Service design and product ideas
Service design and product ideas have a huge impact on how happy a customer or user is going to be. Hence, they also determine how successful a business is in the long term. With information overloads prevalent these days, it is not easy to capture the attention of the audience. The audience is not too keen to be convinced. They want to be fascinated and swept off their feet. Things have to be done differently now. According to Smashing Magazine, ‘ Product design is the process of identifying a market opportunity, clearly defining the problem, developing a proper solution for that problem and validating the solution with real users.’
Service and product design is an area of opportunity. It could help create inventive and fun experiences for the audience. As a result of the pandemic, service-based businesses that require very little person-to-person contact have had an opportunity to thrive like never before. Given below are examples of successful service design and product ideas that have successfully re-engaged the targeted audience.
1) Face shields – An effective result of the effort of designers all over the world has been to assuage the need for face shields. Manufacturers have leveraged their collective resources to offer innovative solutions that lessen the strain on medical equipment and ensure the safety of frontline workers. This led to Operation PPE. Operation PPE was launched by Cornell University professor Jenny Sabin, and distributed specs for 3D-printed face masks. Furniture designers and installation artists Kristen Wentrcek and Andrew Zebilon, transformed their Bushwick studio into a small factory to produce some 3,000 face shields. Their efforts helped the medical staff at one of New York’s most overburdened healthcare facilities, Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.
2) Nike+ application – An apt example of good service and product design is the Nike+ application developed with Apple. A chip inside select running shoes transmitted details of the user’s run to their iPod. The app then allowed runners to track their runs and to become part of an online community of like-minded people. The app was successful in providing a great service, and brought both Apple and Nike to the heart of that experience.
3) Ride-sharing – Travis Calanick and Garrett Camp decided to develop an app with which they could order a cab at the push of a button. This idea for a new ride-sharing service was set off because they couldn’t get a taxi on a winter evening in Paris in 2008. The Uber app answers questions like , ‘Does the driver have a license?’,’ Can I reach my destination?’, and ’How can I express my dissatisfaction with the driver’s unfriendliness?’ among others. Uber’s feedback system is designed to foster a community of respect and accountability for everyone. Uber is constantly working on its app to improve the driving experience even further.
4) Apple – For customers, experiences, good or bad, will last forever.Nowadays, customers are looking for unique experiences, which brings both opportunities and challenges.A notable example of effective service design is Apple. If a customer faces a problem with their iphone or any other Apple device, they can go to the Genius Bar. The Genius Bar helps fix devices and gets new ones up and running for customers. Delivering an experience like this helps to build a brand and can be priceless when it comes to generating loyalty.
