Too much coaching is a problem

Swiss Innovation Academy

Hi lovely human 👋

Here is the overview of all the new Service Design content I've worked on, or would love to support, in the last few days:

Call for papers:
Send your articles ideas for Touchpoint, the Service Design Journal on the topic of "Designing for Equitable Experiences"

3 Q&A about coaching:

Booking coaching: How Many Coaching or Mentoring Sessions Should You book in One Day?
Coaching intensity: Can You Coach People Back-to-Back?
Procrastination: How can you help people overcome procrastination in a coaching session?

1 backstage blog article

Illustration Kit: Why do I pay for Undraw Plus?

As a bonus you'll also find at the end links to 3 positive news from elsewhere to end on a high note.

Greetings from Basel, Switzerland,

Daniele 🧔🏻‍♂️

p.s. As always, you'll find more details below 👇
for when you have the time to read this newsletter.

Call for Papers is now open: Designing for Equitable Experiences

In Service Design, achieving equity means actively removing systemic barriers so that people – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, or socioeconomic status – can access, engage with, and benefit from services and experiences.

Touchpoint, the Service Design Journal of the Service Design Network (SDN) is looking for articles, case studies, thought pieces, and toolkits that grapple with the challenges of equity in an era of uncertainty and resistance. If you are designing, researching, or advocating for more equitable services and experiences, share your article ideas.

Submit your abstract via the online form until 08 March 2025 (23:59 CET).

See the call for papers

Service Design Q&A

I'm slowly building a library of answers to the most common questions about Service Design. Here are the new ones:

An illustration of a person checking many tasks or booking many meetings

How Many Coaching or Mentoring Sessions Can You Do in One Day?

In short: Limit your coaching or mentoring sessions to 2-3 sessions in a day to avoid feeling overwhelmed and set a buffer time between the sessions.

Read the full Q&A

An illustration of a person filling a calendar

Can You Coach People Back-to-Back?

In short: Yes, you can coach people back-to-back, but it's easier for the coach than the coachee. Coachees need a break between session to digest what they've learned.

Read the full Q&A

An illustration of a person next to a locked document

How can you help people overcome procrastination in a coaching session?

In short: Use time in the coaching session to do a small action that creates a domino effect.

Read the full Q&A

Backstage Blog

I love to explain how I'm building educational content. I'm trying to be as transparent as possible so that it might motivate others to create such content too. These are the latest blog posts I've written:

Why do I pay for Undraw Plus?

In this tiny article I share the two reasons why I'm more than happy to pay 50 bucks a year for Undraw Plus, an illustration set that adapts to your brand colors.

Read post

Positive news from elsewhere

I’m an optimist and as there is so much bad news out there at the moment, I want at my scale to rebalance things by sharing also some positive news for service owners and creators.

Plant-based alternatives: Plant-based substitute for fossil fuels developed for plastic foams (Washington State University)
Clean energy supercharged China’s economy: Climate sceptics often misleadingly frame decarbonisation as a drag on the economy, but fresh analysis of the Chinese economy weakened that argument even further this week.

(Positive News)
The Baltics got a new rail route: Until this week, it was impossible to travel by train between Vilnius and Tallinn – the capitals of Lithuania and Estonia – in a single day. But a new route has connected the two cities, along with Riga, the Latvian capital, meaning travellers no longer need to drive or take multiple coaches. (Positive News)

If you want more positive news make sure to checkout the website positive.news that offers more in depth articles.