e-Government services are typically developed by internal service providers, often neglecting the service end user. Subsequent delivery of services can be jeopardised without due consideration of the service user, lacking in consideration of their needs and expectations in the design process. However, the service provider when designing e-services for varied users, find it is hard to meet the prospective users’ expectations and needs and involve them in an iterative design processes. To address this issue; a Co-design approach has been applied and focuses on Jordanian Government to Citizens (G2C) e-services. Co-design tools/methods maximize opportunities and provide new possibilities for communicating and collaborating with varied and diverse users. The main aim of this research is to improve the quality and efficiency of G2C e-services by adopting the Co-design approach including its tools/methods to support user participation throughout design process, and how these tools/methods pretend the features of user participation. A novel G2C e-Service Co-Design Framework (G2C-SCOF) is constructed with mechanisms for understanding the stakeholders’ requirements, and granting them an active role throughout design process of G2C e-service design. A wiki-based Co-design prototype (WCP) is developed and introduced as a response to and evaluation of the developed G2C-SCOF. This research also presents results from the case study in Jordan and used to evaluate WCP effectiveness regarding users’ participation role(s) throughout the Co-design process based on standard service design phases. Interestingly, involvement throughout design process as such can be an enriching experience for the users. Offering a channel to uncover their own creativity and provide enjoyment for them as they see their contributions evolve into a viable service. A robust method for uncovering domain concepts is derived that bridges the requirements’ gap between service provider and service user within a G2C e-service design context. A first iteration evaluates the adoption and acceptance of Jordan Government Portal (JGP) based on a model titled Methodology for e-Government Service Adoption and Acceptance Measurement (MEGA-M). MEGA-M is then used to design a survey and subsequently investigate how citizens perceive the quality of the JGP. RepGrid methodology with semi-structured interviews are deployed in the second iteration – with 24 participants from diverse backgrounds contributing to a synthesised cognitive model titled Stakeholder’s requirements map for G2C Service Design’ (SRM-G2C). Finally, a prototype WCP is developed as the third iteration for evaluation purposes. WCP is a platform for facilitating the sharing and expression of ideas and/or assumptions used to improve the effectiveness of G2C e-service design. The conclusions and contributions drawn from this research are expected to benefit researchers, providing insights for future research in the field of e-Government service design, and practitioners, providing a systematic framework for supporting the collaboration among stakeholders in designing G2C e-services.

Customer experience is one strategic option for organisations wishing to differentiate their service offering. Little research however has been conducted to explain how service design and management practices influence customer experience in non-hedonic contexts, settings in which the objectives for the design of the delivery system are not experiential. The objective of this research is to address this gap in academic knowledge. The conceptual framework used as the basis of the empirical research demonstrates how four experience mechanism constructs, incorporated into the design of the delivery system, facilitate the customer’s involvement in the delivery of the service and influence how they perceive the experience that emerges as a result. To explore the relevance of the framework two case studies were conducted. Data was collected principally through interviews with employees working at various levels throughout the organisations hierarchy and with customers. Observations and secondary source material also provided additional evidence. The thesis provides an original and distinct contribution to knowledge, through three main findings: Firstly, the research found evidence that the conceptual framework was relevant to the design of the delivery system and in customers’ perception of their experience. This challenges assumptions in existing literature that experience might not be a relevant design consideration in non-hedonic service contexts. Secondly, the findings provide a point of distinction between experiences in hedonic and non-hedonic contexts. Finally the study extends experience design theory demonstrating how in the contexts studied, the experience mechanisms act as antecedents for the experience a customer perceives. Whilst conducting only two case studies limits the impact of the findings, the propositions formulated to explain the key themes identified, can be used as a vehicle through which future quantitative research can be carried out, therefore extending the generalisability of the study beyond the contexts studied.

