What stood out in 2010

By taking the highlights of the 2 major conferences last year in Berlin and ServDes in Linköping, we used this edition of the Thinks to talk about the things that stood out in 2010. There was still a lot of discussion on the scope of service design and where it fits in an organization. Someone suggested it was time to introduce a client journey next to the well known customer journey. A topic that really struck a cord with me was the discussion about the ethics involved in service (/social) design projects. What obligations do you have as a designer towards the community that you’ve “dragged” into your project. What happens when your project stops but the participants are still in that context. We didn’t get to clear answers but raising the question and creating awareness was very valuable.

More network activities this year

We also looked backed at the first 2 years of the Dutch Service Design Network and also took the opportunity to elaborate on the plans for 2011. This year the network is going to organize more events then ever before. Of course we’re going to keep on going with the Thinks but we’ll also organize more in depth Labs and there are plans for a large conference at the end of this year. We’re always looking for people that want to actively participate in the network so feel free to drop me an email!

Join on March 30th

I really enjoyed this edition of the Thinks mainly due to the very engaged group that turned up. The open format sparked a lot of interesting discussions that kept on going during the drinks.

The next edition of the Thinks will be on March 30th. If you want to attend be sure to join our linkedin group in which we’ll post the rsvp announcement.

So the presentations lead up to a discussion on the challenges that deal with putting design research into practice, not how to actually do design research.

ROI is far away

The overall notion is that design research doesn’t deliver results that will benefit the profitability of company in the (very) short term. How do you convince clients that doing design research is worth the money?
The analogy I often use is that design research is a compass while quantitative research is a road-sign. Road-signs guide over known paths to known places while a compass helps you discover new worlds.

Labour intensive (and thus expensive)

Yes, getting out there in the field and doing a photo-study in someone’s kitchen takes time. But it’s only expensive if you can compare it to the value you get out of it. Either we have to come up with more agile design research methods that take less time. Or we have to find ways of explicitly showing the value the research delivers.
Someone in the audience rightly said that quantitive research isn’t cheap either. The significant difference is that the bulk of the work in quantitative research has to be done upfront (designing the survey).

It’s hard to communicate rich data

Design research usually produces a lot of unstructured -messy- data. This presents the challenge of how to communicate the most valuable insight to your client.
Recently I had a discussion with someone who argued that people (and businesses) are more attracted to numbers. I don’t believe this at all. Just think of how many anecdotes you’ve heard about a CEO saying that he want’s the iPhone of his industry. Warm compelling stories will win the heart of people any day over hard cold facts. Designers should take much greater advantage of this.

Conclusion

These challenges aren’t new at all. But what strikes me is that I read very little about them in the (service) design community. These are the real challenges that stagger the impact designers make, not the quality of the tools and methods they use.

So, I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on these challenges.

This is what you need to know if you want to join:
Where: 31Volts, Oudegracht 8 in Utrecht
When: Wednesday 21 April – start at 19:00h
Cost: free, but RSVP if you want to join!

Hope to see you next week!

Programma

Geke van Dijk van STBY zat de avond voor en stak van wal met de introductie. Ze introduceerde de 4 sprekers en een aantal voorzetten voor discussie achteraf.
Elke spreker kreeg 10 minuten gesprekstijd met daarna nogmaals 10 minuten voor discussie en Q&A.
De sfeer was erg open en experimenteel; het netwerk gaat in co-creatie richting geven aan haar activiteiten. Hier werd graag gehoor aan gegeven. Er werd besproken met welke reden mensen aanwezig waren, wat ze van het netwerk verwachten en zelf kunnen bieden. We kwamen aan het eind tijd te kort om met de hele zaal verder te discussiëren.

Deelnemers

De Waag society stelde een zaal ter beschikking voor ongeveer 50 mensen, maar het aantal aanmeldingen en geïnteresseerden kwam al gauw boven de 70 uit. Van leden van het netwerk tot studenten. Van een klein aantal dienstverleners tot vele ontwerpers en consultants die service design herkennen als onderdeel van hun bezigheden. Zelfs iemand uit België die erg te spreken was over het initiatief, de open mentaliteit en het ‘delen’!

De dillema’s in Service Design

Het is duidelijk wanneer je een loodgieter moet bellen, maar wanneer bel je een servicedesigner? Marcel kaartte hedendaagse dilemma’s en uitdagingen aan waarmee organisaties spelen en stelde de vraag ook aan het publiek.

Benieuwd naar de andere sprekers? Alle presentaties zijn opgenomen op video en te zien op de SDNNL-site.

Vervolg

Er is zeker vraag naar het soort bijeenkomsten, de Thinks, Drinks, Talks en Labs worden goed bezocht. Reacties, tips en bijdrages zijn van harte welkom op info@servicedesignnetwerk.nl
De frequentie van de Thinks is eens per 2 maanden. Houd de SDNNL-site in de gaten voor de thema’s en volgende bijeenkomsten!

Service Design Network Netherlands is organizing the very first Dutch Service Design Drinks! Our goals is to offer a informal platform where everyone involved or interested in service design can meetup and share ideas while enjoying a liquid refreshment. It’s a free entry and get your own drinks event. The drinks are monthly meetup, moving between Amsterdam and Utrecht.

We’ll meet in the Louis Hartlooper Complex (15-20 min walk from Utrecht Central station). If you come by car your best bet is to look for a paid parkingspot around the Oosterkade. When the weather is sunny we’ll hop over outside to the best terraces of the Netherlands, Ledig Erf (photos and history).

If you twitter about the this event or the Service Design Network Nederland use #sdnnl as your hashtag!