What Does Product and Service Design Do?

- Ideas for new or redesigned products or services can

come from a variety of sources, including customers,
1. Translate customer wants and needs into product and
the supply chain, competitors, employees, and
service requirements. (marketing, operations)
research. Customer input can come from surveys,
2. Refine existing products and services. (marketing) focus groups, complaints, and unsolicited suggestions
for improvement.
3. Develop new products and/or services. (marketing, - Input from suppliers, distributors, and employees can
operations) be obtained from interviews, direct or indirect
suggestions, and complaints. One of the strongest
4. Formulate quality goals. (marketing, operations)
motivators for new and improved products or services
5. Formulate cost targets. (accounting, finance, operations) is competitors’ products and services. By studying a
competitor’s products or services and how the
6. Construct and test prototypes. (operations, marketing, competitor operates (pricing policies, return policies,
engineering) warranties, location strategies, etc.), an organization
7. Document specifications. can glean many ideas. Beyond that, some companies
purchase a competitor’s product and then carefully
8. Translate product and service specifications into process dismantle and inspect it, searching for ways to
specifications. (engineering, operations improve their own product. This is called reverse
engineering.
From a buyer’s standpoint, most purchasing decisions entail - Research is another source of ideas for new or
two fundamental considerations; one is cost and the other is improved products or services. Research and
quality or performance. From the organization’s standpoint, development (R&D) refers to organized efforts that
the key questions are: are directed toward increasing scientific knowledge
1. Is there demand for it? What is the potential size of the and product or process innovation. Most of the
market, and what is the expected demand profile (will advances in semiconductors, medicine,
demand be long term or short term, will it grow slowly or communications, and space technology can be
quickly)? attributed to R&D efforts at colleges and universities,
research foundations, government agencies, and
2. Can we do it? Do we have the necessary knowledge, private enterprises.
skills, equipment, capacity, and supply chain capability? For
products, this is known as manufacturability; for services, R&D efforts may involve basic research, applied research,
this is known as serviceability. Also, is outsourcing some or or development.
all of the work an option? • Basic research has the objective of advancing the state of
3. What level of quality is appropriate? What do customers knowledge about a subject, without any near-term
expect? What level of quality do competitors provide for expectation of commercial applications.
similar items? How would it fit with our current offerings? • Applied research has the objective of achieving
4. Does it make sense from an economic standpoint? What commercial applications.
are the potential liability issues, ethical considerations, • Development converts the results of applied research into
sustainability issues, costs, and profits? For nonprofits, is the useful commercial applications
cost within budget?
LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Reasons for Product and Service Design or Redesign
 Product liability can be a strong incentive for design
The factors that give rise to market opportunities and threats
improvements. Product liability is the responsibility of
can be one or more changes:
a manufacturer for any injuries or damages caused by
 Economic (e.g., low demand, excessive warranty a faulty product because of poor workmanship or
claims, the need to reduce costs). design. Many business firms have faced lawsuits
 Social and demographic (e.g., aging baby boomers, related to their products, including Firestone Tire &
population shifts). Rubber, Ford Motor Company, General Motors,
 Political, liability, or legal (e.g., government changes, tobacco companies, and toy manufacturers.
safety issues, new regulations). Manufacturers also are faced with the implied
warranties created by state laws under the Uniform
 Competitive (e.g., new or changed products or
Commercial Code, which says that products carry an
services, new advertising/promotions).
implication of merchantability and fitness; that is, a
 Cost or availability (e.g., of raw materials,
product must be usable for its intended purposes.
components, labor, water, energy).
 Technological (e.g., in product components, Organizations generally want designers to adhere to
processes) guidelines such as the following:
IDEA GENERATION  Produce designs that are consistent with the goals of
the organization. For instance, if the company has a
 goal of high quality, don’t cut corners to save cost, 1. Cradle-to-Grave Assessment
even in areas where it won’t be apparent to the - Cradle-to-grave assessment, also known as life cycle
customer. analysis, is the assessment of the environmental
 Give customers the value they expect. impact of a product or service throughout its useful
 Make health and safety a primary concern. At risk are life, focusing on such factors as global warming (the
employees who will produce goods or deliver amount of carbon dioxide released into the
services, workers who will transport the products, atmosphere), smog formation, oxygen depletion, and
customers who will use the products or receive the solid waste generation.
services, and the general public, which might be - For products, cradle-to-grave analysis takes into
endangered by the products or services. account impacts in every phase of a product’s life
cycle, from raw material extraction from the earth, or
HUMAN FACTORS the growing and harvesting of plant materials, through
• Human factor issues often arise in the design of fabrication of parts and assembly operations, or other
consumer products. Safety and liability are two processes used to create products, as well as the use or
critical issues in many instances, and they must be consumption of the product, and final disposal at the
carefully considered. For example, the end of a product’s useful life.
crashworthiness of vehicles is of much interest to
consumers, insurance companies, automobile 2. End-of-Life Programs
producers, and the government. - End-of-life (EOL) programs deal with products that
• Another issue for designers to take into account is have reached the end of their useful lives. The
adding new features to their products or services. products include both consumer products and business
Companies in certain businesses may seek a equipment.
competitive edge by adding new features. Although - The purpose of these programs is to reduce the
this can have obvious benefits, it can sometimes be dumping of products, particularly electronic
“too much of a good thing,” and be a source of equipment, in landfills or third-world countries, as has
customer dissatisfaction. This “creeping featurism” been the common practice, or incineration, which
is particularly evident in electronic products such converts materials into hazardous air and water
as handheld devices that continue to offer new emissions and generates toxic ash.
features, and more complexity, even while they are The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
shrinking in size. This may result in low consumer
ratings in terms of “ease of use.” • Designers often reflect on three particular aspects
of potential cost saving and reducing
CULTURAL FACTORS environmental impact: reducing the use of
• Product designers in companies that operate globally materials through value analysis; refurbishing and
also must take into account any cultural differences of then reselling returned goods that are deemed to
different countries or regions related to the product. have additional useful life, which is referred to as
This can result in different designs for different remanufacturing; and reclaiming parts of unusable
countries or regions. products for recycling.

