A Time Machine for Service Design

A Time Machine for Service Designers Visit the user world of the future to understand their needs and desires Service design claims to build a better future through exceptional services that improve people’s lives. Ironically though, most of the currently employed user research methods deliver only insights valid for the past – or the present, at best.

Julia Leihener is a service designer and founding member of Telekom Innovation Laboratories’ Creation Center in Berlin.

Dr. Henning Breuer is founder of the consulting company UXBerlin - Research and Innovation.

CoAuthors Steven Schepurek & Jörn Schulz As part of the Telekom Innovation Laboratories research and development division of Deutsche Telekom, the Creation Center & User Driven Innovation functions as an interdisciplinary platform for customer integration and the creation of service concepts based on human needs.

We build the bridge between research and business. We are a place for cultural change.

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‘Creating Value(s)’ was the topic of this year’s service design conference in Cologne. ‘How can service design create sustainable value for society?’ was one of the questions we asked ourselves.

Ideally, service design aims to build a better future through exceptional services that improve people’s lives.

Ironically though, most of the currently employed user research methods relying on empirical data deliver insights that are, at best, valid only for the past or the present. However, if service design intends to create lasting value for social and economic change, it should also address and incorporate a leap into the future. Such a ‘long-term view’ is essential for everyone who intends to design for environments yet to come, e.g. for an emerging target group or for a new infrastructure that still needs to unfold.

We need to explore future contexts in a specific domain, anticipate emerging user needs and envision future services without getting stuck in clichés from science fiction.

In this article, we present a methodology that combines service design with futures research and scenario analysis. In order to inform strategic decisions and to create concepts that are not only valid for the next 2-3 but 8-10 years, we enriched scenario approaches with methods typical of service design practices: ‘day-in-a-life’ narratives, persona creation and ideating within opportunity fields. We worked with this approach in a project for the telecommunications industry and generated possible and desirable futures for a convergent internet access in 2020.

Numerous strategic options and service ideas were conceived and the client team was able to fully grasp what the future of their business might hold for them.

We would like to share our experience and invite you to step on board our time machine – aiming for future values through service design.

The Creation Center & User Driven Innovation division, a part of the Telekom Innovation Laboratories, was approached

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Trends + insights from desk research, previous projects, expert keynotes, and workshop ideation 7 key factors with 2 extreme poles from clustering of trends + insights and various sub factors 3 descriptive scenarios, 1 normative scenario as basis for backcasting 4 opportunity fields, 25 ideas, future + alternative activities, strategy criteria and a vision-roadmap

Methodological funnel showing the service design process from insights via scenarios to future opportunity fields. by the team from the company Product & Innovation All IP Access products (‘Voice & Fast Internet’) with the following questions: • How will communication and network accessibility develop in the year 2020?

• Which future scenarios are imaginable and support the All-IP convergence strategy of Deutsche Telekom?

• Which service concepts will be relevant in 2020 and what can we learn from them for today?

In order to answer these questions, a series of workshops was set up and conducted over a period of six months. The goals were to develop a positive vision for convergent access in 2020 and a shared understanding of critical issues and service opportunities in future network access business. We explored future customer needs and behaviour in a converging technological environment. The project resulted in a roadmap of strategic measures and activities, service ideas for new business, as well as strategic milestones for the next ten years.

Get started: setting a common ground

The first step was to gather together an interdisciplinary team covering fields of product management, service design, futures research, social science, technology and market research. After a joint commitment to the project goals and methodological approach, expectations and

relevant topics were discussed in order to define the project scope. Related products and applications from international competitors were then analysed. This helped us to agree on a definition of the term ‘convergence’ and create a common ground among the interdisciplinary participants: “Convergence stands for a seamless and coherent user experience enabled by smart, invisible technology.

This technology should be securely accessible everywhere and easy to use.”

Identify key factors: what would really make a difference?

A starting point for the discussion of the main factors that would impact on future network access business was provided through user contributions in the form of videographic footage and cultural probes on topics such as voice-based telecommunication. These user-generated artefacts and illustrations inspired discussions about factors that would also influence future business. For example, one user’s report about his collection touchpoint 75

Keyfactor dashboard to generate different parameter combinations of relevant keyfactors as a base grid for future scenario generation.

of phones from various providers was interpreted as indicator that developments regarding cross-industry convergence (as one influencing factor) will impact future business.