This PHD project aims to develop a service design system which has a customer-centric view and delivers a balance between profit and value for both customers and service providers. The system will enable designers to assess the design and provide decision support and rationale at an early service design development stage. Also during the lifecycle of the service it would provide a better cost estimation for the service provider to support its future decisions. The two first chapters give an overview of the service field and the research area. Chapter 1, the introduction, states the aim and objectives of this research along with setting the field of the rationale behind the motivation and scope. Chapter 2, the literature review, gives a thorough overview of the service design area mentioning the theories, techniques, methodologies and methods that have been used directly or indirectly for service modeling/design. Chapter 3, the research methodology, states the rationale behind the decisions to conduct this research in terms of purpose, design, strategy and data collection techniques. Moreover an analysis of the current methodology structure which was based on the adaptation of the aforementioned decisions is provided. In Chapter 4 there is a comparison among three different methods (Service Explorer (SE), Integrated Service CAD and Life cycle simulator (ISCL) and Service Blueprinting (SB)) as identified from the literature, which have been developed specifically for service design. The comparison looks at the dynamic features of each method. A dynamic feature is a property of a service method that has the ability to capture specific elements of the service design process which are subject to continuously change within a specific timeframe. At first, there is a brief discussion on how each method is applied and what the output as a generic process is. It starts with identifying generic key concepts of the service design approach by applying all methods to a rental service scenario. Following that, we create a virtual service of a rental machine scenario and map the previously identified key concepts into specific elements of the rental service. We test all methods against these service concepts to identify how well and in what scope each one performs. A merging process of the service concepts is then carried out to form 4 categories which form the specific dynamic features. We test all methods against these features. In particular we find that, SB lacks dynamic capability. SE does well on prioritising individual customer requirements but provides neither a modular design process nor the ability to deal with changes during the service lifecycle. ISCL can provide a process for generating models by combining previously established building blocks and a life-cycle service simulation. However the resources are fixed and there is no prioritisation on the requirements. A pragmatic service deployment requires a service environment that is subject to change, which in turn is not provided by the current methods we compared. The purpose of Chapter 5 is to demonstrate an open source agent-based simulation language that could be used for service design and to simulate the Emergent Synthesis (ES) methodology. This methodology was identified from the literature search as a potential solution to the research gap presented in Chapter 4. That would act as a validation of using the proposed method in the service design area. For this reason a service market is being used as a modelling example. First the area of agent-based modelling is introduced. Certain modifications take place according to the modelling language needs. Next step is the justification and discussion about these changes. The Systems Modelling Language (SySML) is being introduced as a diagrammatic notation method according to which the altered service market model is being represented. The purpose of Chapter 6 is to provide a new approach for accurate design of a service by combining and developing a unified modelling system which covers all important key aspects of a service scenario. To demonstrate the applicability and the output of the system, a case study has been selected. The rest of this chapter is structured as follows. Then there is the introduction and investigation of the service case study. Also the purpose of that choice is stated. Next step is the full breakdown of the system, the current data flow and how the combination of the individual methods has been implemented. Results of each method are produced while visualising the connections between each input-output. A comparison takes place to show the difference of using each method individually and how the emergence of the system as a result of the combination process affects the output. Last step is the validation and the analysis of the results. The penultimate chapter is the discussion, where the outcome based on the results of each chapter is discussed. In Chapter 4, we discuss the outcome of the comparative analysis process. In Chapter 5 we give the analysis and discussion of the service market modelling output and in Chapter 6 we place a discussion based on the system’s output. Last chapter is the conclusion where there is a brief restatement of the whole research work leading to major contribution points. The major contribution of the developed system is the integration of three major methods and methodologies (SE, ISCL, ES) in order to provide answers to the inherent limitations of current techniques (representation of social behaviours in an environment that is subject to change) in the service design domain.

In this thesis, I describe the iterative service design process I used in identifying and understanding the needs of diverse stakeholders, the development of technologies to support their mutually beneficial needs, and the evaluation of the end-user experience with these technologies. Over three iterative design cycles, the set of identified end-user customers expanded to include the patient, the supervising therapist, the annotating therapist, and other members of the development team. Multiple versions of interactive movement capture and annotation tools were developed as the needs of these stakeholders were clarified and evolved, and the optimal data forms and structures became evident. Interactions between the stakeholders and the developed technologies operating in various environments were evaluated and assessed to help improve and optimize the entire service ecosystem. Results and findings from these three design cycles are being used to direct and shape my ongoing and future doctoral research / Master of Science / In this thesis, I describe the iterative service design process I used in identifying and understanding the needs of diverse stakeholders, the development of technologies to support their mutually beneficial needs, and the evaluation of the end-user experience with these technologies. Over three iterative design cycles, the set of identified end-user customers expanded to include the patient, the supervising therapist, the annotating therapist, and other members of the development team. Multiple versions of interactive movement capture and annotation tools were developed as the needs of these stakeholders were clarified and evolved, and the optimal data forms and structures became evident Interactions between the stakeholders and the developed technologies operating in various environments were evaluated and assessed to help improve and optimize the entire service ecosystem. Results and findings from these three design cycles are being used to direct and shape my ongoing and future doctoral research.

