Global Outlook

1. Global Outlook USA (San Francisco og San Diego)

2. Global Outlook: Motivation og fokusomr�der Fremstillingsvirksomheder, handels- og servicevirksomheder og designvirksomheder i USA er generelt kendt for at v�re p� forkant med ny forretningsaktiviteter og med nye former for organisering af forretningsaktiviteter. S�rligt er designvirksomheder i San Francisco kendt for at v�re ledende p� nye designaktiviteter s�som strategisk design og design innovation og former for organisering af aktiviteterne Det er et interessant sp�rgsm�l, hvad der er af forskeligheder og sammenfald mellem, hvordan handels- og servicevirksomheder og designvirksomheder i San Francisco og i Danmark sammen arbejder med serviceinnovationsprojekter En kortl�gning af forskelligheder og sammenfald p� parametre som indhold af forretningsaktiviteter, processen hvormed forretningsaktiviteterne gennemf�res, projektledelse af organiseringen af forretningsaktiviteter og projektledelse ift. kontinuerligt at skabe ejerskabsf�lelse hos topledelsen er af s�rlig v�rdi, da det er centrale tematiske udfordringer i et hvilket som helst service innovationsprojekt med deltagelse af ledelse og medarbejdere i handels- og servicevirksomheder, designvirksomheder, antropologer og innovationscoachere En kortl�gning af forskelligheder og sammenfald p� parametrene kan bidrage til at unders�ge, om der er karakteristika ved serviceinnovationsprojekterne i DESINOVA-projektet, som er specielle vurderet i en international sammenh�ng En kortl�gning af hvor langt amerikanske fremstillingsvirksomheder er kommet med systematisk arbejde med aktiviteter, proces, projektledelse af organisering og projektledelse af ejerskabsf�lelse hos topledelsen, og dette i samarbejde med designvirksomheder, kan bidrage til inspiration til arbejdet med Service Innovationsmodel 1.0 En kortl�gning i Californien af politikmidler til udvikling af eftersp�rgsel p� serviceinnovationsprojekter i blandt handels- og servicevirksomheder med designvirksomheder som centrale bidragydere, kan bidrage til inspiration for arbejdet med at udvikle forslag til politik.

3. Global Outlook: Resultater Ledende amerikanske designvirksomheder i San Francisco mestrer alle den g�ngse design innovationsmodel (interesseafd�kning, opdagelse, skabelse, syntese, forretning) Ledende amerikanske designvirksomheder i San Francisco mestrer alle projektledelse af organisering af de tv�rfaglige forretningsaktiviteter Flere af designvirksomhederne anl�gger et strategisk perspektiv p� projektet. Men egentligt systematisk strategiarbejde vha. almindelige strategiarbejdsv�rkt�jer er sj�ldent integreret i arbejdsaktiviteterne, og omtrent aldrig p� en m�de, s� v�rkt�jerne bliver bragt i anvendelse p� integreret vis med trend-analyse, brugerdrevne innovationsv�rkt�jer mv. Flere af designvirksomhederne er optaget af, hvordan der kan arbejdes systematisk med projektledelse ifm. at skabe ejerskabsf�lelse hos topledelsen i kundevirksomheden, men har endnu ikke udviklet en model herfor. Det g�lder s�rligt for arbejdet med at udvikle business cases undervejs i serviceinnovationsprojektet, og om hvilke temaer en dr�ftelse af projektet p� GATE-m�der skal foreg� Flere af designvirksomhederne er optaget af, hvordan der i et serviceinnovationsprojekt integreres et element om udvikling af varige kompetencer i blandt servicemedarbejdere. At dette er et form�l med hovedparten af projekterne i DESINOVA-projektet er et s�rkende. Hovedparten af designvirksomhederne oplever, at de gennemf�rer radikale innovationsprojekter for kundevirksomheder. At hovedparten af projekterne i DESINOVA-projektet er inkrementelle serviceinnovationsprojekter, er et s�rkende. Hovedparten af designvirksomhederne arbejder med innovationsprojekter, hvor hovedelementet er �materielt� (IT-teknologi, IT-interface, andre fysiske produkter). At hovedparten af serviceinnovationsprojekterne i DESINOVA-projektet har noget �immaterielt� (udvikling af kompetencer i blandt menige medarbejdere) som et mindst ligev�rdigt element er et s�rkende. Et offentligt marked for strategisk design/design innovation-projekter er p� det n�rmeste ikke-eksisterende i San Francisco/Californien

