Glossary

PORTFOLIO

Glossary

04.

GLOSSARY

Collection of essential terms for understanding some of the content related to service design and design in general

Problem Tree

The 'problem tree' model designed by DRLab is based on the logic of the traditional diagram used in contexts where development projects are worked on, both in European and global contexts. The problem tree is a form of problem visualization by diagram also called 'problem hierarchy' that helps to analyze and clarify cause-and-effect relationships. This analysis is generally presented in schematic form and shows, at the top, the effects of a problem and, below, its causes. It is used during the planning phase of the project cycle and is useful in developing and/or reviewing a logical framework and gaining clarity on the project outputs that will be monitored.

References
European Commission (2004). Project Cycle Management Guidelines: Volume 1. Brussels: EuropeAid Cooperation Office. Retrieved from European Union website https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/dear-programme/documents/europeaid-project-cycle-management-guidelines

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (n.d.). Capacity-focused Problem Tree. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/capacity-development/resources/practical-tools/capacity-assessment/problem-tree-tool/en/

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (2012). The Logical Framework. Technical Note, Number 2, Version 1.0. USAID.

S.W.O.T. analysis.

S.W.O.T. analysis-from the English acronym for the terms strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats-is used to analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats facing an organization. This tool can be used for a general analysis or to examine how an organization might address specific problems or challenges. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between the organization involved in the design and the goals it sets with respect to a project. In fact, completing a SWOT analysis involves identifying and mapping internal and external factors that help or hinder the achievement of a goal, while also providing a framework for revising strategies or testing an idea while exploring solutions.

Kumar, V. (2012). 101 design methods: A structured approach for driving innovation in your organization. John Wiley & Sons.

SWOT Analysis (n.d.). DIY Development Impact & You: Practical tools to trigger & support social innovation. Retrieved from https://diytoolkit.org/tools/swot-analysis-2/

Backstage

Backstage actions are all those actions that are not visible to the end user and are the responsibility of the service provider. These are actions other than those of frontstage, always visible, and by those of the service support processes.

References
Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2008). Service blueprinting: a practical technique for service innovation. California management review, 50(3), 66-94.

Katzan Jr, H. (2011). Essentials of service design. Journal of Service Science (JSS), 4(2), 43-60.

How could we...?

This tool supports the unfolding of a technique, sometimes referred to as the ideation design method called "How might we... ?" This is a question that is meant to inspire creative responses in the form of brainstorming. It is used when design data is available to support an ideation phase; or when it is necessary to iterate and return to consider needs and opportunities.

References
IDEO (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. IDEO.org.

Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Design ethnography

In Italian "design ethnography," it is a set of methods that approximates and is inspired by the immersion methods of traditional ethnography whose goal is to understand the user's habitual context in order to create empathy and insight design. While the figure of the ethnographer immerses himself for long periods in specific contexts and cultures, the figure involved in design generally seeks appropriate information from observations of people's behaviors in specific samples of time.

References
Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Salvador, T., Bell, G., & Anderson, K. (1999). Design ethnography. Design Management Journal (Former Series), 10(4), 35-41.

Segelström, F., & Holmlid, S. (2015). Ethnography by design: On goals and mediating artifacts. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 14(2), 134-149.

Frontstage

'Front-stage', or also 'on-stage', actions are physical or logical actions performed by the service provider and visible to the service user that define the line of interaction between user and service, between visible and invisible parts of the whole service (see actions of backstage).

References
Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2008). Service blueprinting: a practical technique for service innovation. California management review, 50(3), 66-94.

Katzan Jr, H. (2011). Essentials of service design. Journal of Service Science (JSS), 4(2), 43-60.

Unstructured interviews

These are interviews that, according to the application of a pre-designed protocol, do not provide a structure for questions to follow and thus leave ample flexibility to both the interviewer and the interviewee. However, since complete unstructuring of the interview is not entirely possible, there is a tendency to view the unstructured interview as a very flexibly structured conversation. The main role of the interviewer, after facilitating the opening of a conversation, will therefore be to remain a listener who occasionally asks questions in favor of clarification of what is being expounded by the interviewee.

References
Brinkmann, S. (2018). The interview. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Fifth Edition, (pp. 997-1038). Sage Publications.

Semi-structured interviews

These are interviews that involve the application of a pre-designed protocol that provides, in most cases, a more or less flexible/rigid structure according to the expectations of the interview.

References
Brinkmann, S. (2018). The interview. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Fifth Edition, (pp. 997-1038). Sage Publications.

Kumar, V. (2013). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Insight

Literally translated into Italian as "intuition," it is the body of information from observations, both objective and subjective, that influence and inform the design process by suggesting inspirations useful in formulating a new perspective.

