What is a Service Blueprint?

PlaybookUX

30 Jul 201903:51

Summary

TLDRThis video explores the concept of service blueprints, essential tools for visualizing the structure and operation of a service. Similar to architectural blueprints, they guide the construction of services by mapping out the customer journey, interactions, and supporting processes. Crucial for complex businesses, service blueprints are invaluable for improving or understanding services and guiding new service design. The video outlines the process of creating a blueprint, emphasizing the importance of stakeholder involvement, internal research, and collaborative workshops to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the service.

Takeaways

📈 Service blueprints are visual tools to explain how a service works, similar to architectural blueprints for building a house.
🔍 They help define the structure of a service and visualize the relationships between different service components.
👥 Service blueprints include important people and touchpoints in the customer journey, as well as any evidence or artifacts.
📚 It is the next step after the customer journey map and is vital for complex businesses with many systems and people.
🛠 Useful for improving a product or service, understanding current processes, and designing new services.
👥 Stakeholders and experts in functional areas should be involved to ensure a comprehensive view of the business.
📝 Define the scope and business goals of the service blueprint to determine what to include.
🔬 Primarily relies on internal research methods such as contextual inquiries, observations, interviews, and diary studies.
🤝 A service design workshop with all stakeholders can speed up the process by clarifying confusion instantly.
🛑 Define the physical evidence, customer actions, front-stage interactions, backstage interactions, and supporting processes.
⏳ Map the time for each step in the service blueprint as time differences can significantly impact service quality.
👍 Service blueprints provide a full picture of the business, guiding the prototype design before launching a service.

Q & A

What is a service blueprint?
-A service blueprint is a visual representation that explains how a service works, similar to an architecture blueprint for a building. It outlines the structure of a service, including the relationships among different components and how they work together.
Why are service blueprints important?
-Service blueprints are crucial for defining the structure of a service, especially in complex businesses with multiple systems and touchpoints. They help visualize the customer journey and the interactions within the service.
What is the relationship between a customer journey map and a service blueprint?
-The customer journey map is a part of the service blueprint. While the journey map focuses on the customer's experience, the service blueprint aims to build a full picture of the service, including all internal processes and interactions.
In what scenarios are service blueprints useful?
-Service blueprints are useful in multiple scenarios, such as improving a product or service, understanding a current process, and designing a new service to guide the prototype before launch.
Who should be involved in creating a service blueprint?
-Stakeholders and subject matter experts in their functional areas should be involved in creating a service blueprint to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the business from different perspectives.
What is the first step in building a service blueprint?
-The first step is to gather the team and define the service blueprint scope, ensuring clarity on the business goals and what needs to be included in the blueprint.
What type of research is primarily used in creating a service blueprint?
-Internal research is primarily used in creating a service blueprint. This includes gathering information through contextual inquiries, observations, stakeholder interviews, and diary studies.
Why is a service design workshop recommended at the beginning of the process?
-A service design workshop is recommended because it allows for collaborative sessions with all stakeholders, which can speed up the process by clarifying any confusion instantly.
What are the different components of a service blueprint?
-The components of a service blueprint include physical evidence, customer actions, front-stage interactions, backstage interactions, and the time taken for each step in the service.
How can the service blueprint help in designing a new service?
-The service blueprint can guide the prototype design by providing a comprehensive view of how the service will operate, including the customer journey and internal processes.
What is the importance of mapping time for each step in a service blueprint?
-Mapping time for each step is important because it highlights the duration and efficiency of each part of the service, which can be crucial for identifying bottlenecks or areas for improvement.

Outlines

00:00

📐 Introduction to Service Blueprints

This paragraph introduces the concept of service blueprints as a visual tool for explaining how a service operates. It compares service blueprints to architectural blueprints, emphasizing their importance in defining the structure of a service. The paragraph explains that these blueprints include various relationships, people, and touch points within a business, and are particularly useful for complex businesses with multiple systems and stakeholders. It also mentions that service blueprints are the next step after creating a customer journey map and are beneficial for improving or understanding existing processes, as well as guiding the design of new services.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Service Blueprints

Service Blueprints are visual representations that outline the structure and sequence of a service. They are akin to architectural blueprints, providing a detailed guide for the construction of services, much like a blueprint guides the building of a house. In the video, Service Blueprints are presented as essential tools for defining the relationships across various services within a business and for understanding how all elements work together to deliver the service.