The shift from traditional models of public service design to public-driven ones has been slow in the health service and particularly in the General Practice Consultation in the UK. This hesitation about fully adapting these design methods has been found to be motivated by a lack of evidence regarding the successful implementations of public involvement activities and the use of its tools, partial coverage of these tools, and failures to report on the use of alternative tools, among other reasons. This research therefore aimed to propose Human-Centred Design (HCD) as an underlying philosophy and a pragmatic set of methodologies to better understand the challenges related to the application of customer involvement activities and the use typical methods when deployed in the investigation of issues and opportunities for the design of healthcare settings. This research consisted of three stages. An exploration stage, in which it was identified and confirmed several research gaps as well as a specific case for study with a degree of complexity and known for supporting customer involvement approaches. These activities involved a literature review about customer involvement processes and a qualitative interview study (with 30 participants) in which it was identified that, a suitable case for study to perform a large ethnographic investigation using representative Human-Centred Design tools could be 'Communication and relationship between GPs and patients'. A development stage, in which it was investigated the design of public involvement activities as well as the identification and selection process of some ideal HCD tools (Focus Groups, Future Workshops / Rich Pictures. Love & Break-up Letters, and Crowdsourcing) to work with the selected case. For these activities, a total of 72 participants were recruited (n=18 per activity). Lastly, an evaluation and proposal phase, analysed these tools through a comparative study to identify several of their strengths and weakness in order to identify the best tool or combination of tools. The outcome from this comparison suggested that among the tools used for this research there was not a most optimal option or combination of options and that the success of an involvement activity relies in the careful and thorough preparation of such processes. This research concludes, that the most optimal form of helping health researchers to undertake public involvement research and to better understand the process of identifying and selecting ideal engagement tools, could be by providing a best practice informative guide containing a simplified and comprehensive version of the most commonly found steps embedded in this kind of design practices.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera fyra kvinnors syn på tid, struktur och kreativitet på servicedesignbyrån Transformator design. Genom intervjuer och deltagande observation undersöker jag hur tid, struktur och kreativitet samspelar för mina informanter, och hur de använder tiden. Slutsatsen av denna studie är i korthet att kontrollen av tid är viktig för upplevelsen av tid. Strukturer, synliga och osynliga, är centrala för att se och förstå tiden och upprätthålla kontrollen av tid. Informanternas strävan är att skapa fylld tid, som är värdefull tid, och genom kontroll av tiden skapa en positiv känsla av att ha tid. Det är då kreativiteten släpps fri. / The purpose of this thesis is to study four women's view of time, structure and creativity at the service design agency Transformer design. Through interviews and participant observation, I examine how time, structure and creativity interact for them, and how they use time. The conclusion of this study is in brief that the control of time is important to the experience of time. Structure, visible and invisible, is central to see and understand time and maintain control of the time. The informant's aim to create filled time, which is valuable time, and by controlling time they create a positive sense of having time. That's when creativity is released.

Det pågår stora förändringar i världen gällande begreppet design och rapporter har kommit både iSverige och Europa om hur design kan lösa samhällsproblem. Design kan användas som ettverktyg för problemlösning i en arbetsprocess eller som konkurrensfördel i en strategi för attutveckla produkter och tjänster utifrån användarens behov.Forskning finns om hur privata vinstdrivna företag använder design som konkurrensmedel.Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hur vi med hjälp av design kan skapa en strategi för enorganisation i den offentliga sektorn som kan lösa kommunikationsproblem med fokus påkundtillfredsställelse. Undersökningen syftar till att svara på hur den offentliga sektorn arbetarmed design och hur en designstrategi inom den offentliga sektorn kan se ut, samt om det finnsnågra hinder vid implementering av design.Studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod i form av djupintervjuer, samt en kvantitativenkätundersökning utifrån en fallstudie på Arbetsförmedlingen. Datainsamling av det empiriskamaterialet har gjorts på fallföretaget samt på tre ytterligare tjänsteorienterade organisationer somär finansierade av staten och ett produktorienterat företag. Empirin har analyserats utifrånföretagsekonomiska teorier samt designteorier och den privata sektorn har ställts mot denoffentliga sektorn för att hitta likheter och skillnader dem emellan.Resultatet av studien visar på att design används inom den offentliga sektorn och resultatet visaratt det inte finns några hinder för den offentliga sektorn att jobba med design, men att det iblandkan vara mer svårimplementerat på grund av komplexa organisationer och en målgrupp som ärhela den svenska befolkningen. För att implementera design behöver organisationer i denoffentliga sektorn integrera med sina kunder, förenkla kundresan och inom organisationen arbetamot samma mål och vision där kunden alltid är i fokus. / There are major ongoing changes in the world regarding to the term design and reports havecome both from Sweden and Europe how design can solve social problems. Design can be usedas a tool for problem solving in a work process or as a competitive advantage in a strategy todevelop products and services based on user requirements.The purpose of this study is to examine how we can use design to create a strategy that can solvecommunication problems with a focus on customer satisfaction within an organization workingin the public sector. The study aims to answer how the public sector work with design and how adesign strategy will look like and whether there are any barriers to implement design.The study is based on a qualitative method through interviews and a quantitative survey based ona case study of the Swedish employment authority Arbetsförmedlingen. Data of the empiricalmaterial has been collected from the case company and from three other service-orientatedorganizations funded by the state and a private product-orientated company. The empirical datahas been analyzed with business economic and design theories and the private and the publicsector organizations have been compared to find similarities and differences them between.The results of the study shows that design is used in the public sector but is somewhat difficult toimplement because of its complex organizations and the broad target group containing the entirepopulation of Sweden. To implement design, organizations in the public sector need to integratewith their customers, simplifying the customer journey and internal in the organization worktowards the same goals and vision of where the customer always is in focus.

