Digital will be on the business agenda for the foreseeable future. Using service design thinking can bring another level of capabilities to organisations by bringing in the crucial human perspective that makes any digital endeavour more relevant.

1. Humanizing digital experiences
Livework & SDN Inspiration Dinner | 27 October 2016, Amsterdam

2. We invited business leaders from 10 sectors for an inspirational
dinner to talk about Humanizing Digital experiences.

3. Over 50 of business leaders attended this event.

4. The hosts of the evening.
This evening was hosted by Birgit Mager (President Service Design Network), Erik Roscam Abbing,
(Managing Director Livework Netherlands) and Melvin Brand Flu (Partner Livework).

5. Livework.
Livework is an independent, international, strategic design consultancy focused on customers and
services. We have the team, method and experience to support large and small scale service
transformation, innovation and improvement. We use design, collaboration and research to guide all our
projects.

6. Service Design Network.
Service Design is crucial for all private and public organisations that want to innovate and improve their
service strategies, offerings and the user experiences. The Service Design Network (SDN) is the platform
to connect you with like-minded passionate service designers from companies, agencies and universities,
and with curious innovators who embrace and apply this approach for the better of their organisations and
for people.

7. Humanizing digital
experiences?

8. Organisations invest billions in the digital
transformation of their business. Many
business leaders are overwhelmed by the
cost, complexity and radical change that this
brings.
Successful digital transformation requires
design for customers. Without the customer,
the transformation is about the internal
organisation, not digitizing a business.
Designing digital experiences for
fundamental human needs such as trust,
transparency and security, simplifies complex
interactions between organisations and
customers. Using the human perspective
enables organisations to design seamless
experiences that create excellent customer
experiences and improve businesses.
Why humanize
digital experiences?

9. In digital transformations, service design
thinking and doing can safeguard the human
aspect. Service design keeps the focus on
how digital services are used by real people
and how those digital services play a role in
their lives that is much bigger than the
screen.
Long before the digital touchpoint and long
after, people orient, choose, use, change and
discard services in the context of their daily
lives. To deliver excellent experience you
have to design for this context.
Approaching digital services only from a user
(UX) perspective is simply not enough,
because it is a product based approach, not
a human centered one.
How can service
design help?

10. We asked the attendees about their best
and worst digital experiences.
What digital service did you experience
that was just right?
Can you think of a recent miserable digital
experience?

12. In the responses of the attendees we see three
main categories of obstacles when it comes to
implementing digital touchpoints:
Technological
It takes too long to realise, is too expensive to
implement, we are lacking skills.
Organizational
Organisational alignment between
departments, lack of leadership in taken the
digital agenda forward, lacking executive power
and commitment.
Customer facing
Not a seamless experience, no differentiated
experience, limited customer understanding
and insight.
What are barriers to
deliver great digital
experiences to your
customers?

13. Four areas where
design can help with
digital challenges

14. A key idea in behavioural economics is “nudges” - small rewards or indirect suggestions that alter
people’s behaviour in predictable ways, without taking away their options. Nudges are proven powerful
yet low-cost tools to influence customer perception and decisions. Identifying the nudges is not
enough; it requires the right design to create experiences that enhance the effects of nudges on
peoples’ behaviour.
Nudge customer behaviour

15. A major insurer experimented with how
changing claims forms would make people
more “honest” about their claims.
First identifying key principles of behavioural
economics that are in play around honesty, the
team prototyped several aspects of the forms.
This included different opening messages,
sequence of information, place to sign and use
of checkboxes and bullets. Next came process
of rapid prototyping to test behaviours with real
customers in claims processes.
After months of controlled testing with real
customers, the results were better than
expected. A significantly lower number of
claims were filled in and the claimed amounts
were drastically lower.
Client case:
Small changes in
forms can have
major impact

16. Design can have one, simple and immediate benefit: it can speed things up. Designers have the ability
to capture a discussion and present the ideas in a tangible form. It is the difference between someone
describing a process and someone drawing it. We are also more likely to make (the right) decisions
based on visualisations and evidence gathered by prototyping in the real world.
Faster and better decision making

17. Client case:
Human input results
in better decisions
Ruter, the public transport authority of Oslo,
Norway, was ready to launch new ticket
machines. The machines were commissioned
and ready to be build without real input from
the people in Olso.
By co-designing ticket experiences with key
user groups such as the elderly and sight-
impaired, a series of concepts were turned into
prototypes in a matter of weeks. The
prototypes were tested with people in the
streets of Olso, in order to get real people, not
just current users of the public transport
system.
The fast iterations of what became the final
design of the ticket machine meant that Ruter
was able launch a better travel experience, not
just a new ticket machine.

