Book: Service Design Principles 101-200

This book gives you 100 ideas, tips and examples of simple and practical things you can implement today to make your customers say "I love you" instead of "fuck you!" when they interact with your product or service.

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15 video interviews of Service Design experts (included in the volume 4)

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Principles 1-100 (60$)

Principles 101-200 (60$)

Principles 201-300 (60$)

Principles 301-400 (60$)

Principles Note Taker (120$)

Coaching session with Daniele (300$)

15 video interviews of Service Design experts (included in the volume 4)

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Table of content

Service Design Mindset

Think You’re Doing Well? There is a Big Chance You’re Not.
New Ideas Fail. Yours Will Too.
It’s Okay to Steal Ideas from Others.
Break One Tiny Habit.
Don’t Be a Dick When Another Service Fails.
The Problem Might Be the Solution.
Use Art and Beauty to Make It Less Scary.
It Costs Less Keeping Clients Than Acquiring New Ones.

Self Service

Let Me Find a Solution by Myself.
Let Me Decide Where the Money Goes.
Let Me Tell You Where You Should Clean Up.

Choice

Create Primary and Secondary Choices.
Separate Pleasure from Useful Options.
Slice It If People Don’t Want the Whole Thing.
Create Playlists with Stories When There Are Too Many Choices.
I Only Want to Contact You.
Show Me What You Won’t Do for Me.

Reviews

Show Testimonials Everywhere.
Show Bad Reviews.
Reply to Reviews.

Price and Payment

Show Me the Full Price from the Start.
Give Me a Reason Why There Is a Discount.
Give Me a Note to Bring to the Cashier.
Let Me Donate Without Cash.
Don’t Print the Receipt Right Away.
Make Dicks Pay More.

Waiting

Make Me Busy, So I Don't Notice I'm Waiting.
Show Me the Time Left Until I Can Hug My Wife.
Tell Me When I Can Start to Complain.
Use a Lottery to Avoid Queues and Be Fairer.

Hotline

Show Me What Information I Need Before I Call You.
Tell Me How I Can Get an Answer Faster.
Record More Than One Waiting Message.
Let Me Skip the Stupid Hotline Robot.
Stay With Me During the Emergency.

Errors

Let Me Change My Opinion.
Tell Me It’s Not My Fault, It’s Yours.
When the Same Error Repeats, Call the Support for Me.
Make It Up to Me Twelve Times.

Communication

Show Me It Isn’t Another Boring Bill.
Call Me Before You Deliver.
Use Text Messages as the Reception Ring.
Explain My Problem to Your Colleague for Me.
Don’t Show Me I Was Stupid to Call You.
Speak to Me in the Local Language.
Tell Me Why This Changes and What’s In for Me.
Tell Me a Story Instead of Showing Me Data.
Choose a Profession for Your Next Bot.
It’s Okay to Not Be Clean.
Simplicity Makes People Do the Hard Things.

Reassure and Prepare

Show What You Offer at Your Door.
Show Me Where and When It’s Less Busy.
Remind Me What I Have to Do Before I Arrive or Leave.
Give Me Enough Space to Sort My Shit.
Show Me That You Are Already Working on It.
Show Me What Happens Next.
Repeat the Critical Information Twice.
Show Me That I’m Safe with You.
Let Me Bring a Friend to Make the Experience Better.
Warn Me That You’ll Ask Me to Do Something I Don’t Like.
Change the Light to Create a Transition in the Experience.
Put a Line on the Floor to Guide Me.
Add a Plan to My Key.
Reassure Me That I’m at the Right Spot.
Tell Me How Much I Should Tip You.
Remind Me I Took the Best Decision.

Human Touch

Don’t Make Me Feel Like an Animal.
Show Me Who Helped Me Out.
Show Me Who Can Answer My Questions and Who Can’t.
Slow Down When You Speak to Me.
Show What I Bring to the Table Before You Ask Anything.
Add a Little Note with This Huge Fucking Bill.
Reward Kindness.
Talking With a Human Is the New Luxury.

Brick and Mortar

If I Can’t Enter with My Bag, Give Me a Basket.
Don’t Put Shopping Baskets Only at the Entrance of the Shop.
Make the Invisible Visible.
Turn Those Loyalty Points into Stickers.
Make It Clear You Are Closed Forever.

Family

Help Me Get Rid of My Family.
Let Kids Participate Like Adults.
Make My Kid Busy in the Queue.
Even Kids Need Risk.
Keep Some Space for a Pushchair Parking.
Give Me a Lock to Park My Vehicle Safely Outside.
Ask Me Who Has the Admin Duty.

Workplace

Meetings Suck Because Nobody Is Trained for Them.
Set a Weekly Day Without Meetings.
I Don’t Use My Work Apps Because You Don’t Do Your Job.
Tell Your Staff Before You Launch an Ad.
Get Fewer People on the Same Task.
Make Everyone Pass By the Same Door.
Remove the Job Titles.
Show Them Some Numbers.
I Don’t Need a Raise, I Need Appreciation.

Rules and Contracts

Make People Agree at the Start of the Interaction.
Make Your Contracts Short and Readable by a Kid.
Contracts Don’t Need to Be Boring.
Make Me Feel Comfortable Before You Make It Weird.
Tell Me What Is and Isn’t Appropriate Here.

Foreword by Marc Fonteijn

I’m curious, what do you see when you close your eyes and think about Service Design? No, really, give it a try for 30 seconds. I’ll wait.

If you’re like most people, you have probably seen images of the creative process. You might have seen workshops, user interviews or cardboard prototypes. These images are accurate, of course, but they don’t narrate the whole story. In fact, we’re missing a very important element. It’s the part of the story that illustrates how your work as a Service Designer positively impacts the lives of people.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what you’re doing.

Unfortunately, the impact you have on people can feel very distant. This is one reason why Service Design feels quite abstract and intangible to many. Well, after reading these 101 principles, I can promise you that won’t be the case anymore.

The best way I can describe this book is as a collection of micro case studies. And what I love about it is that it brings Service Design alive and depict just how practical it can be. Daniele beautifully illustrates this through his personal experience with service providers – both the good and bad.

Observing and establishing the principles of good services is a crucial step to actually being able to design them. So, I really hope this book inspires and encourages you to start collecting your own Service Design principles.

Marc Fonteijn
Founder of the Service Design Show

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I asked people from all around the world to read the book and share their honest reviews. In those reviews, you can see the good stuff, what they loved about the book and why they recommend it. But you can also read about the bad stuff. They'll warn you so that you know if this book is for you or not. Finally, because this book is just a starting point you can also discover which book people recommend to read after this one.