GLOBAL PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESIGN Reduce: Value Analysis

• Traditionally, product design has been conducted by - Value analysis refers to an examination of the function
members of the design team who are located in one of parts and materials in an effort to reduce the cost
facility or a few nearby facilities. However, and/or improve the performance of a product. Typical
organizations that operate globally are discovering questions that would be asked as part of the analysis
advantages in global product design, which uses the include:
combined efforts of a team of designers who work in • Could a cheaper part or material be used?
different countries and even on different continents. • Is the function necessary?
Such virtual teams can provide a range of comparative • Can the function of two or more parts or
advantages over traditional teams such as engaging components be performed by a single part for a
the best human resources from around the world lower cost?
without the need to assemble them all in one place, • Can a part be simplified?
and operating on a 24-hour basis, thereby decreasing • Could product specifications be relaxed, and
the time-to-market. would this result in a lower price?
• Could standard parts be substituted for
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: SUSTAINABILITY nonstandard parts?
• Product and service design is a focal point in the quest Reuse: Remanufacturing
for sustainability. Key aspects include cradle-to-grave
assessment, end-of-life programs, reduction of costs • An emerging concept in manufacturing is the
and materials used, reuse of parts of returned remanufacturing of products. Remanufacturing
products, and recycling. refers to refurbishing used products by replacing
 worn-out or defective components, and reselling the service. An automatic car wash is a good example;
products. This can be done by the original each car, regardless of how clean or dirty it is,
manufacturer, or another company. Among the receives the same service. Standardized processes
products that have remanufactured components are deliver standardized service or produce
automobiles, printers, copiers, cameras, computers, standardized goods.
and telephones. • Standardization carries a number of important
• There are a number of important reasons for doing benefits as well as certain disadvantages.
this. One is that a remanufactured product can be Standardized products are immediately available to
sold for about 50 percent of the cost of a new customers. Standardized products mean
product. Another is that the process requires mostly interchangeable parts, which greatly lower the cost
unskilled and semiskilled workers. And in the global of production while increasing productivity and
market, European lawmakers are increasingly making replacement or repair relatively easy
requiring manufacturers to take back used products, compared with that of customized parts.
because this means fewer products end up in • Design costs are generally lower. For example,
landfills and there is less depletion of natural automobile producers standardize key components
resources such raw materials and fuel. Designing of automobiles across product lines; components
products so that they can be more easily taken apart such as brakes, electrical systems, and other
has given rise to yet another design consideration: “under-the-skin” parts would be the same for all car
Design for disassembly (DFD). models. By reducing variety, companies save time
and money while increasing quality and reliability
Recycle
of their products.
- Recycling is sometimes an important consideration for • Another benefit of standardization is reduced time
designers. Recycling means recovering materials for and cost to train employees and reduced time to
future use. This applies not only to manufactured parts design jobs. Similarly, scheduling of work,
but also to materials used during production, such as inventory handling, and purchasing and accounting
lubricants and solvents. Reclaimed metal or plastic activities become much more routine, and quality is
parts may be melted down and used to make different more consistent.
products.
Advantages of Standardization
Companies recycle for a variety of reasons, including:
1. Fewer parts to deal with in inventory and in
1. Cost savings. manufacturing.
2. Environment concerns. 2. Reduced training costs and time.
3. Environmental regulations. 3. More routine purchasing, handling, and inspection
procedures.
An interesting note: Companies that want to do business in 4. Orders fillable from inventory.
the European Union must show that a specified proportion 5. Opportunities for long production runs and automation.
of their products are recyclable. 6. Need for fewer parts justifies increased expenditures on
perfecting designs and improving quality control
The pressure to recycle has given rise to the term design for
procedures.
recycling (DFR), referring to product design that takes into
account the ability to disassemble a used product to recover Disadvantages of Standardization
the recyclable parts.