Nowadays, millennials living in megacities are facing numerous issues. Most of them are currently experiencing an unsustainable lifestyle. Since this social group is destined to grow in number in the future years, its living status will strongly affect the development of sustainable cities. High frequency relocation, limited savings and lack of time are some of the Millennials’ main issues. Create appropriate solutions to their problems is therefore crucial for a sustainable development. The project aims to investigate Millennials daily life conditions through a human-needs approach performing and, at the same time analyze the possible business-based services that can help this social group to live more sustainable. This has been done through three needs-based service design methodologies that allowed to identify the reasons behind this social phenomenon: a day in life, questionnaires and phone interviews. Furthermore, a co-creation workshop allowed to investigate possible interactions between businesses realities and millennials. This project results demonstrate that there is a need of Business to Customers services which can contribute at the same time to create a sustainable lifestyle and to reduce the environmental impact of the contemporary consumerism-based society. Finally a concept of a product-based reuse service is for this reason developed considering the role of product life cycle in contemporary sustainable issues. To conclude, the importance of a needs-base approach to generate innovative solutions within the topic of service design is highlighted.

How could public institutions like art museums open up a conversation with their audience? The intent of the project was to explore the influence and potential of digitalization in the physical space of a non-commercial public institution, if the audience and the institution would both benefit from technology, if the political structure of the institution would become more democratic and if the audience would take the initiative and be willing to generate their own voice in the institution. The project took an explorative approach starting with questioning the status-quo, understanding the design context, analyzing, proposing and validating design directions in the end. The result was considered as the very first proposal and suggestion of how art museums could keep themselves relevant in the digital era. The result is a service called <open studio>. It enables visitors to contribute to and interact with a virtual exhibition constructed by the creations they made in workshop programs in the art museum. It provides an overtime engagement with the visitors by illustrating the invisible dimension of time in tangible creations on a digital canvas. Project website: http://www.openstudio.io

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Design is a highly complex process. It involves various stakeholders, processes and interactions that need to work coherently in order to result in a successful design or product. It needs to be acknowledged that offering design as a successful service is not simply an interaction between a customer and a single designer, but in reality is far more complex and detailed. In today’s society, it is no longer sufficient for design-businesses to only focus on providing a well designed end product. Instead, customers now seek value in superior experiences from the services they use. Design-businesses thus need to shift their current outward focus to also create and design superior service experiences. Owing to the intangible complexities and intricacies within design as a service it makes it incredibly challenging to improve or enhance. Skeg Product Development, a leader in the Product design industry in South Africa, was used as a single case study to offer a real-world working context of Product design as a service. This study used purposefully selected Service design tools and techniques, such as the customer journey and service blueprint, for co-design workshops. Three workshops were facilitated in order to co-design maps with employees from various functions within the case study. Workshop 1 required participants to map their ideal customer journey. This was used to identify an area of focus within the case study that would benefit the most from improved visualisation. Workshop 2 and 3 used a service blueprint to map the existing front of stage- and backstage interactions and processes respectively. The mapped findings were supplemented by informal interviews with employees as well as continuous observations within the case study. It was found that Product design as a service, although the experience is subjective to each customer and project, is filled with intangible challenges and intricacies. It had been identified that managing customer expectations is currently the biggest challenge in offering Product design as a service. Although this was found to be a crucial obstacle to the customer experience, with multiple discussions around the topic, very little is actively being done to address it. It was also identified that current internal processes are not completely understood in terms of what they entail or their purpose to the service. This was found to be especially true across the various functions. This holds significant consequences for employees, the service and ultimately the customers. During the course of the study a number of themes and topics emerged. These include the success criteria for Product design as a service, as well as the significance of understanding roles and processes. The challenge of managing customer expectations in an unpredictable context is also addressed. The study subsequently presents two means for design-businesses to shift their focus to backstage processes in order to mitigate this challenge. The emerged themes speak to the greater industry of Product design as well as the developing field of Service design. This research is aimed at any individual, business or employee involved in the design industry. This includes anyone who has a role in delivering design as service who could benefit from a clearer understanding of the challenging context in which they work. It would also be beneficial to an individual or business who may want to suggest adjustments or changes to improve design as a service in future.