💡Customer Journey

The Customer Journey refers to the complete path a customer takes when engaging with a product or service. It is a critical component of the Service Blueprint, as it helps to identify the touchpoints and interactions the customer has with the service. The video emphasizes that the Service Blueprint is the next step after mapping out the customer journey, aiming to build a comprehensive picture of the service.

💡Stakeholders

Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have an interest or involvement in the service being discussed. The video script mentions the importance of involving stakeholders who are experts in their functional areas when creating a Service Blueprint. This ensures that the blueprint is comprehensive and includes all necessary perspectives.

💡Scope

The term 'scope' in the context of the video refers to the boundaries and extent of the Service Blueprint project. Defining the scope is crucial to understand what should be included in the blueprint and what should be excluded. The script suggests that clarity on the scope is especially important when dealing with complex, large-scale businesses.

💡Internal Research

Internal Research is the process of gathering information from within the organization, as opposed to user research which involves studying the end-users. The video script highlights that unlike most research methods, a Service Blueprint is primarily composed of internal research, including contextual inquiries, observations, stakeholder interviews, and diary studies.

💡Service Design Workshop

A Service Design Workshop is a collaborative session involving all stakeholders to facilitate the creation of a Service Blueprint. The video script suggests conducting such a workshop to speed up the process by allowing all parties to clarify any confusion instantly, which is particularly useful when building a Service Blueprint.

💡Physical Evidence

Physical Evidence in the context of a Service Blueprint refers to the tangible artifacts or systems used in the service process. The script mentions defining the physical evidence as a part of building the Service Blueprint, which includes the digital and physical tools that people use to interact with the brand.

💡Customer Actions

Customer Actions are the specific activities or behaviors that customers perform when interacting with a service. The video script describes how defining customer actions is an integral part of the Service Blueprint, helping to understand how customers engage with the service, such as entering their email or interacting with a chatbot.

💡Front Stage Interactions

Front Stage Interactions are the parts of the service that the customer directly sees and experiences. The video script explains that these interactions are the touchpoints between the service provider and the user, which are visible and form a significant part of the customer's perception of the service.

💡Back Stage Interactions

Back Stage Interactions are the behind-the-scenes processes that support the service but are not directly visible to the customer. The video script uses the example of writing a blog post or an internal approval process for posting a tweet to illustrate these interactions, which are crucial for the smooth operation of the service.

💡Supporting Processes

Supporting Processes are the internal mechanisms that ensure the service runs smoothly but are not part of the direct customer experience. The video script mentions mapping the time for each step in the service blueprint, including supporting processes like how the team follows up on support tickets.

Highlights

Service blueprints visually explain how a service works, similar to architecture blueprints for building a house.

It defines the structure of a service, including the relationships across different services in a business.

Service blueprints include important people, customer touch points, and evidence or artifacts in the service process.

They are the next step after the customer journey map, building a full picture of the service.

Especially vital for complex businesses with many interconnected systems, people, and operations.

Service blueprints are useful for improving products or services and understanding current processes.

In large corporations, they help teams that may not fully understand the entire process.

They guide the prototype design before launching a new service.

The process begins with gathering a team and defining the service blueprint scope.

Stakeholders and experts in functional areas should be involved for a comprehensive view.

The scope defines the business goals and what to include in the service blueprint.

Unlike other research methods, service blueprints are primarily based on internal research.

Information is gathered through contextual inquiries, observations, interviews, and diary studies.

A service design workshop with stakeholders can speed up the process by clarifying confusion instantly.

If a workshop isn't possible, individual interviews with stakeholders and experts can be conducted.

Sharing the blueprint with stakeholders early and often helps to refine and clarify.

Defining physical evidence and systems used in the process is a starting point for building the blueprint.

Customer actions, such as email entry or chat bot interaction, are clearly defined.

Front stage interactions are the visible touch points between the service provider and the user.

Backstage interactions are the behind-the-scenes processes not seen by the user.

Supporting processes, like following up on support tickets, are crucial for service operation.

Mapping the time for each step in the service blueprint is important for understanding service duration.

The video concludes with an invitation to subscribe for more insights on product and UX.