1. Designs may be frozen with too many imperfections
OTHER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS remaining.
2. High cost of design changes increases resistance to
• Aside from legal, ethical, environmental, and
improvements.
human considerations, designers must also take
3. Decreased variety results in less consumer appeal.
into account product or service life cycles, how
much standardization to incorporate, product or Designing for Mass Customization
service reliability, and the range of operating
conditions under which a product or service must • Companies like standardization because it enables
function. These topics are discussed in this section. them to produce high volumes of relatively lowcost
We begin with life cycles. products, albeit products with little variety.
Customers, on the other hand, typically prefer more
Degree of Standardization variety, although they like the low cost. The
• Standardization refers to the extent to which there question for producers is how to resolve these
issues without:
is absence of variety in a product, service, or
o losing the benefits of standardization and
process. Standardized products are made in large
quantities of identical items; calculators, o incurring a host of problems that are often
computers, and 2 percent milk are examples. linked to variety.
Standardized service implies that every customer or These include :
item processed receives essentially the same
 • increasing the achieve design variety; includes not only instances in which the item does not
• increasing variety in the production process, which function at all, but also instances in which the item’s
would add to the skills necessary to produce performance is substandard or it functions in a way
products, causing a decrease in productivity; not intended.
• creating an additional inventory burden during and
Normal Operating Condition
after production, by having to carry replacement
parts for the increased variety of parts; • Reliabilities are always specified with respect to
• and adding to the difficulty of diagnosing and certain conditions, called normal operating conditions.
repairing product failure These can include load, temperature, and humidity
ranges as well as operating procedures and
Mass Customization
maintenance schedules. Failure of users to heed these
- a strategy of producing standardized goods or services conditions product, part, or system does not often
but incorporating some degree of customization in the results in premature failure of parts or complete
final product or service. systems.
- Several tactics make this possible. One is delayed Potential Ways to Improve Reliability:
differentiation, and another is modular design.
1. Improve component design.
Delayed differentiation 2. Improve production and/or assembly techniques.
- Delayed differentiation is a postponement tactic: the 3. Improve testing.
process of producing, but not quite completing, a 4. Use backups.
product or service, postponing completion until 5. Improve preventive maintenance procedures.
customer preferences or specifications are known. 6. Improve user education.
There are a number of variations of this. In the case of 7. Improve system design.
goods, almost-finished units might be held in Robust Design
inventory until customer orders are received, at which
time customized features are incorporated, according • Some products or services will function as designed
to customer requests. only within a narrow range of conditions, while others
will perform as designed over a much broader range
Modular design of conditions. The latter have robust design. Consider
- Modular design is a form of standardization. Modules a pair of fine leather boots—obviously not made for
represent groupings of component parts into trekking through mud or snow. Now consider a pair of
subassemblies, usually to the point where the heavy rubber boots—just the thing for mud or snow.
individual parts lose their separate identity. One The rubber boots have a design that is more robust
familiar example of modular design is computers, than that of the fine leather boots.
which have modular parts that can be replaced if they • The more robust a product or service, the less likely it
become defective. By arranging modules in different will fail due to a change in the environment in which
configurations, different computer capabilities can be it is used or in which it is performed. Hence, the more
obtained. designers can build robustness into the product or
service, the better it should hold up, resulting in a
Reliability higher level of customer satisfaction.
• Reliability is a measure of the ability of a product, Taguchi’s Approach
a part, a service, or an entire system to perform its
intended function under a prescribed set of • Some products or services will function as designed
conditions. The importance of reliability is only within a narrow range of conditions, while others
underscored by its use by prospective buyers in will perform as designed over a much broader range
comparing alternatives and by sellers as one of conditions. The latter have robust design. Consider