4. Global Outlook: Resultater Politik-initiativer til fremme af et marked for serviceinnovationsprojekter for designvirksomheder i San Francisco/Californien er st�rk begr�nset. I stedet forlader man sig p� markeds�konomiske kr�fter i samspil med Venture Capital, st�rk iv�rks�ttertrang og �evne samt et uddannelsessystem med en st�rk forretningsorientering Ledende amerikanske fremstillingsvirksomheder s�som General Electrics, Motorola, Cisco, m.fl. er optaget af at skabe konkurrenceevne vha. serviceinnovationsprojekter med deltagelse af designvirksomheders kompetencer Ledende amerikanske fremstillingsvirksomheder �nsker at arbejde vha. den g�ngse designinnovationsmodel (interesseafd�kning, opdagelse, skabelse, syntese, forretning), men f�gter delvist i blinde mht. at forst�, hvordan man g�r det. Ledende amerikanske fremstillingsvirksomheder arbejder s�rligt med problemstillinger om, hvordan man skaber innovationskultur, og hvordan man opskalerer profitabilitet vha. IT-l�sninger. Ledende amerikanske fremstillingsvirksomheder har en del at l�re mht. processen hvormed man udf�rer et serviceinnovationsprojekt, projektledelse af organiseringen af forretningsaktiviteter og projektledelse ift. kontinuerligt at skabe ejerskabsf�lelse hos topledelsen - samt at tage h�jde for s�rlige karakteristika ved service innovationprojekter. Det g�lder s�rligt for arbejdet med at udvikle business cases undervejs i serviceinnovationsprojektet, og om hvilke temaer en dr�ftelse af projektet p� GATE-m�der skal foreg�

5. Global Outlook Storbritannien (London)

6. Global Outlook: Motivation [Storbritannien] Vi havde p� forh�nd en opfattelse af, at London var langt fremme generelt p� servicedesign og at vi skulle opleve forskellige indtryk b�de i detailhandelen, transportsystemet og andre steder. Servicedesign opstod her for 7-8 �r siden i London Tony Blair og hans nye regering fremstillede den �burning platform� der skulle drive branchen tilbage i 90�erne. Vi ville l�re omkring deres erfaringer med statsst�tte og deres projekter. Design Council: Startede i 1944 med fokus p� industridesign, gennem tiderne har de har skiftet fokus flere gane, men i 2002 �ndrede de fokus til design i offentlige ydelser og services. Vi ville opleve nogle af de services der eksisterer i London. F.eks. Undergrunden, busserne, renovationssystemet osv. Der findes en servicedesignuddannelse i London IDEO, Engine Group, Livework og Radarstation har alle kontorer i London

7. Global Outlook: Fokusomr�der [Storbritannien] Konkretisering af erkendte problemer: Det er v�sentligt at unders�ge hvad den/de underliggende �rsager er til det �gede fokus p� udviklingen af rammebetingelserne for service design Behov hos brugere: Hvilke erkendte eller uerkendte behov har v�ret med til at fastl�gge fokus for service design? Hvem er brugerne (private/offentlige) Ideudvikling: Hvilke metoder er brugt til at udvikle nye tiltag omkring service innovation, og hvilke erfaringer er gjort i forbindelse hermed. Politisk vision og rammebetingelser: Hvor vigtig er en politisk opbakning for succesen med service design i Storbritannien. Statsst�tte � ikke den bedste foruds�tning for succes: Hvad har faldgrupperne v�ret omkring service design projekter finansieret ved statsst�tte? Velfungerende erhvervsliv Eftersp�rgsel af service design: Hvor v�sentligt har det v�ret, og er det, for udviklingen samt legitimeringen af service design at et velfungerende erhvervsliv eftersp�rger det og har fokus herp�? Forretningsudvikling: Hvilke erfaringer er gjort omkring udviklingen af b�redygtige forretningsmodeller for services? V�rkt�jer til brug i udviklingsprojekter: Hvilke v�rkt�j/metoder er brugt i konkrete projekter om service design og hvilke erfaringer er gjort? Kompetencebehov i udviklingsprojekter: Hvad har behovet v�ret for tv�rfaglige kompetencer i konkrete service design projekter?

