Designing Services that Sing and Dance

The key to understanding service design is to recognize that design need not only be about giving form to physical objects. Design thinking involves reframing problems in a manner that allows novel solutions to be developed. Services require preparation and planning (or what is called as design) with the aim of creating a particular reaction and a lasting memory in the customer's mind. This chapter starts by describing the differences between designing products and services. The theater metaphor is introduced to show how this offers a useful starting point for service design. Next, the chapter discusses the challenges that make experiences elusive before offering three principles that can be applied to service design: narrative, participation, and surprise. To illustrate these principles, it describes two examples of companies that engage customers by designing for "singing and dancing" and thus create compelling and memorable service experiences.