determinant of price. a pair of fine leather boots—obviously not made for
• Reliability also can have an impact on repeat sales, trekking through mud or snow. Now consider a pair of
reflect on the product’s image, and, if it is too low, heavy rubber boots—just the thing for mud or snow.
create legal implications. Reliability is also a The rubber boots have a design that is more robust
consideration for sustainability; the higher the than that of the fine leather boots.
reliability of a product, the fewer the resources that • The more robust a product or service, the less likely it
will be needed form its intended function under to will fail due to a change in the environment in which
maintain it, and the less frequently it will involve it is used or in which it is performed. Hence, the more
the three Rs. designers can build robustness into the product or
service, the better it should hold up, resulting in a
Failure higher level of customer satisfaction.
• The Taguchi approach modifies the conventional
• The term failure is used to describe a situation in
statistical methods of experimental design. Consider
which an item does not perform as intended. This
this example. Suppose a company will use 12
 chemicals in a new product it intends to produce. • The Kano model is a theory of product and service design
There are two suppliers for these chemicals, but the developed by Dr. Noriaki Kano, a Japanese professor, who
chemical concentrations vary slightly between the two offered a perspective on customer perceptions of quality
suppliers. different from the traditional view that “more is better.”
• Classical design of experiments would require 212 ⫽ Instead, he proposed different categories of quality and
4,096 test runs to determine which combination of posited that understanding them would better position
chemicals would be optimum. Taguchi’s approach designers to assess and address quality needs. His model
would involve only testing a portion of the possible provides insights into the attributes that are perceived to be
combinations. important to customers. The model employs three
• Relying on experts to identify the variables that would definitions of quality: basic, performance, and excitement.
be most likely to affect important performance, the
BASIC QUALITY
number of combinations would be dramatically
reduced, perhaps to, say, 32. Identifying the best • Basic quality refers to customer requirements that
combination in the smaller sample might be a near- have only a limited effect on customer satisfaction if
optimal combination instead of the optimal present, but lead to dissatisfaction if not present. For
combination. The value of this approach is its ability example, putting a very short cord on an electrical
to achieve major advances in product or process appliance will likely result in customer dissatisfaction,
design fairly quickly, using a relatively small number but beyond a certain length (e.g., 4 feet), adding more
of experiments. cord will not lead to increased levels of customer
satisfaction.
Degree of Newness
Performance quality
Product or service design change can range from the
modification of an existing product or service to an entirely • Performance quality refers to customer requirements
new product or service: that generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction in
1. Modification of an existing product or service. proportion to their level of functionality and appeal.
2. Expansion of an existing product line or service For example, increasing the tread life of a tire or the
offering. amount of time house paint will last will add to
3. Clone of a competitor’s product or service. customer satisfaction. refers to customer requirements
4. New product or service. that generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction in
proportion to their level of functionality and appeal.
Quality Function Deployment For example, increasing the tread life of a tire or the
amount of time house paint will last will add to
• Obtaining input from customers is essential to assure customer satisfaction.
that they will want what is offered for sale. Although
obtaining input can be informal through discussions Excitement quality
with customers, there is a formal way to document
customer wants. • Excitement quality refers to a feature or attribute that
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a structured was unexpected by the customer and causes
excitement (the “wow” factor), such as a voucher for
approach for integrating the “voice of the customer”
dinner for two at the hotel restaurant when checking
into both the product and service development
in. Figure 4.6A portrays how the three definitions of
process. The purpose is to ensure that customer
quality influence customer satisfaction or
requirements are factored into every aspect of the
dissatisfaction relative to the degree of
process. Listening to and understanding the customer
implementation.
is the central feature of QFD.
PHASES IN PRODUCT DESIGN AND
To Build the House of Quality, we perform seven basic
DEVELOPMENT
steps:

