Our economy is increasingly based on services, and less on the sale of physical products. Moreover, amid the climate crisis, producing and selling more and more products no longer makes sense. But if the trend is toward producing less, what will be the role of those involved in design?

Service design: A broad view of design

In a story about Berlin Design Week, we talked about the new roles of design. Specifically, we discussed service design and how other design disciplines (industrial, graphic, etc.) can be present within this broader discipline. In fact, service design already has its own award category at the iF Awards, as we mentioned in the previous story.

Service design is an activity with great potential to help organizations (not only companies) create value. At the same time, it contributes to making brands sustainable and committed to their surroundings. It is an activity that goes beyond products: it focuses on the entire experience an organization offers, as well as the processes that make it possible.

In our daily lives, we interact with various services continuously. When we go to a restaurant, we are not just buying a product (the food); there is an entire service involved. We are greeted and attended to, a place to sit is offered, food is cooked and brought to us… It’s not just the food that’s part of the experience. It’s also the person who serves us, how they speak to us, and how they treat us. And the restaurant space, with its interior design and furniture. And what happens during the waiting period between when we order and when the food arrives.

Additionally, services have a part with which we, the users, interact. It’s the experience we receive through various touchpoints: the front. But they also have another part that is not visible, which is the process that makes that experience possible: the back. Going back to the restaurant example:

  • The person who took our order has to take it to the kitchen;
  • For the kitchen to work, the ingredients need to be purchased on time;
  • And many other processes occur behind the scenes.

Service design can focus on the entire human experience. Not only the people receiving the service (users), but also those who make it possible (workers, primarily).

Designing services with a positive impact

How does service design contribute to sustainability and the well-being of people? A very clear example is servitization: a circular economy strategy that involves transforming a product into a service.

We have servitization examples in the electronics sector, with companies like Repeat that, instead of manufacturing products to sell, offer a subscription service. This way, when the user no longer needs them, they can return to the company to be recycled and offered to another user. We also have servitization examples in the food sector, with companies like Bumerang from Barcelona and Reusa’m from Valencia. Both companies offer food containers as a service: people who use these containers return them at a store within the network so they can be reused.

In all these servitization cases, the entire service is designed with the experience of the people receiving it in mind. Of course, for servitization to work—offering a product as a service—the product itself must be appropriately designed. Repeat’s headphones or the food containers offered by Bumerang and Reusa’m must be designed to be durable through multiple uses.

Servitization is an example of service design with a positive impact that is increasingly being applied by businesses. However, there are more examples, even in public organizations. Mariana Salgado, creator of the podcast Diseño y Diáspora, works as a researcher and service designer within the Ministry of the Interior of Finland. Muhammad Khan, whom we know through the World Design Organization, works in service design in the public sector, in this case in Canada. Muhammad focuses on researching how to improve the experience of migrants with the services provided by public administrations. For example, the processes they must follow to obtain documentation, with various touchpoints such as websites, forms, and phone calls…

Public administrations offer various services that have a significant impact on citizens, their well-being, and the sustainability of the city. Without a doubt, public healthcare services are an example. Also, the service of issuing documents like IDs or passports. And, of course, public transportation, which is key to sustainable mobility.

Regarding sustainable mobility, we had a conversation with Oyer Corazón from Hecho&Co about the design of Metro Madrid’s identity, created by his father, Alberto Corazón. This was a discussion we had at the headquarters of SANNAS Asociación de Empresas por el Triple Balance, to which both Hecho and Monnou belong. We concluded that the work with Metro Madrid wasn’t just about designing a visual identity. Service design was applied by studying the entire experience citizens have with the metro, with various touchpoints: the cards, the maps, the signage… Undoubtedly, it was a job where accessibility and sustainability in the entire journey with Metro Madrid were crucial considerations.

The design of the Metro Madrid identity system shows how important it is to consider the full context of a service. It also demonstrates the importance of aesthetics at each touchpoint. During the iF Awards gala, we spoke with Ana Relvão from the studio Relvãokellermann about this. We discussed how the final aesthetics are part of the overall experience with the service, and therefore, should not be neglected. At Monnou, we pay great attention to this: designing sustainable services with well-thought-out journeys, where each touchpoint also has carefully considered aesthetics.

Service design at Monnou

When we design new services for businesses and startups, or redesign existing ones, user research is key. In the case of the circular fashion startup Alternew, the service digitally connects tailors with customers whose clothing they repair. We conducted research with tailors, customers, and also with Alternew’s internal team (remember the importance of internal users of the organization). In this way, we shaped the journey that people take when interacting with Alternew and the processes that need to take place for the service to function. But we also shaped the different touchpoints: the app for tailors and customers, and the internal administrator panel of Alternew. Here, the aesthetics and brand identity were an integral part of the experience and needed to be applied thoughtfully.

At Monnou, we’ve also designed the training experiences we offer in our Academy, with a service design approach. One example is Summer Bio Lab, a weekend experience in nature created together with Imita Natura, where we carry out activities related to biomimicry. Here, we designed the entire journey that participants experience, the event branding, and some specific products: a notebook; canvases and other printed materials; molds for biomaterials; etc.

Another of our training experiences is Vórtice Circular, a Circular Economy Escape Room that we created together with Cultura Circular. Here, again, we designed not only the entire user experience journey. We also designed every physical or digital element with which participants interact. We designed digital PDF presentations, physical boxes that are part of the activity, cards, and other printed materials… all while keeping sustainability and aesthetics in mind. We even took the design of music, lighting, and the interior space where the activity takes place into account.

Service design also helps us in the design of conscious brands committed to their surroundings. By analyzing the entire experience each brand offers to its stakeholders (not only customers), we can work on every touchpoint of the brand to design sustainable corporate identity materials with a positive impact.