This is the first blog post from the newly formed Service Design Lagos. We established the service design Lagos chapter following successive runs from the service design network global chapter based in Cologne Germany and other chapters from around the globe.
With the growing influence of service design around the world and the transformational capacity of service design we think the time is right to start discussing and sharing the impacts of service design here in Nigeria. The growing IT sector and banking, entertainment, public sector, are all burgeoning industries undergoing a new form of reforms driven by young and passionate-creative people.
As more attention is being paid to experiences and the demands for citizens and customers for quality services and good governance.., service design can become a tool for organizations to refocus their offerings and the government to deliver citizen-driven agendas and policies.
Service design can be thought of as the design of end-to-end experiences that customers encounter on their journey through various 'touch-points' to access a product or service. This is very important because as a brand or an organization designing touch points to be effective and experiential means positioning yourself for how the customer sees you at every point on the customer's journey. For the government this is the most important channel to interact with citizens..and sometimes the only one.
Think of how the state delivers governance; power, healthcare, water..these are all service forms and also channels for the government to continue dialogue and interaction with citizens. But we often miss the point. Service design presents a unique process, language and tools for understanding customers and translating this understanding into value propositions that will delight the users. Every business or government is obliged to have a good knowledge of its people (citizens, customers, employees, stakeholders, community groups).
The demand for compelling experiences, digital and internet shopping is putting pressure on brands. Never a time had brands and marketing been less important than in this age. For a market like Nigeria where every brand is looking for an artist to endorse or the next vacant billboard to sell with or yes,-- the talent show. Service design can be the leverage..as we move from persuasion to usability and experiences. The idea of service design takes marketing to the next level by focusing on optimizing service touch-points and delivering experiences, meaningful and authentic communication with customers.
Service Design will be the thing that businesses focus on to make them compete better.--Ben Terrett
There is no industry that service design cannot transform and countless case studies from around the world proves that. See: Service Design Network and the UK Design Council for cases on service design. Everything is a service..Think of companies like hotels.ng, Truppr, Uber...All they offer is a service. They don't own many infrastructures even. But they are slowly disrupting transportation as we know it, travel, etc. By discovering new business models and value proposition in a creative way.
Think about education, you don't have to own a school or a university to provide educational services..companies like Andela and BAUonline and many others are leading this change already in Nigeria. Elsewhere, Reboot a New York based social design agency recently setup in Nigeria and worked with the WorldBank to create a service delivery platform called MyVoice in Nassarawa state. This project also won the Core77 service design award.
Think about education, you don't have to own a school or a university to provide educational services..companies like Andela and BAUonline and many others are leading this change already in Nigeria. Elsewhere, Reboot a New York based social design agency recently setup in Nigeria and worked with the WorldBank to create a service delivery platform called MyVoice in Nassarawa state. This project also won the Core77 service design award.
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| hotels.ng has become a popular destination for travellers in Nigeria |
Our mission at Service Design Lagos is to help share knowledge and cases on service design from Nigeria to the rest of the world through informal meetings, events and conferences.
If you are a professional in one of these fields: banking, healthcare, IT, entertainment, public sector, entrepreneur, marketing/advertising, media, telecoms, transportation/aviation, fashion, NGOs and many others. If you are curious about where the next phase of growth and innovation might come from. This is your moment!
Join the Service Design Lagos to network with other professionals to discuss and share tools and best practices on service design. There is no fee nor obligation to join.
To join simply send an email with your name and profession to: charles@policylabafrica.org
You can also follow us on Twitter: @SDN_Lagos to receive updates on events and publications.
Now, let sparks fly!
