My two cents

Here four ideas not overwhelm the people that want to use a Service Blueprint:

1. Use an executive summary.

2. Hide parts.

3. Use video explanations.

4. Create several versions.

Use an executive summary

The executive summary is a version with the key points of your Service Blueprint.

If you have a Blueprint with big moments like awareness, joining using, leaving.

Have just a one sentence summary for each of these big moments in the service.

Hide parts

Another strategy is not showing everything from the start but letting people select, if they want to see specific parts.

I have a Service Blueprint template made in Notion that makes exactly this possible.

Basically, it uses simple toggles to show parts of the blueprint.

For example, when you open the blueprint, you just see the executive summary and then you have to click to see all the front stage elements.

And if you are curious about the behind-the-scenes, then you can click to see all the backstage stuff. By doing so, when people open the Service Blueprint, they are not overwhelmed by information, but they can pick and choose what they are interested in.

Use video explanations

Reading another document can feel like a lot of work. Especially for today's knowledge workers who must go through a lot of written content.

For many people, it's much easier to start looking at a video than to decide to read a long document.

That's why a video walkthrough of your Service Blueprint can be something pretty smart.

Record yourself and your webcam while you explain the big elements in your Service Blueprints.

The nerd in me always has a little tool to recommend. You can, for example, use tools like Loom or Tella, or even Descript to make this in a much quicker way.

Create several versions

We often end up overwhelming people because we give them a lot of information that they don't really need. Why does that happen? It's because we have one Service Blueprint for all the types of people interacting with it.

So it can be smart to have one Blueprint that exists in several levels of complexity.

For example, one version of the Service Blueprint could be very detailed. The customer experience team could use this one.

And then you might have a version, which is pretty summarised, and that's the Service Blueprint that you will give to people who are at the C level.

Like your boss, who doesn't need all the tiny details but needs to understand the bigger picture.

Go further

I've created a few free courses and templates on Service Blueprint that you might be interested in.

More Service Design questions and answers like this one

Check out all the questions about Service Blueprints, customer journeys or journey maps.