Diverse sources of knowledge contributed to the discursive collection and aggregation of the most relevant factors.

Trend specialists and future researchers proposed hidden and emerging user needs and cultural trends that they considered relevant in the future. Together with experts in technology foresight they participated in the controversial prioritisation of key influencing factors. Here we distinguished between rather determined elements that are largely foreseeable and critical uncertainties that can develop in different directions. For example, the development of demographic change is rather certain, whereas the process of standardisation (e.g. achieving interoperability between networks, platforms and operating systems) may or may not occur. A set of relevant key factors with two alternative parameter values each were finally identified. Beside the issue of cross-industry convergence and standardisation, the key factor collection included issues of identity management, usage versus ownership and the level of digital immersion.

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Take the time machine: crafting your scenarios

The next step yielded three explorative future scenarios for convergent access. Possible and plausible combinations of key factors were evaluated in a stepby-step approach. The key factors first were prioritised through a homework exercise by all participants.

Starting with the highest ranked factors, three groups discussed in parallel different combinations of parameter values in order to generate an outline for the scenario creation. For instance, the key factor ‘usage versus ownership’ could develop in two directions: future society might develop in the direction of using goods instead of owning them, like current car sharing concepts, as well as holding on to models of owning personal possessions, just to be on the safe side. Building on our user insights, we took ‘usage on demand’ as the first promising parameter value, tending towards the usage option with almost all contents and services available in the cloud and open to subscription by users. Secondly, we anticipated that cross-industry convergence, e.g. telecommunication and automotive industry partnering, would increase until 2020, with diversification of the business beyond the traditional industry boundaries, instead of continuing to work in their traditional fields. The combination of parameters in this case would now produce a society using products and services on demand in a world where industries closely collaborate. How would another key factor like standardisation link in? What if standardisation was assumed to fail within this scenario, so that compatibility and interoperability would remain challenging for users?

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In continuous evaluation of very likely, as well as unconventional combinations of those potential parameters, further key factors were mapped accordingly (see image). The resulting key factor grid then served as a base for a brainstorming using the following questions: • What would a world with those keyfactor parameter combinations look like?

• What kind of people would live there? What would be their desires and needs? How would they live and communicate?

• What could be promising fields of opportunity in this world of 2020?

Anticipate future user needs: scenario insights analysis

As a result, three tangible day-in-thelife stories were generated: ‘Brave New Digi World’, ‘Carpe Net’ and ‘I Need Help’. These were illustrated

using graphic recording, as well as narrative scenario methods, in order to identify problems, challenges and business opportunities that could result from future developments. The workshop participants were asked to dive deep into the scenario worlds by reading the stories aloud and by watching out for interesting aspects that resulted from the imagined scenarios. For instance, one of the day-in-the-life stories was called ‘Brave New Digi World’ and consisted of a future vision in which people were always online, although the younger generations had been empowered in media literacy. In this scenario, older generations were more in danger of being absorbed by the information overload, since they were lacking in media competences. In the ‘Brave New Digi World’ most devices, be they digital gadgets, vehicles or sports equipment, like skateboards, would not be individually owned anymore, but would, rather, be used on demand.

Through identification chips they could be checked out and used at any time. One of the fields of opportunity deriving from this scenario would be the option a telecommunication provider engaging in logistics in order to enable a seamless user experience, e.g. tracking and communicating which skateboard is available when, where and for whom.

Cross-over evaluation of parameter values for potential combinations of key factors as a method for designing a grid for a future scenario.

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Projected prototyping: filter through the eyes of the future user

One of the central aspects was the ‘future reality check’, in the form of an immersive excursion to the corporate gallery space displaying future communication technologies in a close-to-natural setting.

Divided into three ‘visitors-from-2020’ groups, the workshop participants discovered future communication technologies in different life settings, such as listening to music and communicating in the living room, driving a car through unknown territory or working in a paperless office. Looking through the eyes of their future user, for example, one from ‘Brave New Digi World’, the workshop participants were asked to test what they had learned in this environment. The creation of headlines and article outlines for a future newspaper proved to be a valid methodology at this point. With this feedback material and the selected key factors and opportunity fields, we were able to filter the best of the three explorative scenarios in order to build a normative desirable scenario in the following the workshop.