1. Identify the Customer Wants • Feasibility analysis. Feasibility analysis entails market
2. Identify how the goods/services will satisfy analysis (demand), economic analysis (development
customer wants cost and production cost, profit potential), and
3. Relate Customer wants to product how technical analysis (capacity requirements and
4. Identify the relationships between the firm’s hows. availability, and the skills needed). Also, it is
5. Develop importance ratings necessary to answer the question, Does it fit with the
6. Evaluate competing products mission? It requires collaboration among marketing,
7. Determine the desirable technical attributes, your finance, accounting, engineering, and operations.
performance, and the competitor’s performance PHASES IN PRODUCT DESIGN AND
against these attributes DEVELOPMENT
THE KANO MODEL • Product specifications. This involves detailed
descriptions of what is needed to meet (or exceed)
 customer wants, and requires collaboration between 1. Manufacturing personnel are able to identify
legal, marketing, and operations. production capabilities and capacities. Very often,
• Process specifications. Once product specifications they have some latitude in design in terms of
have been set, attention turns to specifications for the selecting suitable materials and processes.
process that will be needed to produce the product. Knowledge of production capabilities can help in
Alternatives must be weighed in terms of cost, the selection process. In addition, cost and quality
availability of resources, profit potential, and quality. considerations can be greatly influenced by design,
This involves collaboration between accounting and and conflicts during production can be greatly
operations. reduced.
• Prototype development. With product and process 2. Design or procurement of critical tooling, some of
specifications complete, one (or a few) units are made which might have long lead times, can occur early
to see if there are any problems with the product or in the process. This can result in a major shortening
process specifications. of the product development process, which could
• Design review. At this stage, any necessary changes be a key competitive advantage.
are made or the project is abandoned. Marketing, 3. The technical feasibility of a particular design or a
finance, engineering, design, and operations portion of a design can be assessed early on. Again,
collaborate to determine whether to proceed or this can avoid serious problems during production.
abandon. 4. The emphasis can be on problem resolution instead
• Market test. A market test is used to determine the of conflict resolution.
extent of consumer acceptance. If unsuccessful, the
However, despite the advantages of concurrent engineering,
product returns to the design review phase. This phase
a number of potential difficulties exist in this co-
is handled by marketing.
development approach. Two key ones are the following:
• Product introduction. The new product is promoted.
This phase is handled by marketing. 1. Long-standing boundaries between design and
• Follow-up evaluation. Based on user feedback, manufacturing can be difficult to over- come.
changes may be made or forecasts refined. This phase Simply bringing a group of people together and
is handled by marketing. thinking that they will be able to work together
effectively is probably naive.
DESIGNING FOR PRODUCTION 2. There must be extra communication and flexibility
• In this section, you will learn about design if the process is to work, and these can be difficult
techniques that have greater applicability for the to achieve. Hence, managers should plan to devote
design of products than the design of services. special attention if this approach is to work.
Even so, you will see that they do have some Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
relevance for service design. The topics include
concurrent engineering, computer assisted design, • Computers are increasingly used for product design.
designing for assembly and disassembly, and the Computeraided design (CAD) uses computer graphics
use of components for similar products. for product design.
• The designer can modify an existing design or create a
Concurrent Engineering new one on a monitor by means of a light pen, a
• To achieve a smoother transition from product keyboard, a joystick, or a similar device.
design to production, and to decrease product • Once the design is entered into the computer, the
development time, many companies are using designer can maneuver it on the screen:
simultaneous development, or concurrent  It can be rotated to provide the designer with
engineering. different perspectives,
• In its narrowest sense, concurrent engineering  It can be split apart to give the designer a
means bringing design and manufacturing view of the inside, and a portion of it can be
engineering people together early in the design enlarged for closer examination.
phase to simultaneously develop the product and • The designer can obtain a printed version of the
the processes for creating the product. completed design and file it electronically, making it
• More recently, this concept has been enlarged to accessible to people in the firm who need this
include manufacturing personnel (e.g., materials information (e.g., marketing, operations).
