Proffessor Tom Inns: Service Design Lecture

Service design is an interesting perspective that I have only been properly aware of recently. To some extent I have never really thought of it a something of interest and possibility to me. The lecture was a good opportunity of me to realise more of this side of design.

As a fledgling designer I have typically thought of myself as a student designing concepts and realities in form and functionality. In a sense this is often a part of service design also. A bus service is a transport service involving the bus - a piece of design and engineering - to the ticket and drivers attitude, training and uniform. However, the more elusive aspect of service is the service it's self. I picked the Internet as my lecture activity choice, it made sense to rationalise it into a service as I do not see it as a product on it's own but a collection of elements. A service, as it's name suggests requires it to have some interaction with a user or users.

The Internet was my service of choice for the lecture. It was so difficult to separate the different elements of its design and to think of each part. There is the computer or other device that gives you access in the first place. Before you even use the service you need this interface, within that there are other interfaces like the keyboard, mouse and monitor known as the touch points. These touch points are the more obvious ones as I would say that the website it's self is in fact a key touch point, the only difference is that it is virtual. The Internet is a service which houses an infinite amount of other services. Online shopping, research, forums, communication etc are all housed in this vast sea of information. Following on from this obvious observation, I see that the main services that come to mind all originate from the real world translated into a screen based version. This provides immediate convenience and lack of physical material needed to utilise our everyday services.

On the other hand I see it as an exessively convienient tool for self indulgance and re making of ones self as I see in so many people. This upsets me. We have access to almost everything we need - and more. This exess is unavoidable and simply down to personal choice and self control. Shopping, gaming, talking, seeing are all elements of this service that are abused from trivial flippancy to curiosity and addiction. I use Facebook in a way that would seem as if I actually NEEDED it which I don't. I simply enjoy the comminicative and social boost it gives me instead of a real face to face conversation.

I do not think the Internet is inherantly bad or good but it is down to the supplier, user, service and so on that gives us the view we have of it. How do we impact something so integrated, powerful and elusive as modern designer? The key could be within the service but more so in how we act as people outside, personally as a designer.