Designing for Imperfection KEYWORDS : Service prototyping, complex service systems, variations, organisational learning Over time services have evolved from simple barter exchanges to more multifaceted transactions between mutliple actors. Consequently, the progressively interdependent, networked and systemic nature of services has given rise to increased complexity. Organizations are subject to both internal and external variations and disruptions in this complex environment, requiring organizations to be adaptive and flexible in order to support value creation within their networks. Thus, there is a need for practical approaches that support the development of services in ubiquitous complex settings. Prototyping is a central activity in design practice and orients participants towards future situations of value creation. Service prototyping enables exploration and evaluation of service concepts and service prototypes have been used for several reasons, including articulating insights, learning, communicating, collaborating, and maintaining empathy for customers. As such, service prototyping approaches in design discourse can be leveraged to facilitate future value creation. This research aims to utilize service prototyping and experimentation to promote organizational learning and
Name / Surname
resilience in complex service systems (Please refer to Figure 1.). The objectives of this research are as follows:
Vanessa Rodrigues
1. Scrutinize concepts and rhetoric related to prototyping services in (service) design discourse. 2. Relate the concepts to discourse in new service development (NSD) and service
Research field/area
management literature.
Service prototyping as a way of experimenting with variations & enhancing organisational
3. Identify challenges and contraints for participants when experimenting with variations. 4. Develop a conceptual service prototyping framework for organizational learning. The author will engage in action-oriented research with qualitative data collection and analysis in public and
learning
private sector organizations undertaking service design projects. Observations of service prototyping practices will be conducted in addition to interventions in prototyping activities.
Supervisors
Time
Prof. Stefan Holmlid Prof. Gaby Odekerken-Schröder Dr. Dominik Mahr
Enhanced Monitoring
Current Situation
Positive Adjustment
Detection
Activation
yr1
yr2
yr3
yr4
Surrogate Situation
Organisational Learning
Response
Disruption
Negative Adjustment
Variation
Variation
Future Situation
Future Preparedness
Figure 1: Tentative Framework - Prototyping with Variations to enhance Organizational Learning
Bibliography Blomkvist, Johan, and Fabian Segelström. 2014. “Benefits of External Representations in Service Design: A Distributed Cognition Perspective.” The Design Journal, 17(3), 331–346. Koskinen, Ilpo, John Zimmerman, Thomas Binder, Johan Redstrom, and Stephan Wensveen. 2011. “Design research through practice: From the lab, field, and showroom.” Boston: Elsevier. Vargo, Stephen L., Paul P. Maglio, and Melissa Archpru Akaka. 2008. “On value and value co-creation: a service systems and service logic perspective.” European Management Journal, 26(3), 145–152.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement Nº 642116