Service Design and Complexity
Why are Service Design methods not oriented for dealing with complexity?
Complexity was written about in the 1960’s and was heralded as being a breakthrough for those who understand and design social systems; like organisations, and climate change for instance. In 2022 we now know much more how to use complexity to help us to widen our thinking, so that we can use complexity to expand;
- How we understand and design services and improve organisations,
- How we manage, behave and work together as employees,
- How we react to customers with varied needs,
- How we respond to the fast paced uncertain world we live in.
Complexity allows us to develop methods of design, that move further into the whole service design, not just the customer interactions. It helps us to co-create designs with managers and staff, so that we dont have to do the usual beauty parade presentation to convince decision-makers to accept our proposals. Staff do not resist change, when they are a part of it. And we can help customers or citizens create value far beyond products.
My learning
I happened to refocus on complexity theory and practice around 2016, and realised that so many aspects of organisations were indeed complex. This includes the way managers make decisions, how staff behaved, how change actually occurs. And often, the dynamics of the external environment.
Then, when I added complexity to my leadership work, it helped leaders and managers realise that the reason why they failed to make significant headway, was the fact that they were dealing with complex issues, using methods designed for logical and transactional issues. It was a relief to them, and they were then eager to learn. It gave those managers a reason to recognise that ‘it was not me’ as a person, but as a method.
Change and design in particular, is mostly complex. Recognising this, we can then move from project management, to iterative, discovery based, emergent designs.
Design Thinking Today, have we been cheated?
Design Thinking methods Service Designers use today are based on product design, for transactional services. They have been simplified and codified from previous complexity work in the last century. Are we simplifying our approach, because we think it is the commercial thing to do? In the public sector, services are primarily dealing with complexity. What then happens when Designers get engaged in social and public sector designs, if we dont have the knowledge and experience to work in this area?
The standard training and education, the Double Diamond method, the books we refer to, do not contain fundamental principles of systems and social design thinking.
Then should not Service Designers be aware of this. And should we be calling for our methods to be developed further to develop Senior Designers?
IDEO took Design Thinking and commercialised it by creating a product design process. Service Design then embraced the Digital technology, and seem to rely on Digital as the primary tool for developing service designs. Are we being simply continuing this line of development without questioning if it is the right path to take?
Thats why I put these workshops on https://www.improconsult.co.uk/service-design-workshop-complex.html
For some years, in my work, I always wondered why the plans that managers made, the strategies that were developed, and the change that was imposed. Why any of these things hardly ever resulted in the intended outcomes that they predicted. I thought that we were doing things wrong sand we simply had to double our efforts and try harder.
I now know that, understanding complexity, the approaches we were talking were simply the wrong ones for theses situations.
Now, embracing complexity, allows us to design and go with the flow that happens.
I have recently written more on design and complexity — part of systemic design. And I have been demonstrating my complexity framework.
I uncover the evidence you need to understand where and what to change, and then work with you to create innovative and forward-thinking approaches to advance your organisation.
