Service designers understand the phases of a design project

Service designers understand the phases of a design project


When someone passes away in your family, it is quite helpful when people tell you that it is perfectly normal to feel angry. When people tell you that “anger” is one of the several phases you have to go through in the process of grief, you feel reassured. You know that this feeling will not last forever. Knowing that you are going through the same steps that everybody else goes through makes you feel normal 👍. 


When you discover that there is a model that explains why you have particular emotions ✅, you are no longer this crazy alien being that can’t deal with stuff. You are back in the community of normal people and it’s absolutely normal to feel like this.


Service designers work around a similar idea. Instead of stages of grief, these designers have other models that help them understand and accept the different phases they go through. 


In this course, I’ll present three models 🧰 that many service designers use. The first model is the Double Diamond model, the second one is the Design Squiggle, and the last and third one is the Kübler-Ross Change Curve.


Let’s discover the first one together ⚡️

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!