SCAD Visualizing Services Course
Storyboards, maps and models distill the complexity of service systems, allowing audiences to understand and make data-focused decisions regarding service solutions. In this course, we worked individually and then as a group to research our intended audience and employ visualization techniques to illustrate and simplify complex service systems. We made 5 individual visuals and 5 group visuals; refining the group versions based on our learnings.
This was a great exercise to get comfortable regularly asking non-design partners for feedback and further clarifying visuals.
Timeframe
10 weeks
My Role
Skills: Research, design, project management
Group Project Roles: Copywriting, project revision, project management
The process starts by interpreting information learned in class around a specific topic in service design. From there, a visualization is created and evaluative research is conducted by asking an outside audience to review and critique the graphic’s effectiveness at communicating its intended message.
Once this outside feedback has been collected and evaluated, the visualization is refined and a final graphic is created. The final visual is assessed and re-evaluated as needed prior to submission to the larger team.
How do we explain and extend the concept and context of service?
The first project asked us to visually represent the concepts explained in Akaka & Vargo’s (2015) article Extending the Context of Service: From Encounters to Ecosystems. This article proposes an extended context of service as a social and economic system and our graphics sought to illustrate not only the transactional nature of service encounters but also the concepts of the greater servicescape and the service ecosystem.
Design
After reading and digesting this article, I designed this infographic in a series of interconnected circles since each element cannot stand on its own and is part of a very complex level of systems, elements, actors, and impressions.
Evaluative Research
I showed this graphic to a friend and he did not follow the order I initially envisioned, but he did understand the meaning of the content. I asked for feedback which helped me rearrange the elements to follow a clockwise order and number them so it could be read independently.
Reflection
Upon further reflection and learning, I realized it was missing the needed initial article context and next steps for the reader to find meaning in this graphic. Also, the initial amount of detail from the article was overwhelming so I refined.
Group Version
Service Encounter Map
In this course we learned the definition of a Service Encounter as the sequence of steps necessary for a customer to accomplish one process or a small set of processes that can be considered a service.
There are four parts to any service encounter:
The Trigger- The call to action that entices the audience to start a process (i.e. read a graphic, make an account)
The Entry- The intended starting point (Step 1, or where to start on a graphic)
The Content- Methodically planned and clearly defined steps in a process
The Exit- Guiding the beneficiary (or reader) to additional information once the journey is complete
Design
The trigger begins in the upper left corner with the title, context about the graphic, and benefits of the service. To have a clear entry point, I numbered each step, and put the first step in the 1 position on a clock. 13 is technically the exit as it’s the last required step, but number 14 (a survey with a discount code) is technically another way the restaurant invites the customer back to the restaurant and on the journey again.
Evaluative Research
In showing this to a friend, she followed the intended order starting with the title, going to 1, and around the circle. She had a few clarifying questions around if the food options were customizable, and how the survey was delivered to the customer (via email, app, etc) so I included those additional details. She knew the map was supposed to be a pizza and even noted that the slice detail indicates to her that there’s a break in the process (or in this case the intended exit).
Reflection
Upon further reflection, I understand that this service encounter needed a more captivating and universal title as a trigger to invite readers to begin reading. It also needed more clearly defined context and next steps after the exit. Finally, I added some text along the outside of the circle to denote the phases in the journey to add some additional context.
Group Version
Customer Journey Map
We learned that Journey Map visualizations are used to tell a cohesive story and/or narrative-arc that visualizes the user journey as the steps a beneficiary takes to complete a task. Our selected topic was “going through a self-checkout.”
As a team, we pulled pieces from each of our designs to create a cohesive map.
Design
To help tell the story, I created a narrative about a customer named Sophia who is planning to watch her favorite show premiere and makes a last minute decision to run to the store. I started with the title, “Experiencing Self-Checkout” in hopes that this triggers readers to quickly relate to and want to read about the experience.
We follow her journey in the middle of the page that tracks both her interactions with the grocery store channels and her emotions as she encounters friction along her shopping trip. Finally, I listed the customer’s actions along the journey as well as opportunities for a more efficient customer experience.
Evaluative Research
When showing this to my friend, I initially had channels listed out within their own rows. He was confused and got lost reading that map. He also immediately jumped to the journey image so I shortened the title and added additional pops of color so that it’s more balanced and shows parts of a total process, building with each part of the narrative.