specialists) and marketing and purchasing Production Requirements
personnel in loosely integrated, cross-functional
teams. In addition, the views of suppliers and • As noted earlier in the chapter, designers must take
customers are frequently sought. into account production capabilities. Design needs to
• The purpose, of course, is to achieve product clearly understand the capabilities of production (e.g.,
designs that reflect customer wants as well as equipment, skills, types of materials, schedules,
manufacturing capabilities. technologies, special abilities).
• This helps in choosing designs that match capabilities.
Among the key advantages of this approach are the When opportunities and capabilities do not match,
following:
 management must consider the potential for • It is provided by a service delivery system, which
expanding or changing capabilities to take advantage includes the facilities, processes, and skills needed
of those opportunities. to provide the service.
• Many services are not pure services, but part of a
Production Requirements
product bundle—the combination of goods and
• Forecasts of future demand can be very useful, services provided to a customer. The service
supplying information on the timing and volume of component in products is increasing. The ability to
demand, and information on demands for new create and deliver reliable customer-oriented
products and services. service is often a key competitive differentiator.
• Manufacturability is a key concern for manufactured Successful companies combine customer-oriented
goods: Ease of fabrication and/or assembly is service with their products.
important for cost, productivity, and quality. With System design involves development or refinement of the
services, ease of providing the service, cost, overall service package:
productivity, and quality are of great concern.
1. The physical resources needed.
The term design for manufacturing (DFM) is used to 1. The accompanying goods that are purchased or
indicate the designing of products that are compatible with consumed by the customer, or provided with the
an organization’s capabilities. A related concept in service.
manufacturing design for assembly (DFA). 2. Explicit services (the essential/core features of a
A good design must take into account not only how a service, such as tax preparation).
product will be fabricated, but also how it will be assembled. 3. Implicit services (ancillary/extra features, such as
friendliness, courtesy)
Design for assembly focuses on reducing the number of
parts in an assembly, as well as on the assembly methods Overview of Service Design
and sequence that will be employed. Another, more general • Service design begins with the choice of a service
term, manufacturability, is sometimes used when referring to
strategy, which determines the nature and focus of
the ease with which products can be fabricated and/or
the service, and the target market.
assembled.
• This requires an assessment by top management of
Component Commonality the potential market and profitability (or need, in
the case of a nonprofit organization) of a particular
• Companies often have multiple products or services service, and an assessment of the organization’s
to offer customers. Often, these products or ability to provide the service.
services have a high degree of similarity of features • Once decisions on the focus of the service and the
and components. This is particularly true of product target market have been made, the customer
families, but it is also true of many services. requirements and expectations of the target market
Companies can realize significant benefits when a must be determined.
part can be used in multiple products • Two key issues in service design are the degree of
• For example, car manufacturers employ this tactic variation in service requirements and the degree of
by using internal components such as water pumps, customer contact and customer involvement in the
engines, and transmissions on several automobile delivery system.
nameplates. In addition to the savings in design • These have an impact on the degree to which
time, companies reap benefits through standard service can be standardized or must be customized.
training for assembly and installation, increased • The lower the degree of customer contact and
opportunities for savings by buying in bulk from service requirement variability, the more
suppliers, and commonality of parts for repair, standardized the service can be. Service design
which reduces the inventory dealers and auto parts with no contact and little or no processing
stores must carry. Similar benefits accrue in variability is very much like product design.
services. • Conversely, high variability and high customer
• For example, in automobile repair, component contact generally mean the service must be highly
commonality means less training is needed because customized. A related consideration in service
the variety of jobs is reduced. The same applies to design is the opportunity for selling: The greater
appliance repair, where commonality and the degree of customer contact, the greater the
substitutability of parts are typical. Multiple-use opportunities for selling.
forms in financial and medical services is another
example

