Happy service design day!

Finally getting around to writing a blog. What better way than to start on Service Design Day. This is my way of giving back to the community. Sharing things I’ve learnt on my journey. Maybe it will be something new for you or maybe it’s a lil’ nudge in case you forgot. Either way, I hope it’ll inspire you. :)

Reading 

Understanding the context of your design in your Organisations from Marzia Arico
It’s nothing new where designers are being asked to prove the value of their work. It’s been happening for a long while before and my assumption is that it will always continue until something changes. This is a good primer to read about rethinking your narratives when talking about your design or impact of your work for a particular audience.

Reading this was a good starting for me and it makes me wanna create a version for the organisations I’ve worked with to help me understand their language and how to position my influence. A lot of times, I’ve found myself thinking “I’m not talking to the right person to get “this” done.” I wish I had this primer before. 

Prioritising Services by Katherine Wastell
I love this framework on prioritising services and I’m gonna try this. A lot of times, when we work with organisations, clients want to redesign all their services but where do you start? Where should you start? Is it focusing on the service with the most complaints? Or services with the most revenue or transactions? This framework is a good starting point to help your team steer their focus on where they’ll see their best return on investment and see value first. 

Using AI to generate web forms from PDFs by Tim Paul
When people interact with gov, regardless where you are in the world, there’s usually a form they have to fill in. This is a brilliant experiment showing the power of using AI to generate web forms from a pdf. I see this being useful for teams who don’t have the luxury of having in-house teams to research, design and build inclusive forms. I really appreciate how Tim also touches on the “unintended consequences” of this and discusses ways around it to build “guard rails.”

Litmus test for giving effective feedback by Julie Zhuo 
Giving feedback is something everyone ask for, not just at work. I love how Julie breaks down what ineffective feedback looks like. It made me reflect on the times I’ve given feedback and how I could have been better. The “aha moment” for me was thinking about 2-3 years down the line and how I can give feedback to help them “close that gap.” Definitely something I’m gonna refer to often when giving feedback now. 

Watching 

The story of Poo and cholera by Sarah Drummond [30 min] 
I saw Sarah give this talk back at Service Sesign in Gov in Scotland before the pandemic. Absolutely loved it and I still remember it even today when i work with organisations in the UAE to redesign their services. So glad a version of that talk was recorded. Watch it.

Sometimes, I get comments like: 

• Afsa, how are you able to stay zen-like?

• How do you stay motivated when “no-one listens”? 

• What do you do when there’s no immediate impact to your work? 

A lot of it is down to what I do outside of work to destress but a huge part is down to managing my expectations on driving change in organisations. I usually refer to this talk.

There’s so many parallels between the story of poo during Cholera that we can take away from this. A lot of what I encounter when designing or redesigning services… we’re actually trying to redesign systems. And it’s really hard. I always remind myself that “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Change can take a really long time and we might not even see that happen.” [And that is okay. We need to learn to ask our ego “Why is it important that it has to be ‘us’ or ‘me’ to finish the work? It’s okay passing the baton to someone else to finish off “the work.”] 

The Dip – the identity and confidence crisis of creative leadership from Andy Polaine [10 mins] 
I loved this from Andy and I really resonated with the “existential crisis” when I stepped into a role where I had to manage teams for the first time. When i thought I was at the top of my game, it became quickly apparent that I had so much to learn. It made me think… was this really what I want to do? A story for another time.

Totally recommend this watch if you’re stepping into a leadership role and feeling the “dip”. You’re not alone and yes it’s totally “normal” to feel like this. I loved how Andy talks about thinking “Design leadership as a slow motion facilitation.”

Examining the consequences of one-size-fits-all design approach by George Aye [1 min]
George Aye has to be one of my favourite thinkers and doers in design. I came across him through his writings during the pandemic and it really forced me to rethink what are my unintended consequences of the designs I’m involved in? What role do I have in redistributing power? One of my recent frustrations in design is that often speed and pace overtakes any thought and considerations about ethical harm we may have done in our design approach. 

Listening 

What is your sales metaphor? with Ian Altman from The Conversation Factory
I love much of what comes out of The Conversation Factory as it’s my go to when thinking about designing conversations. Much of “designing in design is about designing conversations.” This episode really help me confront my fears about “selling design” and helped me reframe “sales” into something more less daunting - “helping people make a decision”. Totally recommend on reframing “sales” and unlearning some of our thinking around selling design to clients and stakeholders.

A snapshot of an episode from The Native Informant where Dana Alhanbali discusses identity and language on “Arab world” vs. “Middle East” with Sarah Alagroobi.
Language is important. This episode really touch on the complexity of identity and the nuances of it. I found it so fascinating as it made me question how I did start using the term “Middle East”? “Are we doing any community injustice when we cast the veil of unity over it?” 

That’s all for today. Let me know if you can relate to anything I shared or if it made you question anything. Would love to hear from you. :) 

See you in two weeks inshaAllah. :)