References
Garber, J. (2014). Service Design Methodology. Innovation Unit.

Kolko, J. (2010). Abductive thinking and sensemaking: The drivers of design synthesis. Design issues, 26(1), 15-28.

Kumar, V. (2013). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Stakeholder map

A visual tool that, by emphasizing the need to take a systems perspective, provides a picture of the actors in the system at the level of roles, groupings and relationships. The stakeholder map, internationally known as the stakeholder map, is primarily used to identify who are the key constituents that might be affected by the project outcomes; and it is therefore a tool to be used in the planning, study and definition phase of the project process. This tool is often speculatively created based on the project team's knowledge of all those people who might have an interest in the project, including identifying end users, those who will benefit from the project, those who hold power, those who might be adversely affected, and even those who might counteract the project outcomes. This speculation is then subject to confirmation, iteration, deepening and comparison with different types of data that come from different exploratory design methodologies. The stakeholder mapping also supports the later stages of the design process where it will be necessary to define what the design output needs to satisfy by ensuring that the needs of the different stakeholders mapped will be taken into account.

References
Clarkson, P.J., Coleman, R., Hosking, I., & Waller, S.D. (2011). Inclusive Design Toolkit, Second Edition. Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge. Retrieved from www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com

Hanington, B.; Martin, B. (Eds.) (2012). Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Morelli, N., & Tollestrup, C. (2007). New Representation Techniques for Designing in a Systemic Perspective. In Design Inquiries, Nordes 07 Conference.

Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

User path map

This tool enables mapping that helps to understand the experience a user has with a service or policy over a given period of time. It is a tool adopted in several industries also known by the term "customer journey map." In design terms, the practice of user journey mapping refers to the mapping of the user's experience divided into steps. A division into components of the path the user takes in order to gain insights related to problems that at the same time can represent opportunities for innovation through design.

References
Cabinet Office (2016). Open Policy Making toolkit. UK Government. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit

Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Meroni, A., & Sangiorgi, D. (2011). Design for services. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Richardson, A. (2010). Using customer journey maps to improve customer experience. Harvard business review, 15(1), 2-5.

Stickdorn, M. and Schneider, J. (2011). This is Service Design Thinking: Basics - Tools - Cases. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: BIS Publishers.

System map

A systems map is a visual or physical representation of the major components of the system in which a physical or digital organization, service or product fits. The term "system map" can represent a term that embraces different visualizations that are often based on systems theory and/or systems thinking. In service design, through visualizing the major interactions and flows between key partner organizations and end users, the system map is a visual tool used to draw and represent the working model of the service system.

References
Meroni, A., & Sangiorgi, D. (2011). Design for services. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Segelström, F., & Holmlid, S. (2011). Service design visualisations meet service theory: strengths, weaknesses and perspectives. Proceedings of Art & Science of Service, San Jose, California.

Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Matrix of insights

This matrix is a simple tool for channeling a stream of ideas that emerge in an exploratory brainstorming phase, from one or more of the questions that activate this phase, toward an initial identification of useful elements for the identification of insight DESIGN.

References
Garber, J. (2014). Service Design Methodology. Innovation Unit.

Kolko, J. (2010). Abductive thinking and sensemaking: The drivers of design synthesis. Design issues, 26(1), 15-28.

Kumar, V. (2013). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Personas

In a design process, personas allow the types of potential users to be analyzed and organized according to shared sets of attributes. It is useful to think of the personas profile as a personality type; not a stereotype, but an archetype based on actual research. This represents a particular group of people, such as a user group, a market segment, a subset of employees, or any other stakeholder group. It is based on research previously conducted in the design process, or on which the design process draws. In practical terms, it involves building a finite number of personas profiles that consolidate archetypal descriptions of user behaviors into profiles to make the focus of projects concrete, test the scenario, and simplify communication at the design level. Constructing a finite number of personas allows for a better focus on their characteristics and needs with respect to the project focus, including effectively summarizing the diversity of users. In the context of policy-making, personas are considered personas, fictitious users created to represent the different people who may use a given policy or may be affected by it.

