Last updated on May 28, 2024

How do you balance the needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders in a complex service system?

Service design is a human-centered approach to creating and improving services that meet the needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders, such as customers, employees, managers, partners, and society. However, balancing the interests and perspectives of different stakeholder groups can be challenging, especially in complex service systems that involve multiple touchpoints, interactions, and outcomes. How can you ensure that your service design process is inclusive, collaborative, and effective? Here are some tips and tools to help you.

1 Define the system boundaries

One of the first steps in service design is to define the scope and boundaries of the service system you are working on. This helps you to identify the key stakeholders, their roles, relationships, and responsibilities, as well as the main problems, opportunities, and goals of the service. You can use tools such as stakeholder maps, personas, customer journeys, and service blueprints to visualize and understand the system and its components.

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Tim Gilday

Emerging Technology Sr Director at GDIT | ACT-IAC Fellow, Chair | GWU-CIBER Advisor | PSC Tech & Innovation Council
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An additional tool in identifying critical stakeholders who could be referred to as "hidden influencers" is called the "snowball interview". When interviewing obvious stakeholders, ask them for the top 3-5 other people they would recommend to be interviewed to understand the process, desired outcomes, and how to best achieve them. As you accumulate this feedback, certain individuals will be named more frequently than others, regardless of their rank or role. They are being named because of their knowledge and influence.

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2 Engage the stakeholders

Another important step in service design is to engage the stakeholders in the co-creation and co-evaluation of the service. This means involving them in the research, ideation, prototyping, and testing phases of the service design process. By doing so, you can gain insights, feedback, and buy-in from the people who will use, deliver, or benefit from the service. You can use tools such as interviews, surveys, workshops, focus groups, and observation to collect and analyze stakeholder needs and expectations.

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Sergio Werner

Innovation Driven | Results Oriented
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In my experience, stakeholders engage well when the value proposition towards them are well established. This is true for all stakeholders - the different personnas in the client, the suppliers, but also our own employees - they need to understand how participating in designing and operating our own services will contribute to their growth.

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glennette clark, SDMBA

Presidential Innovation Fellow | DEIB Advocate | Designer
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In my experience, co-designing and co-creating with stakeholders is critical. Itâ€™s the only way to understand the the various touch points and challenges throughout the problem space. Itâ€™s equally important to assess whether the organization has the resources needed to address the challenge.

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Rashi Gupta

Sr Product Designer @JSW One | Ex- Jio, IIT Bombay, KAIST | Serial â±ï¸ Killer
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Involving stakeholders in the decision-making process also ensures their voices are heard and considered, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the project.

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3 Prioritize the value proposition

A value proposition is a statement that summarizes the benefits and value that the service provides to the stakeholders. It helps you to communicate and align the vision and purpose of the service across the system. However, not all stakeholders may have the same or equal value proposition for the service. Some may have conflicting or competing interests, needs, or expectations. Therefore, you need to prioritize and balance the value proposition for the different stakeholder groups, and ensure that it is feasible, desirable, and viable for the service system.

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glennette clark, SDMBA

Presidential Innovation Fellow | DEIB Advocate | Designer
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I like to call it the business model canvas trifecta. It is a unique value proposition + customer segment + revenue = profitability. The key is to determine whether your organizationâ€™s unique value proposition is desirable by the customer segment. And, if itâ€™s desirable, can it be profitable for your organization.

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4 Iterate and adapt

Service design is not a linear or one-time process. It is an iterative and adaptive process that requires constant learning and improvement. As the service system evolves, so do the needs and expectations of the stakeholders. Therefore, you need to monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of the service, and make changes and adjustments as needed. You can use tools such as feedback loops, metrics, indicators, and dashboards to measure and track the outcomes and satisfaction of the stakeholders.

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5 Foster a service culture

Finally, service design is not only about creating or improving a service. It is also about creating or improving a service culture. A service culture is a shared set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that support and enable the delivery and experience of the service. To foster a service culture, you need to empower and enable the stakeholders to participate, collaborate, and innovate in the service system. You can use tools such as storytelling, branding, training, and recognition to inspire and motivate the stakeholders to embrace and sustain the service.

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glennette clark, SDMBA

Presidential Innovation Fellow | DEIB Advocate | Designer
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To foster a service culture, itâ€™s important to create a culture of empowering employees. This means offering incentives to employees for coming up with new ways of engaging stakeholders. It also means creating cross-functional and diverse teams that can bring rich perspectives to challenging and complex service design issues.

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6 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that donâ€™t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you balance the needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders in a complex service system?

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1 Define the system boundaries

2 Engage the stakeholders

3 Prioritize the value proposition

4 Iterate and adapt

5 Foster a service culture

6 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Service Design

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