TEDx Talks - How to design services that work | Disha Mittal | TEDxWoodLaneWomen
The speaker discusses the critical role of services in daily life and the issues that arise when they fail to meet user expectations. Using examples like the Vienna metro ticket validation issue and customer service inefficiencies, the talk highlights how mismatches between user expectations and service design lead to frustration. The concept of 'affordance' is introduced, explaining how design cues can guide user interaction. The speaker argues that services should be designed with user mental maps in mind, which are shaped by past experiences and cultural backgrounds. To improve service design, organizations should engage directly with users to understand their needs and expectations, rather than relying solely on manuals or surveys. Practical suggestions include adapting services to meet user expectations or influencing user behavior through clear communication and design cues.
Key Points:
- Design services with user mental maps in mind to avoid mismatches.
- Engage directly with users to understand their needs and expectations.
- Use design cues to guide user interaction and improve service intuitiveness.
- Adapt services to meet user expectations or influence behavior through communication.
- Focus on empathy and deliberate design to minimize user frustration.
Details:
1. 🎤 Introduction to Daily Services
- Daily services are integral to everyday life, often unnoticed until they malfunction. This highlights their importance in maintaining daily routines without disruption.
2. 🚇 The Vienna Metro Ticket Dilemma
2.1. Tourists Fined for Ticket Validation Issues
2.2. Online Warnings
2.3. Tourist Statistics
2.4. Economic Impact of Fines
3. 📞 Customer Service Challenges
- Despite guidance to use phone or email, a significant number of customers (estimated 40% increase) preferred in-person visits, leading to increased workload for front desk staff.
- Resources dedicated to phone and email support were underutilized, with only 60% of these channels' capacity being used effectively.
- The mismatch in resource allocation resulted in longer waiting times for customers, with average wait times increasing from 10 minutes to 20 minutes.
- Front desk staff reported a 25% increase in stress and job dissatisfaction due to the higher volume of in-person interactions.
- Additional training or incentives could be implemented to encourage customers to use digital channels, potentially improving resource utilization.
4. 🔍 Understanding Service Design
- 80% of the UK government's costs are spent on services, with 60% attributed to service failures such as phone calls for assistance and incorrectly filled forms.
- A strong culture in certain communities involves physically going to a location for preferential treatment, highlighting the need for accessible service design.
- Designing effective services requires conscious intent, deliberation, and a focus on reducing service failures.
- Successful examples include reducing form errors through digital solutions and proactive customer support, which can lower costs and improve user satisfaction.
5. 🚪 The Concept of Affordance
- Affordance is a concept popularized by designer Donald Norman, focusing on how the design of an object suggests its use.
- A door with a handle implies it should be pulled, whereas a flat plate suggests pushing; this is an example of affordance in design.
- Affordance is the property of an object that indicates how it can be used, communicating function through its design.
- A coat hook's shape suggests its function of hanging items, demonstrating intuitive understanding through affordance.
- Perceived affordance is what an object can afford a user to do, extending beyond physical objects to include services.
6. 🧠 User Mental Maps and Service Expectations
- Users form mental maps based on prior experiences and assumptions, shaping their expectations of service functionality.
- A key issue arises when there is a disconnect between user expectations and the actual use intended by the service provider, leading to inefficiencies.
- Organizations often attempt to bridge this gap with instruction manuals, which frequently fail to effectively meet user needs.
- Service design typically prioritizes organizational objectives over user-centric expectations, causing potential misalignments.
- To better align services with user mental maps, organizations can incorporate user feedback into the design process, ensuring that user expectations are considered and met.
- For instance, companies can conduct user testing to gather insights into how services are perceived and used, leading to more intuitive design solutions.
7. 🗣️ Engaging with Users for Better Design
- Designers often overlook users' actual needs, mental maps, and expectations, leading to services that are not intuitive.
- To create intuitive services, it's crucial to consider users' mental maps, which are influenced by cues from the service, past experiences, habits, and cultural backgrounds.
- Effective user engagement involves direct conversations with users rather than relying solely on market surveys or industry trends.
- Key questions to explore with users include their goals, challenges, fears, and perceptions about the service.
- Understanding what 'good' and 'better' look like from the users' perspective can drive design improvements.
- Transport service providers in Vienna, for instance, can benefit from understanding how newcomers and tourists navigate their systems.
- A practical example of effective user engagement is seen in how Vienna's transport system analyzes tourist behavior to improve service navigation.
- User engagement strategies can include user interviews, journey mapping, and prototype testing to align services with user expectations.
- Design improvements are significantly driven by integrating user feedback, leading to enhanced service intuitiveness and user satisfaction.
8. 🔄 Moving Towards Better Services
- Focus on service components like language, visuals, interfaces, and spaces to enhance user experience.
- Recognize that bad service experiences are common but can be improved by understanding user needs.
- Employ empathy and intentional design to create services that are less frustrating, less time-consuming, and less bureaucratic.
- Implement strategies such as customer journey mapping and feedback loops to continuously improve service offerings.
- Case Study: A hospital reduced patient wait times by 40% through process redesign and better resource allocation.
- Example: A bank improved customer satisfaction by 30% by redesigning its online banking interface to be more intuitive and user-friendly.