8. Global Outlook: Resultater [Storbritannien] P� baggrund af de fokusomr�der, som er lagt p� Global Outlook � London, pr�senteres f�lgende resultater, som besidder en nyhedsv�rdi for Desinova projektet: Politiske vision: For at skabe incitament for service design blandt private akt�rer, skal der eksistere en ekspliciteret politisk vision herfor, der kan v�re fundamentet for skabelsen af gunstige rammebetingelser. Rammebetingelser skal sikres for marked: Det er af st�rste betydning for en overordnet succes med service design af der er en politisk velvilje til at skabe rammebetingelserne herfor. Ny type af design-virksomhed: Hvis service design er p� den politiske dagsorden, s� opst�r der en eftersp�rgsel p� en ny type designvirksomhed, som er kendetegnet ved: Holistisk syn p� service-design: Design skal t�nkes i et samlet billede, og ikke kun som form og farvel�gning, med strategi, udvikling, salg, etc. samlet. Global spiller: Det er n�dvendigt som situationen er lige nu at have globale ambitioner, da kundegrundlaget endnu ikke har opn�et kritisk masse i DK, til at man kan v�re lokalkoncentreret i markedet Strategisk bevidst og forretningsorienteret: Designvirksomheder kan ikke overleve udelukkende ved at fokuserer p� at lave flotte og l�kre ting, de er n�dt til benh�rdt at t�nke forretningen ind i hvert projekt som de kaster sig over. Design fokus: Hvert �rti synes at have et overordnet designtema, som fortiden synes at v�re innovation, men hvad bliver det n�ste: Tid: At designe bekvemmelighed og mere tid, er virkelig noget som kunder viser meget interesse for. Det handler alts� ikke n�dvendigvis om at give mere for mindre, men nok n�rmere det samme meget bedre. B�redygtighed: At designe med b�redygtighed for �je er ikke kun milj�m�ssige l�sninger, det kan ogs� v�re l�sninger der udviser social ansvarlighed (CSR) eller �skaffer menneskene og milj�et det bedste uden at skade fremtidige generationers mulighed for d�kke deres behov� (Brundtlandsrapporten, 1987)

9. Global Outlook N�glepersoninterviews

10. Global OutlookAreas of Focus Today, pioneering cognate practices -- innovation consulting, nontraditional design, and customer experience consulting -- serve the business, government, and civil sectors with variations on the themes of innovation, design, and co-creation. These cognate practices use different mixes of similar approaches, design tools, and social methodologies to enhance relationships between their clients (companies, government agencies, and NGOs) and their clients� stakeholders (customers, investors, regulators, and citizens). Among these cognate practices are: Innovation training and management �Design thinking� consulting Systems and service design Experience design Customer experience management Transformational design Trend analysis and scenario development Novel types of strategic planning (e.g., �Blue Ocean Strategy�) To better understand and describe these practices and their issues and implications, we interviewed professionals -- firms and individuals -- working in each of them. Interviews consisted of interactive rounds of emailed questions and answers.

