Will this actually produce anything useful? In many IT development projects, there are phases when the question creeps into mind: will the end result deliver the benefits we wanted? At Reflector, we strive to reduce uncertainty about the outcome through service design methods.

Service design refers to a customer-centric and participatory approach to developing services, systems, and operating models. At its core is understanding end user needs: for whom the solution is being created, what problem it solves, and how to make it genuinely functional in everyday use.

– At Reflector, service design is seen as a way to develop IT services based on the needs of end users, business, and everyday work. It is not a separate project phase but a perspective that accompanies the entire development process, says CEO Heli Syväoja.

First understanding the problem, then the solution—also in developing internal enterprise systems

Reflector’s lead business analyst and service designer Juha Pihlaja sees one of the most common challenges in IT service development as the tendency to start building solutions without clarifying end user needs. In consumer product development, end user needs are already widely considered, but there is still room for improvement in developing internal enterprise systems. End user needs are assumed, and time is not allocated to understanding the actual problem.

– In developing internal enterprise systems, it is easy to jump straight to implementation. In service design, we first strive to understand the problem itself: what problem are we actually solving and why. Only after that do we start thinking about the solution, Juha explains.

What are the benefits of service design?

The greatest benefit of service design is that development work focuses on the right things. When user needs are understood from the outset, the result is solutions that are genuinely useful, functional, and easy to use.

– Service design enables us to create things that end users actually need and want. At the same time, it reduces the risk of doing the wrong things, Juha says.

User-centric development helps reduce unnecessary work, costs, and uncertainty. The result is that services work better for both end users and the business. At Reflector, we see that the usability and ease of use of internal tools are becoming increasingly important.

– Previously, it was easy to think that employees should simply use a tool, even if it was difficult. But if a system is difficult to use, it quickly shows up as errors and reduced workflow efficiency, Heli explains.

In what types of projects can service design be utilized?

Service design can be utilized in almost all development work. It is often associated with designing new digital services or applications, but it can equally well be used in developing processes, operating methods, and business operations.

– Service design can be utilized whenever something new is being developed or something existing is being improved. It can also be used to monitor the use of current services and identify development needs, even if no actual development project is underway at that particular moment, Juha explains.

It is not always about building a new system. Sometimes the outcome may be a smoother process, a more functional way of working, or a better end user experience.

How to get started with customer-centric design?

At Reflector, service design is part of many experts’ daily work. Service design is particularly close to business analysis, and user-centric thinking is utilized on a broad scale in various types of projects. It is especially important to us that service design and requirements analysis are not conducted as separate entities. That is why we have consultants with experience and expertise in both areas. In their role, they are able to leverage the best practices of both requirements analysis and service design.

If you would like to consider how to bring more user-centricity and certainty about the outcome to your IT project, Reflector’s experts are happy to help. Sometimes even a brief consultation at the right stage can help direct development toward a significantly better result.