Here are a few elements specific to Switzerland that make Swiss services different and that can inspire service designers working in Switzerland:

• Multilingual: Switzerland is multilingual. Therefore, the services of Switzerland have to work with many languages, which creates interesting service patterns.

• Discretion and privacy: Switzerland has a culture of discretion and privacy. Therefore, much can be learned about how to "say things without saying them" from how Swiss services work.

• Tourism: Switzerland has a huge tourism industry. The main goal of the tourism industry is to create lovely experiences for tourists. So, serving others is part of the DNA of Swiss culture. In fact, it's not by chance that many universities that teach Service Design combine it with tourism.

• Participative democracy: In Switzerland, the population can bring new ideas to the government through the use of referendums. Which in some way makes Swiss people used to co-creation. See below for more on this.

The Swiss Service Style

In his research paper and companion website, Swiss Service Style, Peter Hovath starts his introduction by asking this question:

"Imagine a 170-year-old organisation, and imagine that it has been building a co-creation system throughout its existence. What could we learn by analysing its current situation?"

The catch? Peter isn't speaking about an organisation but about Switzerland! On his website, you'll find, for example:

• Explanation of the effects of the direct democracy on customer expectations

• How you can apply Swiss Direct Democracy’s characteristics to organizations

• Analysis of the Swiss Direct Democracy and how it relates to Service Design