11. Global Outlook: MethodologySelecting Interviewees We chose 20 potential interviewees -- leading firms and individuals -- working in one or more of the cognate practices. Of these, _____ responded [10 in my case]. They participated in one, two, or three exchanges of questions and answers. Each successive exchange probed deeper into prior expressed concepts, approaches, and forecasts. These interviewees responded: Mark Vanderbeeken (IT), Partner, Experientia SpA (experience and transformation design) Joe Pine (USA), Partner, Strategic Horizons, Inc., co-author, Experience Economy and Authenticity (customer experience design) Dr. Idris Mootee (UK), Partner, Idea Couture Ltd. (customer service design) Zahcary Conen (USA), VP, LRA Worldwide, Inc. (customer experience management) Ossi Urchs (DE), Principal, F.F.T Medien Agentur (social media consulting and criticism) Professor Patrick Whitney (USA), Director, Design Center, Illinois Institute of Technology, (comprehensive design education) Hilary Cottam (UK), Partner, Participle Ltd., former Chief Designer,, UK Design Council�s RED practice unit, (transformation design) The interviewees� responses were analyzed and are summarized in the following pages. A second set of interviews is being scheduled for the late Summer and Fall 2008. We are creating aa GO Advisory Council. Our interviewees will be invited as Charter Members.

12. Global Outlook: Methodology Questions for Interviewees We asked interviewees to respond to the following questions: What competencies are needed for successful customer service design? What roles and disciplines must be involved to ensure that these competencies are available (e.g., project champions, brand and project managers, anthropologists, service designers, economists, marketing professionals, front and back office employees, domain experts, and so forth)? What tools do you use and recommend for your customer service design projects? How are customer service projects best managed? What are the signs and metrics of good management? At what tempo are your projects best accomplished, and why? What questions must your project champions answer to bolster the success of customer service designs? How do you define �customer loyalty� and how does it contribute to profitability? To what extent can and should your customers actively participate in the service design process? When and how are they best involved?

13. Global Outlook: ResultsMark Vanderbeeken, Experientia SpA (IT) There are three major phases in a successful customer service design project: Listening, to understand people�s needs, desires, and current pain points. Individuals with a social and cognitive science background, aware of their own biases, accompanies by someone with a design background. Design: The design of creative, innovative, human-centered service offerings: Individuals with strong synthetic sills, capable of translating user insights into tangible value. info architects, touch-point designers, content developers, technical writers. Testing: Evaluating design concepts and prototypes, and overall value proposition. For product design, individuals knowledgeable about human factors and ergonomics. For applications and services, behavioral analysis. We use a wide range of tools, but in the end, it isn�t about software or tools. We are mostly interested in qualitative insights and use qualitative research tools, working iteratively. Design and testing tools must be fast and relatively low-cost, so that a project can go through multiple iterations. Our goal is to fine tune the final service proposition to meet people�s read needs and contexts of use. We work in multidisciplinary teams, led by a strong partner with specific domain skills but also broad understanding of all relevant fields, for the fluid exchange of research insights and design processes, analytic and synthetic. Signs of good management are (1) clear research insights, (2) well-aligned design development, (3) clear results from tests, (4) a limited number of iterations, and (5) accomplishing the project goals on time. Project champions have to be able to understand and relate user needs and context of use. They need to ask many questions to fully understand the interdependencies of proposed and actual touch points. We adhere to participatory design principles, an approach to design that actively involved end-users in the design process. End-users are invited to cooperate with researchers and developers during the entire service innovation process. We are very inclusive. We involve end-users/customers from the earliest stages of understanding.

