Bergamo IPSS Conference, June 2016 slides Abstract This paper describes a process, based on Service Design tools, of product- and service-discovery that has been used in workshops with two Swiss small and medium-size firms based on an action research approach. Both of the firms were manufacturing high- quality products and under pressure on price. The use of individual Design Thinking tools had not provided a route to deliver the product- and service-innovation required. What was missing was a method to combine the individual tools to create a process. The leaders of the firms confirmed that the process that allowed them to expand their thinking from simply product development.

1. Improving
innovation
in
small
and
medium
sized
firms by
using
Service
Design
tools
Bergamo
IPSS
Conference,
June
2016
Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo

2. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
The
problem
and
the
purpose
of
this
paper
To
describe
how
the
visual
design
thinking
tools
supported
the
firms
development
of
new
product-­‐service
system
based
solutions
The
results
described
are
based
on
a
prototype
process
tested
in
workshops
that
links
together
different
design
thinking
tools
To
describe
a
process
Service
Design
tools,
of
product-­‐ and
service-­‐
discovery
that
has
been
used
in
workshops
with
two
Swiss
firms
Purpose
of
this
paper
The
firms
in
this
study
were
suck
with
new
product
development
thinking
with
limited
understanding
of
the
value
of
services
Problem

3. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Traditional
approaches
to
this
problem
were
time
consuming
and
product
focused
Fuzzy
front
end
of
innovation
and
Lead
User
-­‐ Captured
some
tacit
and
informal
aspects
-­‐ Complex
and
time
consuming
for
the
firms
The
firms
were
getting
sucked
into
the
commodity
trap
Engineering
design
-­‐ Supported
product
development
-­‐ More
value
when
needs
were
well
know
-­‐ Focused
on
the
tangible
aspects
-­‐ Difficult
to
integrate
the
intangible
service
aspects
example
from
images.google

4. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Design
Thinking
approach
provides
more
insight
to
customer
problems
Design
Thinking…
-­‐ is
tolerant
to
failure
-­‐ embraces
risk
taking
-­‐ sharing/supportive
learning
environment
-­‐ can
help
simplify
and
humanize
situations
-­‐ helps
people
to
deal
with
ambiguity
But
the
firms
found
Design
Thinking
disjointed
The
approach
focuses
on
the
user’s
experiences,
particularly
the
emotional
ones
example
from
images.google

5. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Identification
of
the
users,
customers
and
stakeholders
through
ecosystem
analysis
-­‐ In
industrial
firms
the
supply
chain
is
is
complex
-­‐ Identifying
the
user
is
very
difficult
-­‐ Design
Thinking
focuses
on
the
’user’
-­‐ Ecosystem
mapping
helps
to
find
the
’user’
-­‐ Important
to
understand
the
interactions
between
actors
-­‐ A solution
demands
the
customer
to
be
identified
The
users
can
then
be
’empathy
mapped’
In
the
complex
ecosystems
ecosystem
mapping
can
help
identify
the
’user’
example
from
images.google

6. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Identification
of
the
users
needs
through
persona
analysis
and
empathy
mapping
-­‐ Persona
analysis
and
empathy
mapping
provide
’user’
emotional
input
-­‐ In
workshop
provides
a
visual
tool
to
capture
input
-­‐ Helps
everyone
to
understand
the
user’s
experiance
and
share
the
problem
-­‐ Gap
analysis
in
empathy
mapping
provides
deeper
understanding
of
the
’user’
The
results
can
be
transferred
to
Osterwalder’s
customer
value
proposition
Empathy
mapping
can
be
effective
in
a
workshop
environment
to
help
share
a
common
understanding
example
from
images.google

7. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐done
creates
understanding
into
the
customers
processes
-­‐ The
’job’ is
considered
the
fundamental
unit
-­‐ Helps
to
target
the
solution
to
the
’job’
-­‐ Integrates
understanding
of
customer
processes
-­‐ Import
to
understand
the
customer
situation
-­‐ Focuses
on
the
outcome
the
outcomes
The
results
can
be
transferred
to
Osterwalder’s
customer
value
proposition
The
firms
needed
to
focus
on
the
customer’s
jobs
not
the
product
examples
from
images.google

8. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Introduction
Development
of
the
customer
value
proposition
in
a
visual
form
Customer
side
(or
problem
definition)
-­‐ Defined
the
empathy
maps
and
job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐done
-­‐ This
captures
the
tangibles
and
intangibles
Supplier
side
(solution
formulation)
-­‐ Brainstorm
to
find
possible
solutions
-­‐ Defines
the
supplier
solution
-­‐ captured
the
solution
in
the
more
holistic
way
Gaps
between
the
two
sides
of
the
value
proposition
are
easily
identified
visually
Using
this
theory
a
prototype
process
was
developed
example
from
images.google

9. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Methodology
A
five
step
approach
was
used
in
the
workshops
The
objective
was
to
create
a
simple
process
that
could
be
used
within
the
firm
Customer
identification
via
ecosystem
analysis
Empathy
mapping
for
(2)
key
customers
Customer’s
job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐
done
Customer
value
proposition
-­‐
customer
side
Customer
value
proposition
-­‐
supplier
side

10. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Customer
identification
via
ecosystem
analysis
took
longer
than
expected
From
the
ecosystem
maps
key
’users’
or
customers
were
identified
for
further
analysis
Findings
-­‐ The
groups
were
able
to
sketch
their
ecosystems
-­‐ The
groups
identified
key
non-­‐customer
actors
-­‐ The
multiplicity
of
customer
touchpoints
identified
-­‐ Direct
vs
indirect
channels
were
visualised
Improvements
-­‐ More
time
should
be
given
for
this
activity
-­‐ improved
facilitation
needed
initially
“…
we
found
clarity
with
the
ecosystem,
this
is
the
first
time
we
have
seen
it
drawn
out”

11. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Empathy
mapping
for
the
two
key
customers
identify
intangibles
The
pains
and
gains
could
be
transferred
to
the
customer
side
of
the
value
proposition
Findings
-­‐ Customers
considered
customers
as
plural
-­‐ Creating
the
empathy
maps
was
initially
problematic
-­‐ Mixed
groups
ensured
active
sharing
-­‐ Pains/gains
were
quickly
identified
-­‐ Helped
the
groups
to
move
beyond
the
price
-­‐ Learnt
more
about
the
intangibles
Improvements
-­‐ One
map
for
every
key
actor
is
required
“…
empathy
mapping
helped
us
learn
that
we
can
really
help
our
customers
with
the
intangible
aspects”

12. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Customer’s
job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐done
was
harder
than
expected
The
customer
jobs/tasks
could
be
transferred
to
the
customer
side
of
the
value
proposition
Findings
-­‐ Initially
complex
with
many
discussions
-­‐ Limited
understanding
the
customer’s jobs
-­‐ Jobs
core
and
supporting
jobs
identified
-­‐ Customer
understanding
was
improved
Improvements
-­‐ Visuals
for
the
cradle-­‐to-­‐grave
equipment
life-­‐cycle
-­‐ Visuals
for
customer
touchpoints
“…
we
had
never
looked
at
our
customer’s
job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐done
or
processes”

13. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Customer
value
proposition
– customer
and
supplier
sides
Working
on
the
customer
side
in
isolation
fostered
a
customer
centric
approach
Findings
-­‐ Groups
focused
on
the
customer’s
problem
-­‐ Initial
draft
completed
very
efficiently
-­‐ Discussions
of
the
current
situation
and
their
improved
customer
understanding
took
place
Improvements
-­‐ Segmentation
for
different
actors
is
needed
“…
we
always
focus
on
the
tangible
aspects
of
the
goods
and
services
we
provide”

14. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Customer
value
proposition
– customer
and
supplier
sides
New
solutions
were
identified
and
compared
with
the
customer side
Findings
-­‐ Some
groups
returned
to
their
standard
offers
-­‐ Matching
of
pains/pain
relievers
and
gains/gain
makers
took
place
automatically
-­‐ Open
gaps
were
closed
once
they
were
pointed
out
Improvements
-­‐ Important
to
have
the
customer
side
close
by
-­‐ A
visual
to
support
where
value
is
create
is
required
-­‐ A
focus
on
customer
willingness
to
pay
is
needed
“…we
have
marketable
concepts
after
only
one
day”

15. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Summary
of
findings
from
the
workshops
The
tools
supported
creativity
and
problem
solving
to
create
ideas
for
new
product-­‐service
systems
Findings
-­‐ Focused
on
the
customer
80%
of
the
time
-­‐ Removed
silo-­‐thinking
-­‐ Shared
the
customer
problems
(tangible/intangible)
-­‐ Groups
moved
beyond
making
products
’better’
-­‐ Realised
that
they
were
providing
‘peace
of
mind’
-­‐ Allowed
sharing
of
understandings
and
assumptions
Improvements
-­‐ External
input
from
customers
should
be
included
-­‐ Increased
facilitation
needed
-­‐ Support
identification
of
value
“…
the
workshop
was
very
practical
and
we
have
tools
that
we
can
use
in
the
future”

16. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Results
and
discussion
Follow
up
with
the
firms
has
provided
initial
evidence
of
impact
New
product-­‐service
systems
are
being
developed
by
the
firm
New
services
and
products
-­‐ Customer
process
support
(supporting
job-­‐to-­‐be-­‐
done)
via
an
app
has
been
developed
-­‐ Design
of
a
product-­‐service
system
for
one
of
its
commoditized
product
(white-­‐space
innovation)
Sharing
knowhow
-­‐ Ecosystem
mapping
assisted
the
sharing
of
market
know-­‐how
and
customer
centric
thinking
-­‐ Mixed
groups
working
-­‐ improved
communications
-­‐ provided
a
common
language
-­‐ increased
understanding
of
customers'
jobs
“…
the
workshop
was
very
practical
and
we
have
tools
that
we
can
use
in
the
future”

17. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Conclusions
The
approach
was
approached
however
there
are
improvements
to
be
made
The
practical
approach
was
appreciated
by
the
participants
Connecting
the
Service
Design
tools
together
to
create
a
process
was
exceedingly
helpful
Customer
journey
mapping
and
cradle-­‐to-­‐grave
life-­‐cycles
would
have
improved
the
discussions
The
use
of
interactive
visuals
broke
down
barriers
within
the
firm,
creating
structured
discussions
with
a
common
understanding
and
language
allowing
a
move
away
from
new
product
development
More
use
of
examples/use
cases
are
needed

18. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Recommendations
More
workshops
should
be
held
with
changes
to
confirm
potential
improvements
Include
customer
journey
mapping
and
the
equipment
cradle-­‐to-­‐
grave
life-­‐cycle
to
provide
more
input
Identify
where
customer
value
accrues
(eg,
top-­‐line,
bottom-­‐line
or
compliance/risk)
Include
an
assessment
of
the
customer
willingness
to
pay to
support
the
integration
of
pricing
It
is
recommended
that
more
workshops
are
held
using
the
‘standard
format’
with
a
wider
range
of
firms
so
that
a
wider
range
of
feedback
can
be
obtained
Invite
people
external
to
the
firm
to
the
workshop

19. Dr
Shaun
West,
Dr
Silvio
Di
Nardo
Thanks
for
your
time!
Questions
over
dinner…