A bit of context

A lot of the educational content and events I create are free. I do that because I want to make Service Design accessible to more people, and I know that price can be a big issue. Especially because a rate that would be fair for a Swiss salary is impossible to pay for many other countries.

The trigger

A few days ago, I organised a 4-hour service design crash course on a Saturday, all for free. There were over 70 people registered. But only about 20 showed up; they committed to come.

This happened even if I was very clear with people that if they signed up, they committed to come.

Sometimes, I hate it. It feels like there is less respect for it because you’re making stuff free.

At the same time, we had a great time with the people there, and I don’t want to lose sight of the bright side.

The options to deal with no-shows

As I’m reflecting on this frustration that I have, I see a few possible paths for the future:

• Put in place tiny nudges to have more people join.

• Put in place tiny nudges to have more people join.

• Just chill out.

I’ve already tried the tiny nudge route, and while it brings in a few more people, it requires more work on my part. Instead, I want to make these events paid.

What I'll do in the future

Instead, I want to try to make a lot of my content and events free and take another approach to the number of people who join:

• I'll be less focused on the number of people who join and won’t check that number.

• I won't babysit people through nudges; I do enough to make service design accessible. It’s important that I leave the responsibility to come to people. If they don’t come, they are not yet ready to commit, and that’s on them, not me and it should not make me sad.

• I'll enjoy the time with the people who will join and commit. These are the kind of people I want to serve.

So, instead of getting frustrated about a number that doesn’t mean anything (the number of people registered), I’m going to focus on the lovely people who I can help discover service design.