SERVICE DESIGN Differences between Service Design and Product Design

• Service refers to an act, something that is done to Service operations managers must contend with issues that
or for a customer (client, patient, etc.). may be insignificant or nonexistent for managers in a
production setting. These include the following:
 1. Services are highly visible to consumers and must 5. Translate design specifications into delivery
be designed with that in mind; this adds an extra specifications.
dimension to process design, one that usually is not
present in product design. Service Blueprinting
2. Some services have low barriers to entry and exit. - A useful tool for conceptualizing a service delivery
This places additional pressures on service design system is the service blueprint, which is a method for
to be innovative and cost-effective. describing and analyzing a service process. A service
3. Location is often important to service design, with blueprint is much like an architectural drawing, but
convenience as a major factor. Hence, design of instead of showing building dimensions and other
services and choice of location are often closely construction features, a service blueprint shows the
linked. basic customer and service actions involved in a
4. Service systems range from those with little or no service operation.
customer contact to those that have a very high
degree of customer contact. Here are some The major steps in service blueprinting are as
examples of those different types: Insulated follows:
technical core; little or no customer contact (e.g.,
software development). Production line; little or no 1. Establish boundaries for the service and decide
customer contact (e.g., automatic car wash). on the level of detail needed.
Personalized service (e.g., haircut, medical 2. Identify and determine the sequence of
service). Consumer participation (e.g., diet customer and service actions and interactions.
program, dance lessons). Self-service (e.g., A flowchart can be a useful tool for this.
supermarket). If there is little or no customer 3. Develop time estimates for each phase of the
contact, service system design is like product process, as well as time variability.
system design. 4. Identify potential failure points and develop a
5. Demand variability alternately creates waiting lines plan to prevent or minimize them, as well as a
or idle service resources. plan to respond to service errors.