Reflection
Upon further reflection and group discussion, I realized the customer actions list made this way too lengthy and overwhelms a reader’s cognitive load. I also learned that the exit is not simply a visual element on the graphic. It should provide the reader with some next steps if they want to learn more or understand why this is important.
Group Version
Service Blueprint Map
Service Blueprints are a means of visually representing organizational processes in order to show all the forces in motion as a service is engaged and value is delivered. Service blueprints represent the complex relationships, scenarios, and interactions that occur between different service components– people, props, and processes– that must interact for a service to take place.
There are three primary components to a Service Blueprint:
Frontstage: These are the actions and interactions that occur in direct view of the customer. They are generally comprised of human-to-human interactions– such as the steps a service person performs to deliver service directly to a customer. They may also exist as the human-to-computer interactions– such as the interaction between a person and a self-service kiosk.
Backstage: These are the steps and activities that occur behind the scenes to support the frontstage. They may be performed by a person, or a system.
Support Processes or Infrastructure: These are the internal steps and processes that take place to support the service.
When creating a service blueprint, actors and their corresponding actions are plotted vertically whereas the steps in the process are plotted horizontally on the map. The blueprint also has a line of visibility which divides actions into “front stage” and “back stage”. This is determined by the parts of a process a customer can or cannot see.
Design
I initially designed my blueprint around just the online booking process service encounter for Southwest Airlines. In the group discussion, I realized that I needed to map the entire process from booking, flying, to arriving at the destination.
Southwest’s initial booking is designed to be self-service. There’s an FAQ page, no live chat support, and customers are encouraged to to reach out via social media or call the customer support line as a last resort. Therefore, that first section (and front stage) is very abbreviated.
Evaluative Research
When showing this to a family member she started by seeing the logo and immediately could conjure her own memories of the brand and her positive feelings toward it. She took the time to read the context and had some guesses as to what the whole thing meant. The customer action row was the most clear to her, and the rest took some explaining.
Reflection
This is a very complex series of systems and processes. I constantly wondered if I was including the right level of information. This blueprint project showed me the importance of group discussion for checks and balances in trying to clearly communicate a complex process.
Group Version
Ecosystem Map
“An ecosystem map is an extension of a stakeholder or value network map. No service exists on its own, with only the beneficiary (consumer or user) and service interacting. There are multiple systems that come into play within a singular service.”
Creating a service ecosystem map is really about figuring out who the necessary people are involved in a service. Often times, this includes additional organizations and institutions who are several degrees away and are nearly invisible to the beneficiary.
An ecosystem map can be an effective tool for understanding not only how humans (i.e. individuals and communities) interact with one another, but also how institutions, machines, interfaces, devices, and platforms interact with humans within the context of larger systems. Similar to journey maps, ecosystem maps vary in detail, depending on whether they are portraying a system overview or a detailed view of subsystems.
Ecosystem maps portray the following three main aspects of services:
Sectors (organizations, departments, geographies)
Actors (A person or group of people who are involved in the service)
Relationships or Value Exchanges (demonstrating value exchanges between actors)
Design
For this ecosystem map I looked at the stakeholders, goods, services, places, and interactions that take place to enable a Southwest Airlines flight experience for the beneficiary, the customer/ traveler.
I broke out the ecosystem into layers of closeness to the customer. The first layer contains stakeholders who have direct encounters with the customer and it gets further away by circle. Then in blue and red arrows we have whether that stakeholder brings a good and service in blue or intangible value in red. Each layer gets further away from the customer, but ultimately makes her travel experience possible from systems, logistics, hands-on building, cleaning, safety, and more.
Down at the bottom the key helps the reader understand the meaning of each arrow color and additional context about each icon, separated by ecosystem layer.
Evaluative Research
When showing this to my friend he instantly understood this and was excited because he is a frequent traveler. He said having the key at the bottom was helpful in reading this alone. He suggested some language changes for deeper understanding and mentioned he didn’t see the text on the arrows at first so I worked to make that stand out more.
Reflection
In reviewing this with my group, I made some additional language changes, added an additional layer, and added a more clear entry point.
