Service designers know that change needs many steps

Service designers know that change needs many steps

The Kübler-Ross Change Curve shows how as humans we deal with changes in our lives.


A last good model that helps to deal with uncertainty is the Kübler-Ross model. This one is used by many change management and service design consultants.

It shows the different steps we have to go through when a change occurs and how we need to adapt to it. 

How it works

The model is composed of seven steps.

  1. The first one is the shock 😵. When change happens, you are at first surprised and disturbed by it.

  2. The second step is denial ✋. You keep looking for evidence that it isn’t true. 

  3. Then comes frustration 😤 as the third step. You recognize that things are different and that might make you a little angry. 

  4. The fourth and lowest point is depression 😞. Your mood is low and you lack energy. As times passes, your attitude toward the new situation changes. 

  5. That’s when the fifth steps comes in: experiment 🙄. You start to engage with the new situation or reality. 

  6. After that, in the sixth step comes the decision ✅. You are learning how to work in this new situation. You start to feel more comfortable and positive. 

  7. Finally, in the seventh and last step, integration 🤗 happens. The changes are totally integrated into you. In a way, you are now a renewed individual.


Why service designers use it

Here again, what is interesting to me is that this model helps service designers and their clients explain what they are feeling now and what might happen after. 

When you are in a project and you’ve just learned that your solution doesn’t work at all, it is totally normal for you to be shocked at first, disbelieving of what people tell you, then angry, and so on. You have to go through the many steps of the change curve. 

Free Course: What is the Service Designer mindset?

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About this course

  • Why I created this course
  • What you’ll learn

1. Service designers focus on a human-centered approach

  • Introduction
  • Service designers believe everyone is a user
  • Service designers are not the experts, others are1
  • Recommended course: 100 Service Design Principles
  • Service designers believe perception is key

2. Service designers love to make shit happen

  • Introduction
  • Service designers prototype instead of talking
  • Service designers love to fail
  • Service designers go from low fidelity to high fidelity

3. Service designers are lazy

  • Introduction
  • Service designers steal and adapt tools from smarter people
  • Service designers look for lazy solutions
  • Service designers repackage older ideas
  • Service designers love simple solutions

4. Service designers don’t think in terms of silos but in journeys

  • Introduction
  • Service designers believe services are like icebergs
  • Service designers think in journeys
  • Service designers aren't focused on just one company

5. Service designers deal with uncertainty

  • Introduction
  • Service designers accept that they are weak
  • Service designers understand the phases of a design project
  • They separate divergent from convergent thinking
  • Recommended Article: The Design Process: What is the Double Diamond?3
  • Service designers know that innovation is a mess
  • Recommended Reading: The Design Squiggle Story
  • Service designers know that change needs many steps
  • Recommended Reading: Understanding the Kubler-Ross Change Curve
  • Service designers make step-by-step decisions2
  • Recommended Video: An Introduction to Assumptions Mapping with David J. Bland1
  • Recommended Video: Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix
  • Recommended Reading: How to Use Dot Voting Effectively1
  • Service designers summarize what they learn
  • Recommended Reading: Affinity Diagramming for Collaboratively Sorting UX Findings and Design Ideas
  • Service designers verify what they have learned from different angles

Going further

  • Bravo 👏
  • Resources to go further1
  • 💌 Your next courses and your personal coupon code
  • Thank you!