14. Global Outlook: ResultsJoe Pine, Strategic Horizons, Inc. (USA) We design for customer experiences, not services. Jim (Gilmore) and I consider ourselves dramaturgs who advise the experience director in matters of drama (which equals strategy). Specific roles and disciplines are idiosyncratic to each project. On way to view it is that there are producers who finance and set the overarching direction; directors who determine the theme and dramatic structure, and direct the actors; and the actors. [This is called the �Hollywood Model� of production, based on film-making traditions.] Key competencies include, for each activity� Experience design: �Straging meaning,� choreography, orchestration. Architecture and interior design: Creating the stage on which the experience is performed. Theatre: Creating dramatic structure and direction. The exact roles are idiosyncratic to the firm. The Walt Disney Company is a global source of talent. We work with the experience design consultancy, Starizon, which has its own �Place� in Colorado. The key tool we use is Starizon�s �6 I�s of Experience.� Design Principles, taken from The Experience Economy, is our most important �I.� It goes by the mnemonic of THEME. We like to see companies put a CXO -- Chief Experience Officer -- in charge of the overall experience, to lead the charge. We create I-teams, one for each of the six I�s, to take concepts to the next level and implementation. The bottom-line metrics for evaluating quality of management are always two: first, profit; then revenue. Project champions must know the experience�s theme, the goal of the experience they are staging, its organizing principle. Flowing from that are the set of impressions they want to create within customers, to reach the goal; and then, the physical design and theater design that makes this happen. Customer loyalty comes from reducing or eliminating customer sacrifice, giving customers exactly what they want. No experience design is complete without seeing the reaction of real, breathing customers! Companies must always plan on, and reserve resources for, responding to customer reactions. Don�t rely on pre-hoc research. Get the customers� reactions first, then research their causes and design follow-up experiences and relationships.

15. Global Outlook: ResultsDr. Idris Moutee, Idea Couture Ltd. (UK) Service design, a new definition, is different from �customer service� in the hospitality world or �operations management� in the world of supply chains. What is required to design a customer service for a traditional service business -- an airline or retail sales -- is very different from the �Web 2.0� approach to service design which requires community participation and �crowd� support. Typical projects last from four to 12 weeks. We use tools from management consulting to quantitatively examine the weak links along the service lifecycle. We use industrial design tools, including observational research and customer journey mapping, to uncover unmet needs. We add proprietary tools and methodologies drawing on on parallels in other worlds. Other worlds� means seeing more than the customer�s functional journey. We map the minds of executives and their customers: how the company and its customers �see� the service and well as its associated symbols and rituals, beyond their functional needs. We then perform gap analysis on these mental models. Our goal is to close the gap as much as possible. This can change the dominant logic of the business and begin another stream of change management or a transformation effort. Our customer service design projects are typically managed by a strategist supported by a multidisciplinary team. The strategist will typically have a business background and an MBA, but also possess a strong understanding and appreciation of applied creativity in problem-solving. The strategist must be able to develop a contextual understanding of the problems at hand and their economic implications. Multidisciplinary teams usually include an anthropologist, an interaction designer, and engineers in ergonomics and service design. They may also have onboard a retail space designer and a customer support service specialist. We have a model that we customize using Customer Value Drivers that guide our metrics. Customer loyalty is usually determined by measuring the Customer Value Drivers and using other, less common metrics such as �customer engagement� and �advocacy.� We invite customers into our workgroups and occasionally share our ethnographic videos with them to facilitate their input.

16. Global Outlook: ResultsZachary Conen, LRA Worldwide, Inc. (USA) We help organizations to develop customer service-focused cultures. Most companies start from a position of habit -- product-focused, financial performance-focused, and so on. Companies that put their customers at the center are always transforming around that focus and need a management team that is willing to learn, take risks, take advice, and be adaptive. Designing a customer service-focused culture is transformational. The management team must share a common vision and communicate it throughout the organization, providing tools and training that support the organization as it changes. Each project has its own tempo, dictated by the client�s resources and its appetite for change. Different projects require involvement of different roles within an organization, but essential to every process of this type is a �customer champion� (regardless of title) who has the ear of the executives (operating vertically) and the ability to exert influence across the entire organization (operating horizontally). Every LRA client must have a point-of-contact individual with complete responsibilty for the client�s activities and a project governance team to support that person. The best results are achieved when the client does the work and we facilitate, not the other way around. All employees must be ambassadors for the brand, from the board and executive officers to the customer-facing and back-office staff. They must have or develop a common emotional and intellectual connection to their work, always be thinking of ways of doing things better. The ideal personality is always trying to �delight� the customer, whether the customer is external to or within the organization. We use a proprietary framework that enables our clients to (a) define at a high level their desired customer experience (or �internal brand�) and (b) codify and document what that means operationally, in terms of employee actions across touch points and in every interaction with a customer. We adhere to the Japanese saying, �Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.� We call upon all employees to be involved. After an initial workshop for creative visioning, we translate the vision into an operational reality using touch/experience maps,performance standards, and systems and tools -- EFM, mystery shopping programs, training, surveys, etc. -- to implement the maps and standards, and to measure their effectiveness. It�s crucially important to understand from the customers the current state of the �customer service experience� and from the client, the desired future state. These two benchmarks move the project from point A to point B and ensure that it achieves its ultimate goals.

