Below are some of the key concepts, methods and tools Supplejack uses.

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is the core design discipline. According to design theorist Herbert Simon, it is practical, creative thinking that addresses an opportunity or resolves a challenge. Design thinking is a fundamental way of growing value for both your organisation and your customers.

Design thinking is necessarily systemic. It considers how a service actually works, or needs to work, in relation to your company and your customers in your wider context. In particular, it draws on the interests, insights and ideas of different service stakeholders (such as suppliers, partners, staff, customers and their communities).

It follows that design thinking is also collaborative. It engages stakeholders (including potential users) in improving or creating new products, services and touchpoints. 

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What is design research?

Design research is research carried out within design projects.

Supplejack's design research prioritises what a service will mean to people. People are most motivated, and gain most, when they find products and services personally meaningful.

These meanings need to be translated into the product, service and brand experiences people want. An experience can be defined by exploring itscontext and outcomes, and by identifying social, economic and environmental expectations and impacts.

Design research helps you answer three main questions:

1. Who wants your product, service or brand? How many of these people are there?
2. Why do they want it? What meanings, experiences and outcomes do they want from using it?
3. How do people want to experience it? How, when and where does the experience need to be delivered?

You can download a brief presentation (PDF, 220 kb) on design research here. 

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Common design research methods

The methods are easily scaled to your needs. 

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What is service design?

Service design is design thinking, research and tools applied to services (including those offering products within a wider service). 

Customers interact with a service over time to create value for both themselves and your organisation. Service touchpoints (any points of contact between a service and its customers, such as brand, product or service example) are central to building mutual value. 

Service design integrates three domains: the customer experience of the touchpoint, the touchpoint itself, and the staff and systems required to support the touchpoint.

In recent decades the service sector has grown in size and value globally and is about 70% by numbers and by GDP in New Zealand. As a result, there is a great need for a discipline dedicated to developing better services.

You can download a brief presentation (PDF, 230 kb) on service design here. Some useful links are:

• Introduction to Service Design flash movie by by Culminatum Ltd
• Service Design Network website
• Design for Service blog 
• Service Design Books library

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What is co-design?

Services are complex and balance the interests of a variety ofstakeholders (a stakeholder is someone with a stake in the success of a service). 

Service generate value when customers interact with staff and with other touchpoints (points of contact with the service, such as a website, email or TV advertisement). That is, it takes both sides to generate the value. It follows that it's difficult to understand how to generate more or better value without understanding how these interactions work, and why. 

Co-design means ‘researching and designing with stakeholders’, and especially with customers and staff. It provides a mandate from stakeholders to pursue higher-value ideas, so often moving an organisation ahead more quickly than internal stakeholders might on their own. Its processes are collaborative: it uses specialised teamwork, research and design tools to turn stakeholder ideas into higher-value, new and improvedtouchpoints.

Co-design can be faster and simpler that conventional development, especially when total costs are taken into account. It helps identify higher-value opportunities quickly, reduce development risks and costs, and improve post-launch uptake. 

In essence, co-design helps stakeholders have strategic conversations with each other. These help you learn more quickly and establish a shared vision early in a project. Stakeholders can also quickly identify high-value ideas and evolve these into worthwhile service improvements and innovations. Ongoing conversations also help keep the project on track in a cost-effective manner. 

The investment is fully repaid in other opportunities identified and delivered, problems avoided and results achieved.

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