Why is this book interesting to you?

Have you ever wondered why some services feel so easy to use while others are frustrating and leave you with a bad feeling afterwards? In his new book, Daniele Catalanotto uses real-life examples to describe how customer experiences are built and some of the simple tweaks that be applied to make them better and more rewarding. 

"Service Design Principles 101-200" expands on the first volume in the series, covering principles 1-100. Although this is a continuation, it is also stand-alone reading and does not require reading the first part. It's possible to read the book in one go from beginning to end or cherry-pick the use cases that interest us and dip in and out of its pages.

In the book, Daniele recounts those not-so-small details that can either have a positive or negative effect on the customer experience, starting with the hypothesis that we don't need to understand the full extent of Service Design to start making meaningful changes. There are moments of both frustration and delight in this book that most of us can relate to when doing everyday things like dealing with a flight or ordering a latte at a coffee shop. Despite their briefness, each case study contains sufficient substance to provoke reflection and conversation.  Additionally, reading this book inspired me to take a fresh approach to some of the projects I am working on and start observing and capturing my own day-to-day interactions with services and defining my own principles. This book is essential reading for any designer, owner of a business or service who wishes to have a direct impact on the end customer experience.

For who isn't this book for or what parts sucked?

Although the book is based on Daniele's own experiences, I think another volume in the series could benefit from researching other perspectives and including those of people in a different situation to add more diversity and depth.

What other books would you recommend as companion to this one?

Additionally, if you want to better understand Service Design in public organisations, you should also read Lou Downe's book, 'Good Services: How to Design Services that Work', which also lists out a number of design principles.

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