At their core, brands stem from organizational culture and are realized through multiple channels and touchpoints in complex environments of endless choices, diverse people and settings, and variable change. Much more than a logo or tagline, a brand manifests itself during interaction—experienced by users (people) who attach meaning and memory to stories, decisions and actions. In a lightening-fast paced world where everything is a service, service is an experience and where experiences are socially amplified, developing trusting relationships that authentically satisfy and inspire is essential.

Companies who work with intent to become more relational by focusing on people and their real life needs and by dedicating themselves to the ongoing improvement and innovation of their services gain a competitive edge—think Apple, Amazon, Lyft, Airbnb and Netflix. An edge built on its ability to consistently deliver upon its experience promise and capacity to foster relationships that translate into internal and external “fandom”—enlivened people who reward companies through their engagement, loyalty and championing.

Service runs deep into the organization as the development of interactions, experiences and relationships lie in the organization's processes, structures, networks, culture and people. Thus, service design is also very much about organizational development and change. To put it simply, a genuine interaction and helpful service encounter delivered by a meaningful product or an engaged employee who can “solve” for their customers is a highly valuable (and profitable) touchpoint.

Reaching across business units and disciplines, organizational focus in relationship to service design is the examination and intentional aligning of an organization’s performance network to their brand, purpose, strategy and customer experience. In this way, taking service design "into" the organization is a compelling and highly-effective force in helping organizations deliver great experiences, evolve their offerings, achieve shared understandings and realize their core purpose.

Just as the machine age utilized product-oriented methodologies and approaches to producing goods for mass market and optimizing companies for efficiency, our service economy and age of participatory interconnectivity now requires “service-oriented” thinking, a human-centered perspective, the holistic development of business eco-systems and the designing of end-to-end interactions. This is the work of service design. And it is aimed at enhancing and innovating "experiences" and creating authentic value for both service users and the organization. 

Companies that “reimagine” the meaning of service and integrate service design into their core competencies stand to make business gains and will have an advantage over slow adopters.