How to help learners discover what makes a good service?

Deconstruct a service

I’m a big believer in learning from practical examples and then find out the rules that ties it all together. That’s what the smart guys call an inductive approach.

So when it comes to teaching what makes a good service I really like the approach that my mate Andy Polaine is using with the Master Service Design of the HSLU.

He asks students to deconstruct a service and look for what resonates in them about that service using a Service Envy Sheet.

Then by bringing together all what the students have found from different services they love new general principles emerge that explain what makes a good service.

Use The Good Service Scale

This scale lets you evaluate the quality of a service based on the 15 principles of Good Service. By comparing existing services you have used this can be a great conversation starter that shows what services do practically to fulfill each of the criteria.

Collect Service Design principles

It’s years that I collect simple ideas, tips and examples that help service owners and creators make their service just a little bit nicer.

I feel that having such a swap file of good service tricks or personal Pinterest or good service examples really builds your observation muscle.

I feel this is especially powerful if you don’t just do it in depth in one day but do it a little bit every week for years.