In services, a significant aspect of perceived quality relates Characteristics of Well-Designed Service Systems
to the intangibles that are part of the service package. There are a number of characteristics of well-designed
Designers must proceed with caution because attempts to service systems. They can serve as guidelines in developing
achieve a high level of efficiency tend to depersonalize a service system. They include the following:
service and to create the risk of negatively altering the
customer’s perception of quality. Such attempts may involve 1. Being consistent with the organization’s mission.
the following: 2. Being user-friendly.
3. Being robust if variability is a factor.
1. Reducing consumer choices makes service more 4. Being easy to sustain.
efficient, but it can be both frustrating and irritating 5. Being cost-effective.
for the customer. An example would be a cable 6. Having value that is obvious to customers.
company that bundles channels, rather than 7. Having effective linkages between back-of-the-
allowing customers to pick only the channels they house operations (i.e., no contact with the
want. customer) and front-of-the-house operations (i.e.,
2. Standardizing or simplifying certain elements of direct contact with customers). Front operations
service can reduce the cost of providing a service, should focus on customer service, while back
but it risks eliminating features that some operations should focus on speed and efficiency.
customers value, such as personal attention. 8. Having a single, unifying theme, such as
3. Incorporating flexibility in capacity management convenience or speed.
by employing part-time or temporary staff may 9. Having design features and checks that will ensure
involve the use of less-skilled or less-interested service that is reliable and of high quality.
people, and service quality may suffer.:
Challenges of Service Design
Phases in the Service Design Process
• Variability is a major concern in most aspects of
1. Conceptualize. business operations, and it is particularly so in the
Idea generation design of service systems. Requirements tend to be
Assessment of customer wants/needs (marketing) variable, both in terms of differences in what
Assessment of demand potential (marketing) customers want or need, and in terms of the timing
2. Identify service package components needed of customer requests. Because services generally
(operations and marketing). cannot be stored, there is the additional challenge
3. Determine performance specifications (operations of balancing supply and demand.
and marketing). • This is less of a problem for systems in which the
4. Translate performance specifications into design timing of services can be scheduled (e.g., doctor’s
specifications. appointment), but not so in others (e.g., emergency
 room visit). Another challenge is that services can
be difficult to describe precisely and are dynamic in
nature, especially when there is a direct encounter
with the customer (e.g., personal services), due to
the large number of variables.

Guidelines for Successful Service Design

1. Define the service package in detail. A service

blueprint may be helpful for this.
2. Focus on the operation from the customer’s
perspective. Consider how customer expectations
and perceptions are managed during and after the
service.
3. Consider the image that the service package will
present both to customers and to prospective
customers.
4. Recognize that designers’ familiarity with the
system may give them a quite different perspective
than that of the customer, and take steps to
overcome this.
5. Make sure that managers are involved and will
support the design once it is implemented.
6. Define quality for both tangibles and intangibles.
Intangible standards are more difficult to define,
but they must be addressed.
7. Make sure that recruitment, training, and reward
policies are consistent with service expectations.
8. Establish procedures to handle both predictable and
unpredictable events.
9. Establish systems to monitor, maintain, and
improve service.

Reliability is a measure of the ability of a product, service,

part, or system to perform its intended function under a
prescribed set of conditions. In effect, reliability is a
probability.

Suppose that an item has a reliability of .90. This means that

it has a 90 percent probability of functioning as intended.
The probability it will fail is 1 - 90 = .10, or 10 percent.
Hence, it is expected that, on the average, 1 of every 10 such
items will fail or, equivalently, that the item will fail, on the
average, once in every 10 trials. Similarly, a reliability of
985 implies 15 failures per 1,000 parts or trials.

4S.2 QUANTIFYING RELIABILITY

Engineers and designers have a number of techniques at

their disposal for assessing reliability. A discussion of those
techniques is not within the scope of this text. Instead, let us
turn to the issue of quantifying overall product or system
reliability. Probability is used in two ways.

1. The probability that the product or system will

function when activated.
2. The probability that the product or system will
function for a given length of time.

The first of these focuses on one point in time and is often

used when a system must operate for one time or a relatively
few number of times. The second of these focuses on the
length of service. The distinction will become more apparent
as each of these approaches is described in more detail.