17. Global Outlook: ResultsOssi Urchs, FFT Medien Agentur (DE) As a result of the recent development of social (online) media and social (online) networks, innovation and innovation design have become even more social processes that they were before -- which was a lot. Innovation is based on discourse and conversation. It requires the information on which innovation is based to be freely available to everyone who takes part in these conversations. A conversation is an open, multipersonal, multidimensional discourse. As with any �open architecture,� you cannot know beforehand what the right conversation will be. Only after you have discovered the outcome of the conversation can you judge it if was worth the effort. Every innovator and designer will have to judge the results against his or her own communication experiences. Did it propose something that was not part of the prior discourse: a new aspect, value, or insight? Insight is the most important of the three -- an insight about your own positioning, an insight into the �buzz� that is taking place without your being aware of it. In the near future, the vital task of innovators and innovation designers will be to join and participate in the �right� (that is, productive) media and network conversations and to judge and value their contents and conclusions. (Gathering information will be a consequence of this activity, not their main chore as it often is today). I use the term �conversation� in the sense of the infamous Cluetrain Manifesto. Cluetrain characterizes the whole Internet as one ongoing global conversation. Enterprises must learn to become part of this conversation.

18. Global Outlook: ResultsProf. Patrick Whitney, IIT (USA) As a category of design, service design is similar to other types of design. Its general process is the same: (1) understand the current situation as completely as possible; (2) abstract the situation, taking into account factors external to the design process; (3) create optional solutions; and (4) choose and develop the best solution. In general, design and marketing start from different premises. Their core difference is that marketing starts focused on segments, channels, prices, promotions, etc.; design starts from how people use objects, environments, messages, and services. Service designers need to understand the user�s real intent and design all of the touchpoints to create the user�s experience. All key influencers need to be part of the design team, which is different for each project: engineers, advertising directors, brand managers, designers, and others. Tempo and other details depend on the project. Touchpoints are not defined by the practitioner but are objective points of contact between producers and consumers. Some professions may focus on a subset -- most practitioners focus only on a few -- but a company must be concerned with all of them, and influence as many as possible. For those creating a total user experience, ignoring some of the touchpoints seems like a mistake. The tools for service design are similar to those used in other design projects: creating experiential simulations of the things we design. They are often physical simulations that tell us about what it takes to manufacture something, its appearance, or its conceptual direction. But they can also be enactments of a service, a paper simulation, software, a model that enables a user to try a process, or a representation of a detail that needs special attention. The nature of the prototype changes depending on the particular project. In terms of evaluating a service design, the metrics are the same as with other types of design: customer delight (or at least, satisfaction), ROI, and sustainabilty. Co-design may be premture. But we are moving toward a condition where we will increasingly create systems of solutions and the consumer will create the final design by choosing how to interact with the system. Innovation is very hard to teach, but it is possible to make it less likely to fail. One way to decrease failure is by making solutions more valuable for users: watch what people do, rather than listen to what they ask for. It�s not a matter of �creative intuition� or �methods.� Why not use both?