Back to reality: derive a strategic action plan

Stepping out of the time machine and back into the present, we applied so-called ‘back-casting’ on the normative scenario. The workshop participants started from the desirable future and worked their way backwards to the present by identifying measures and activities that need to be undertaken in order to reach the normative scenario and, thus, connect the future with the present. In the end, and with this 78

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input, an instruction for actions was outlined, ranked and mapped on a time scale. To enable the workshop participants to adjust their roadmap to upcoming influences and impulses, the analogue version of the final documentation of the workshop series contained a ‘do-it-yourself’ roadmap set. Thus, every participant will be able to depict the roadmap on an office wall and to alternate activities and measures according to the current situation.

The process of back-casting was one of the crucial and critical steps in the entire process: it was the ‘moment of truth’, when we projected all the visions that had been created back into the present, into the everyday lives of the product managers. Mapping their current business activities with the core factors along a time line, gaps became visible and clearly showed where activities are missing to drive the overall vision. Also, the understanding that current activities do not fully cater for alternative developments was an important lesson learned, and one requiring further action, e.g. a deep-dive ideation on selected topics.

Talk about it: apply your vision

A major challenge of these kind of projects is the communication and implementation of the results.

Therefore we initiated an interactive hand-over workshop with all participants and presented a flexible documentation format in order to bridge the gap between stepping into the time machine and the everyday work of the client: a box containing a card system that shows the results and the process, as well as the tools to continue and to apply the methods in innovation development. Several exercises encouraged the managers to work with the documentation cards towards new ends. In addition, a stop-motion movie was produced, explaining the approach and the key results in an abstract but tangible and easily distributable way. An exhibition was even set up in the headquarters to share the results with more than 150 managers and decision makers.

Next to the rich material generated, one of the most important achievements for the managers was the learn-

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Graphic recorded illustrations of extreme scenarios showing three possible converged worlds in 2020: ‘Brave New Digi World’, ‘Carpe Diem Carpe Net’, ‘I Need Help’.

ing process during the scenario generation. Participants stated that they “grew tremendously during the last half year and now feel a lot more secure in their daily decisions.” All participants from different divisions were able to create their shared vision to pursue for the next years: “Now, we have a compass for our entire service-innovation department.” This experience created the basis for an iterative refinement and reflection of strategic options with the team.

Travel to the future and back: synthesis & lessons learned

The enrichment of future-scenario modelling with service design methodology proved to be a valid approach.

On the one hand, user research and creative innovation tools enriched, as well as freed up, scientific and strongly structured scenario methods. On the other hand, these elevated the capabilities, range and focus of the service design methodologies: starting with the exploration of the user needs and expert perspectives of today, we projected these along relevant key factors, created a framework to travel the future and came up, not only with new service ideas, but with a roadmap of strategic options. Just like we visit users in their everyday lives today to learn about their needs, we were able to visit the users in their various scenario environments of tomorrow. By understanding their potential desires in 2020, we can provoke the right activities and take valid action for today.

We were able to create a future vision for a specified field grounded in empathy. By anticipating upcoming needs and service ideas we are now able to prepare ourselves for the future.

Back-casting user scenarios of 2020 into the present allowed us to generate a long-term strategy and even shape the future. This way, we can create relevant services with a lasting perspective, thus creating sustainable value through creating services for tomorrow –just by making use of a methodological time machine.

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References Breuer, H., Schulz, J. & Leihener, J. (2012). ‘Learning from the Future – Scenarios based on Normativity, Performativity and Transparency to foster Organizational Learning’. Proceedings of XXIII ISPIM Conference 2012. International Society of Professional Innovation Management, Barcelona. Online (20.8.2012): http://ssrn.com/abstract=2125750 Schmolze, R., (2011). Unternehmen Idee: Wie kundenorientierte Produktentwicklung zum Erfolg führt. Campus Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt/New York. http://www.unternehmen-idee.de/

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