Good Services
A practical book for practitioners and non-practitioners alike interested in better service delivery, this book is the definitive new guide to designing services that work for users.
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Product description
Service design is a rapidly growing area of interest in design and business management. There are a lot of books on how to get started, but this is the first book that describes what a ‘good’ service is and how to design one. This book lays out the essential principles for building services that work well for users. Demystifying what we mean by a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ service and describing the common elements within all services that mean they either work for users or don’t.
A practical book for practitioners and non-practitioners alike interested in better service delivery, this book is the definitive new guide to designing services that work for users.
Author
Lou Downe is the former Director of Design for the UK Government where they founded the discipline of service design to the UK government, growing the 1000 strong designers into one of the largest, and most influential design team’s in the UK - winning a Designs of the Year award and a D&AD lifetime achievement award.
Lou was voted one of the UK’s top 50 Creative Leaders by Creative Review, and one of the world’s 100 most influential people in Digital Government by Apolitical and writes regularly about Design. They‘re currently Director of Design and Transformation for the UK government where they’re leading change in the UK’s housing sector.
Press
"An excellent book." – This is HCD podcast
"The book is written in a user-friendly manner, explaining in an entertaining text what is important in service design." – PAGE magazine
"This accessible book is valuable not only for public service providers. Commercial parties can also take advantage of its content." – Utrecht Business magazine
"A practical book." – New Design magazine
Reviews
Good Services is an essential guide for designers and industry leaders who work in service delivery
This book is an excellent articulation of service design, why it is necessary, and the tenets of what defines good services. Every chapter/principle is so very relevant to how experience is the primary driver of a customer relationship with products and services. Once I opened it, I could not put it down. I keep it on my desk and reference it in multiple conversations with colleagues almost every day. Bottom line, I find myself wanting to buy this book and hand it to everyone I work with to have a common language and purpose. Good Services is an essential guide for designers and industry leaders who work in service delivery.
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021
Verified Purchase
Within consulting, services are one of the more challenging concepts to explain to someone when you don't have the right words. As a result, you either overcomplicate them, over-simplify them, or just say things that create more confusion.
Service Design, as a discipline, is also tough to define when you don't have a straightforward way to explain what a service is and how they impact the world around them.
In this book, Lou Downe defines a service in the most elegantly simple yet quickly understood way I've ever heard/read, "Something that helps someone do something." It doesn't get easier than that.
Lou's 15 principles guide readers, with clear examples of failures and successes, on what makes up good services. These examples are easy to understand and show how each principle makes a fundamental difference in how it could change the user's experience.
I would encourage this book to be the first book any aspiring Service Designer reads in their growth journey. Before adequately designing services, you must understand what they are, explain them to a 5-year-old, and demonstrate their value to a CEO. This book will help you do just that and give you principles to help you design good services that will benefit everyone.
I would also encourage anyone in government or business to read this book, especially if you deploy digital solutions. Understanding the services you provide or are a part of will significantly impact how you deliver those solutions.
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Good Services
2 reviewsGood Services is an essential guide for designers and industry leaders who work in service delivery
This book is an excellent articulation of service design, why it is necessary, and the tenets of what defines good services. Every chapter/principle is so very relevant to how experience is the primary driver of a customer relationship with products and services. Once I opened it, I could not put it down. I keep it on my desk and reference it in multiple conversations with colleagues almost every day. Bottom line, I find myself wanting to buy this book and hand it to everyone I work with to have a common language and purpose. Good Services is an essential guide for designers and industry leaders who work in service delivery.
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021
Verified Purchase
Within consulting, services are one of the more challenging concepts to explain to someone when you don't have the right words. As a result, you either overcomplicate them, over-simplify them, or just say things that create more confusion.
Service Design, as a discipline, is also tough to define when you don't have a straightforward way to explain what a service is and how they impact the world around them.
In this book, Lou Downe defines a service in the most elegantly simple yet quickly understood way I've ever heard/read, "Something that helps someone do something." It doesn't get easier than that.
Lou's 15 principles guide readers, with clear examples of failures and successes, on what makes up good services. These examples are easy to understand and show how each principle makes a fundamental difference in how it could change the user's experience.
I would encourage this book to be the first book any aspiring Service Designer reads in their growth journey. Before adequately designing services, you must understand what they are, explain them to a 5-year-old, and demonstrate their value to a CEO. This book will help you do just that and give you principles to help you design good services that will benefit everyone.
I would also encourage anyone in government or business to read this book, especially if you deploy digital solutions. Understanding the services you provide or are a part of will significantly impact how you deliver those solutions.
Review Lou Downe Good Services
A practical book for practitioners and non-practitioners alike interested in better service delivery..