostly back-room activities;
planned and executed with
minimal interference
Service package
Varies with customer; includes
environment as well as actual
service
Fixed, less extensive
Design for High-and-Low Contact Services (2 of 2)
Ø The front-end and back-end of the encounter are not created equal
Ø Segment the pleasure, combine the pain
Ø Let that the customer can control the process
Ø Pay attention to norms and rituals
Ø People are easier to understand than systems
Ø Pay attention to the service recovery
Applying Behavioural Science to Service Encounters
Ø Each element of the service system is consistent with the strategic and
operating focus of the firm
Ø It is user-friendly
Ø It is robust and easy to sustain
Ø It is structured
Ø It provides effective links between the back office and the front office
Ø It is cost-effective
Ø It ensures reliability and high quality
Characteristics of a Well-Designed Service System
Ø Variable requirements
Ø Difficult to describe
Ø High customer contact
Ø Service – customer encounter
Challenges of Service Design
Ø Define the service package
Ø Focus on customer’s perspective
Ø Consider image of the service package
Ø Recognize that designer’s perspective is different from the customer’s perspective
Ø Make sure that managers are involved
Ø Define quality for tangible and intangibles
Ø Make sure that recruitment, training and rewards are consistent with service
expectations
Ø Establish procedures to handle exceptions
Ø Establish systems to monitor service
Guidelines for Successful Service Design