How do you evaluate the value/purpose of a service?
In short: go beyond the classical "desirable, feasible, viable" approach and consider too respnsability, a systems view and transparency.
Choose the right metric to start with
The classical design thinking criterias
It's all a question of the metrics that you define as important. I've made a list of 150 innovation metrics that you can take as inspiration.
A classical way to think about the quality of a service, product or idea is to use the Venn Diagram of Design Thinking as proposed by IDEO:
Planet Centric criterias
But some say that creating products and services that people want, that make enough money and that can be created is also what brings us to more consumption and to the creation of more waste.
Therefore some, like those pushing for a shift from Human Centered Design to Planet Centric Design, propose to add a few more criteria:
Rembmer, Service Quality can be measured
The quality of a Service is, in fact something that has a formula and that some people have found ways to calculate:
"Service quality (SQ), in its contemporary conceptualisation, is a comparison of perceived expectations (E) of a service with perceived performance (P), giving rise to the equation SQ=P-E". — Wikipedia
Maybe don't use a metric
For some service, a standard metric might be too reductive to evaluate if the service is really working for its purpose. Many NPO, therefore, use a method called "Most Significant Change":
"The Most Significant Change (MSC) approach involves generating and analysing personal accounts of change and deciding which of these accounts is the most significant – and why." — Bronwen McDonald, Kaye Stevens, Theo Nabben and Patricia Rogers
Going further
To go further, listen to this 50-minute interview with Tim Dekker, a Senior Service Designer at Kiwi.com, on the question: "How to effectively measure a service".
Related articles
What are interesting statistics related to Service Design?
Here are a few of the stats from studies I could find on topics related to Service Design: The value of good service 1. 83% of consumers cite good customer service as the most important factor—outside of price and product—when deciding what to buy. (Khoros) 2. 75% of
What are different types impacts a student Service Design project could have?
In short: contribution to the field (theoretical impact), organisational, social, environmental, business, personal, career, etc.
What are ways to showcase or prove the impact of my (student) Service Design project?
In short: stories, quotes, numbers, before and after, validation from organizations, scaling, photos, awards, certifications, principles versus achievements, etc. all are ways to prove your impact and there are for sure even more. Having a mix of numbers and stories usually helps.