References
Cabinet Office (2016). Open Policy Making toolkit. UK Government. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit

Clarkson, P.J., Coleman, R., Hosking, I., & Waller, S.D. (2011). Inclusive Design Toolkit, Second Edition. Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge. Retrieved from www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com

Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Kumar, V. (2013). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Prototyping

Prototyping is a set of actions to try, test, and verify ideas before creating further pilot actions. In policy-making contexts, prototyping is particularly important at the early stage of policy development, from the moment when a problem is not defined, or even from the moment when there are many possible solutions and the cost of changing ideas is low. While in other contexts, the prototype represents one of the last actions in the design process, where before a new project enters a regime of actual use, its features, functionality and other useful indicators are tested to understand how to improve the final output. Thus, it is a tangible embodiment of a design idea that can take various forms that are more or less faithful to how a design idea should actually be realized. In fact, design prototypes are defined according to their level of fidelity or finish; low-fidelity prototyping is generally used in ideation stages of the process and often take the form of conceptual sketches, storyboards. In addition, deciding what is the right approach for prototyping depends on the questions to be answered, the stage of the project, and the resources available; also based on this, prototypes can take many forms, from simple physical models to more elaborate digital or physical role-plays and models.
Based on these variables, the purpose of the design, and the specificity of the objective for which a prototype is needed, there are various techniques, methods, and tools defined in the field of prototyping; such as-as examples Behavioral Prototype, Concept prototyping, FASPE (fast service prototyping and simulation for evaluation), Exploratory prototyping, Live prototyping, Micropanoramic, Organisational prototyping, Service prototypes, Slow prototyping - just to name a few.

References
Botsch, M. (2008). Prototype. In M. Erlhoff & T. Marshall (Eds.), Design dictionary: Perspectives on design terminology (pp. 317). Basel: Birkhäuser.

Cabinet Office (2016). Open Policy Making toolkit. UK Government. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-policy-making-toolkit

European Commission (2013). Guide to social innovation. European Commission DG Regional and Urban Policy and DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

IDEO (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. IDEO.org.

Kimbell, L. (2015). Applying design approaches to policy making: discovering policy lab. Brighton: University of Brighton.

Kimbell, L., & Bailey, J. (2017). Prototyping and the new spirit of policy-making. CoDesign, 13(3), 214-226.

Kumar, V. (2013). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Maguire, M. (2001). Methods to support human-centered design. International journal of human-computer studies, 55(4), 587-634.

Meroni, A., & Sangiorgi, D. (2011). Design for services. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J., & Mulgan, G. (2010). The open book of social innovation. London: National endowment for science, technology and the arts.

Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M., & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Design concept scenario

The scenario is a narrative tool whose main purpose is to make design ideas explicit and concrete by visualizing the future ways in which the design output will be enjoyed. The design scenario can be represented in different ways, and therefore, with different techniques. This is also due to the fact that there are multiple contexts in which the concept of 'scenario' has been used, tested and discussed, just as there are multiple meanings that the term 'scenario' together with the term 'design' can take. However, when discussing scenarios and derived tools, there is a tendency to trace a context, a future scene, a panorama of solutions. Design-Orienting Scenarios (DOS), scenario-based design, Goal-Directed scenario, scenario planning, are just some of the ways in which to identify scenarios useful for project purposes. However, an easy-to-practice tool is proposed here that helps to explore and visualize project concepts and feed discussions on these within the project team and its stakeholders. By visualizing concepts as scenarios, it allows issues that did not arise during the previous design phases to be highlighted, and according to this perspective, it is as if they function as the first test of the concepts in the real field.

References
Carroll, J. M. (2000). Making use: scenario-based design of human-computer interactions. MIT press.

Goodwin, K. (2011). Designing for the digital age: How to create human-centered products and services. John Wiley & Sons.

Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Kumar, V. (2012). 101 design methods: A structured approach for driving innovation in your organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Manzini, E. (2003). Scenarios of sustainable wellbeing. Design philosophy papers, 1(1), 5-21.

Manzini, E., Jégou, F., Meroni, A., (2006) Design oriented scenarios: Generating new shared visions of sustainable product service systems. In Design for Sustainability a practical approach for Developing Economies. United Nations Environment Programme, Dutch Delft University of Technology.

Rabin M.D. (2008). Scenario Planning. In M. Erlhoff & T. Marshall (Eds.), Design dictionary: Perspectives on design terminology (pp. 348-349). Basel: Birkhäuser.

Design ethnography sheet

Design tool designed by the DRLab team in order to support the planning of project ethnography activities (design ethnography).

References
Hanington, B., & Martin, B. (2012). Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions. Rockport Publishers.

Salvador, T., Bell, G., & Anderson, K. (1999). Design ethnography. Design Management Journal (Former Series), 10(4), 35-41.

Segelström, F., & Holmlid, S. (2015). Ethnography by design: On goals and mediating artifacts. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 14(2), 134-149.

Prototyping board

The 'prototyping board' is a tool designed by DRLab to support practical actions of prototyping at the design stage with guidelines that allow, on the one hand, to map out the roadmap of actions needed and develop and use a prototype, and on the other hand, to check the status of the basic conditions for developing the prototype.