19. Global Outlook: ResultsHilary Cottam, Participle Ltd. (UK) I found I could not answer your questions without challenging the premise from which they came from. I felt that your questions came from a consultancy type framework rather than the partnership-type arrangements that we broker. Our work at Participle doesn�t fit into a service design box. At the moment, for example, lots of our work turns on forging relationships within and among organizations with whom we work, rather than designing services per se. We are transforming systems rather than designing services in a traditional sense. The succes of our work is as much dependent on an innovative business case as is the service design component. We form teams that are truly interdisciplinary. Each teams includes designers, business people (entrepreneurs and MBAs), individuals with policy skills, and domain experts (e.g.., heath, education, etc.). It�s this mix of disciplines that makes our work possible. We skill up people from our partner organizations and potential users of the service to work with us using our methods. It�s then a joint partnership from beginning to end. I�m not sure we have anything partcular to add about management. Like other design firms, we need great project-management skills, in our case to maintain the partnerships that we broker. We try to get great managers from many, diverse backgrounds.

20. Global OutlookSummary Observations 1 We have a great deal more to learn regarding the exact nature of �innovation.� While all of these (and other) interviewees honor innovation as a vital act and earn their livings innovating or supporting others who innovate, no one has offered a substantial definition of innovation. To be fair, our questions did not address the nature of innovation -- but neither did anyone raise that issue. (This is very much the same case in the press and at professional gatherings.) Not fully understanding what innovation is, it�s difficult to support, forecast, or plan for its success except on an ad hoc basis. This situation may be keeping innovation exotic and discouraging its support. Successful projects for service design and cognate fields have these common characteristics: Strong executive involvement (the uniform absence of which has become a sad clich�). Interdisciplinary teams that comprise business innovators; designers of all types; management consultants; policy advisors, social, cultural, and technology researchers; ergonomists; ethnographers; marketing and media directors; writers; Internet experts theatrical producers and directors; and users and customers. A brisk tempo of execution that often includes several iterations of problem-solving, prototyping solutions, and testing of results. Customers are generally involved from the beginning, although not always. Service design, customer experience design/management, and transformation design -- the categories expressed in these interviews -- are all continous processes, each new design/solution building on the last and setting the stage for the next. A company team capable of continuous innovation is imperative. While several interviewers mentioned proprietary frameworks and models used in their work, there was no way to tell if these models are similar or different in structure and application -- or if one works better than another. In fact, there may be many design-method roads, all of which lead to Rome: the desired solution. Innovative service designs always require accompanying organizational change. In some cases, the desired solution may require transformation of the client, even to the point of choosing another line of business. The number of firms offering service design and cognate practices is growing dramatically, with few standards.

21. Global OutlookSummary Observations 2 Innovators remain a rare commodity. At least, that is the impression given by those running service design and cognate practices. The ability to innovate is apparently associated with inherent qualities, skills, and values (including, of course, low risk-avoidance, projection of self into the future, and optimism -- attitudes not always encouraged by organizations or business mores). It is difficult for traditional HR to recruit innovators: the parameters on which HR bases hiring choices do not necessarily coincide with innovators� traits. The involvement of customers in service design -- as in �co-creation� is honored in the breach more than the barrel. Everyone uses the term to a greater or lesser degree, but actual involvement of customers as co-creators, rather than merely the object of research (ethnography, egronomics, shopping behavior, etc.), is not a uniform practice. It may be have value as an ideal to which practitioners aspire or a professional canon. But in practice, customer involvement is problematic. While several interviewers mentioned proprietary frameworks and models used in their work, there was no way to tell if these models are similar or different in structure and application -- or if one works better than another. In fact, there may be many methodological roads, all of which lead to Rome: the preferred service-design solution. Innovative service designs always require accompanying organizational change. In some cases, the desired solution may require transformation of the client, even to the point of choosing another line of business. Really rigorous, critical analysis of service design, as of cognate practices generally, is rare and private. Unlike other design disciplines, service design�s professional organizations are of recent origin, largely social, and more promotional than critical. The field may be at a tipping point at which it will become merely another artistic design modality -- similar to media design -- or a robust (but still creative) method, with a reliable methodology and metrics, for enhancing customer experience of services and service organizations. There is a profound need for further critical research in the field of service design conducted on an ongoing basis.