Offer the same service but alternative experiences that include everyone.

Daniele Catalanotto

Aug 13, 2022

A Service Design Principle for a better accessibility of your service or product.
This Service Design Principle is inspired by a lovely story shared by community member Caio B. Nishihara de Albuquerque

You might remember our friend Caio(1), who is visiting a castle in Japan for his holidays. It’s a family trip, and his grandma is part of this adventure. As the place has hills and rugged terrain, staff members of this touristic spot come to help her out with a wheelchair. So now Caio’s grandma can come along.

But then comes a tower with a ton of stairs. There is no way that grandma can climb those stairs. There is no way the staff members can carry grandma in her wheelchair on these narrow stairs. So grandma has to stay outside with the staff members as the rest of the family visits the tower.

If you are Caio at this moment, you might feel guilty. You might say to yourself, “Grandma can’t enjoy the full castle!”.

But the staff members who stay with the grandmother are lovely people. They tell tales of the castle to the grandmother. They ask her about her own stories. They even share cookies.

When the whole family is back together, Caio’s grandmother shares with everyone what a wonderful time she had while the rest of the family was in the tower.

The grandma hasn’t had the exact same experience as the rest of her family. So she has an alternative one. But one that is worth it.

It isn’t a “reduced version” of what the others had. Instead, it’s something alternative about which others can say: “Oh, I wish I also had the cookies and the stories”. But the general service idea stays the same: it’s all about discovering the history of a Japanese medieval landmark.

This experience is smart because everyone in the family is happy about what he experiences. And nobody feels anyone misses something important.

It’s not always possible to make every service part perfectly accessible to everyone. In those moments, it can be smart to offer an alternative instead.

We don’t need to compensate or reduce the experience to make it accessible. We can also create something new.

So let me ask you:

What’s one part of your service or product that isn’t easily accessible or inclusive for everyone? How could you offer an alternative instead of reducing it?

Footnotes

(1) Caio B. Nishihara de Albuquerque is a lovely community member who shared a story that inspired several Service Design Principles. You can watch our 47 minutes of conversation about that story.

Alternative titles

The working title I have for this principle is still a bit long. So I'm exploring alternatives. For example, it could be named:

Be ready to provide an alternate experience
One service spread over different experiences
Keep the same service and information but change the experience

Let me know if you have a better idea. That would help.

Daniele's personal notes

This is the first draft of this Service Design Principle.
Once adapted, even more, this principle could be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
As always, feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.

4 comments

Deirdre Malone

Oct 13, 2022

Create inclusive alternatives for those who can’t experience the original service.

A suggestion for the title

Daniele Catalanotto

Oct 15, 2022

Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I’ll try a shorter version like:

Create alternatives for those who can’t experience the original.

Daniele Catalanotto

Oct 20, 2022

The second draft of this Service Design Principle:

Create alternatives for those who can’t experience the original.

Remember our friend Caio (1)? He is visiting a Japanese castle with his grandma. There, an accessibility service helps transport grandma in a wheelchair.

If you are Caio at this moment, you might feel guilty. You might say, “Grandma can’t enjoy the full castle!”.

But the staff members who stay with the grandmother are lovely people. They tell tales of the castle to the grandmother. They ask her about her own stories. They even share cookies.

Once the family is back together, Caio’s grandmother shares what a wonderful time she had.

The grandma didn’t get a “reduced version” of what the others had. Instead, it’s something alternative about which others can say: “Oh, I wish I also had the cookies and the stories”. But the general service idea stays the same. It’s all about discovering the history of a Japanese medieval landmark.

So let me ask you:

What’s one part of your service or product that isn’t accessible or inclusive for everyone? How could you offer an alternative instead of reducing it?

Footnotes

A big thank you to Caio B. Nishihara de Albuquerque for sharing the service experience that inspired this principle with the co-creator community.

Daniele’s notes

This is the second draft of this principle.
I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 38% compared to its first draft.
I’ve changed the title of this principle to “Create alternatives for those who can’t experience the original.” based on the feedback of the lovely Deirdre Malone

Daniele Catalanotto

Oct 31, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

Our friend Caio (1) is visiting a Japanese castle with his grandma, whom staff members in a wheelchair push.

But then comes a tower with a ton of stairs. There is no way the staff can’t carry grandma in the wheelchair up there. So she waits outside with the staff members as the rest of the family visits the tower.

If you are Caio, you might feel guilty.

But the staff are lovely people who tell tales of the castle to the grandmother and ask her about her own stories. They even share cookies.

Once the family is back together, Caio’s grandmother shares what a wonderful time she had. She didn’t get a “reduced version” of what the others had.

She experienced something alternative that people can react to by saying: “Oh, I wish I also had the cookies and the stories!”. (1)

So let me ask you:

What’s one part of your service or product that isn’t accessible or inclusive for everyone? How could you offer an alternative instead of reducing it?

Footnotes

(1) A big thank you to Caio B. Nishihara de Albuquerque for sharing the service experience that inspired this principle with the co-creator community.

(2) But the general service idea stays the same. It’s all about discovering the history of a Japanese medieval landmark.

Daniele’s notes

This is the third draft of this principle.
I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 24 % compared to the previous draft.