Product development organizations have a lot to learn from those in the service business. While products are usually treated as black boxes with predefined features and functions, services use each bit of information they learn about their customers to build customized solutions. Service providers have a holistic view of the customer’s experience, treating each touch point as a chapter in a larger story.
Services offer another benefit for businesses that provide them. While it’s easy for a customer to swap out one product for another with similar specifications, services are stickier. A well designed service is able to provide more value with each use. As the relationship strengthens over time, its customers become increasingly loyal.
Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World: Adaptive Path on Design by Peter Merholz, Todd Wilkens, Brandon Schauer, and David Verba outlines the empathy driven, design thinking approach developed by the experience strategy and design firm, Adaptive Path. Using case studies and historic examples, this book shows how embracing the entire experience is—and has always been—the path to good product and service design.