18. Retail, travel, financial services are just a few sectors that went from bricks to clicks to save costs and to
enable anytime anywhere interactions. Companies like Bol.com, Coolblue, Ebay, Tesco and Amazon all
have physical contact points to increases customers’ engagement, decision and purchase experiences.
Rapid prototyping of the intersections between physical and digital processes can safe organisations time
and money by learning what works for customers and what this requires of the organisation.
Align the physical and the digital

19. Europcar, one of Europe's leading car rental
companies, the transfer from the digital space
to the messy reality of the pick-up station was
a core problem for customers. This was
reflected by a plunging NPS which was mainly
due to physical encounters .
We helped Europcar to make this transfer
much more seamless. To help staff understand
the digital pre-journey customers had gone
through, and to help them use legacy infested
CRM in a smart, human way.
The main learning for the organisation was:
“Don’t invest in IT when you can just smile and
be empathic and solve 80% of the problems”
Client case:
Managing the digital-
physical transition
with a smile

20. While organisations are getting to grips with cross channel experiences, Omni-channel customers engage
organisations across multiple channels, platforms and media – sometimes all at the same time – where
no one organisation is in control. The biggest challenge for organisations is designing consistent and
seamless experiences for customers that can be consistently supported by the organisation. Co-creation
of services with customers and across departments and organisation is a key success factor.
Omni-Channel

21. Many brands struggle to remain relevant to
their customers. Omni-channel experiences
enables organisations to extend their reach
beyond physical channels.
A major luxury brand is actively engaging
customers, staff and 3rd parties in a
conversation about how to create and support
experiences across channels, social media
and personal networks.
Digital tools and capabilities are key in
realising the full potential of the brand.
Prototyping services, not just technology,
enables the organisation to learn what
resonates with customers and which
touchpoint serves them the best.
Client case:
Omni-Channel
experiences change
brand relationships

22. What did we learn
about digital barriers?
The results of our survey

23. Are competitors
stealing your
customers with
their digital
services?
Zero!
Few
Some
Many
Question 1:

24. Zero!
Few
Some
Many
Reflections:
Digital redefines
competitors
Question 1:
Digitization is global and across sectors.
Organisations are loosing relevance as new
competitors from other sectors are taking
customers and eroding businesses by
offering better, faster and more seamless
experiences to customers than incumbents.
Brands no longer control the digital footprint,
or digital customer experience. Taking a
human approach in designing the digital
customer experience enables organisations
to remain relevant and stay connected with
their customers.
Are competitors stealing your customers
with their digital services?

25. Customers are able to shop real time in the
digital and physical space of the city,
looking for bargains, reserving products,
while getting recommendations from
others.
No one party completely controls the
relationship with the customers and
visitors. Shop owners, banks, telecom
companies, the city council, online retailers
all compete and collaborate in this
digital/physical environment.
The project is designed to align all parties
around the customers’ physical and digital
experience, creating new and exciting new
business opportunities for stakeholders.
Client case:
A digital and
physical city centre
Question 1:

26. How do you know
the main drivers of
customers, using
your digital
service?
Question 2:
Reflection door Melvin..
Digital redefines
competitors.
….
We talk to customers
We collect customer
feedback
We read reports
We do not explore

27. Reflections:
Digital innovations
based on real
customer needs
Question 2:
Talking to
them
Collecting
feedback
Reading
reports
Don’t
explore
Dormant and unfulfilled customer needs can
be fulfilled with digital innovations. Customers
previously experiencing lock-in in sectors
ranging from retail banking and energy are
being liberated by new digital services that
give them control.
At the same time, new innovations such as
digital concierge and digital household apps
give customers a new level of service that was
previously unimaginable.
The digital world requires deeper
understanding of peoples’ lives, motivations
and behaviours in order to remain competitive.
How do you know the main drivers of
customers, using your digital service?

28. The biggest Brazilian operator wanted to
know if customers would adopt digital
services. Staff from all departments
were convinced that customers were not
ready or interested in moving to a digital
invoice.
Engaging customers in the street with a
working prototype uncovered deep
rooted and very consistent animosity
towards banks and utilities. Leveraging
these customer drivers enabled
Livework to design services that have a
high level of adoption.
Client case:
From physical bill to
digital service
Question 2:

29. A human centred
approach to
digitizing your
services is…
Question 3: Cheap
Pricey
Expensive
Very expensive

30. Cheap
Pricey
Expensive
Very
Expensive
Reflections:
Human perspectives on
digital services improve
performance
Organisations invest in digitising internal
processes and services in order to safe costs
or increase operational efficiencies.
Taking a human perspective on digital
improvements forces organisations to first
consider things such as: how do staff actually,
communicate, make decisions and support
each other.
Digital capabilities that support such human
behaviour have the possibility to ignite a
completely new level of performance by
making people more productive, effective and
competent.
A human centred approach to digitizing
your services is…
Question 3:

31. A large scale enterprise solution affected
operations of over 50.000 staff across the
globe. There were clear benefits in creating
the global platform for teams to co-create,
mange processes and make decisions.
Co-creation sessions focusing on how to
leverage digital solutions focussed on
human experiences such as: what
frustrates you and what delays/pressure do
you experience in your work.
The result was a very simple decision tool
that enabled senior management to make
key decisions faster, eliminating a major
bottleneck that significantly improved time
to market.
Client case:
Faster and better
decision improves
performance
Question 3:

32. Provide valuable
learning experience
to our customers
Design and
smoothness
Tailor each
interaction to the
individual user in
their current context
If top management
would allow us to
proceed as we think
fit
More insight in actual
usage
Usability,
seamlessness
Company culture & people
Integration of projects
More transparency
Digital Marketing
Automation
Clear Value Propositions
Personalization (in CX)
Simplify real-world
processes by removing
steps and friction with digital
solutions
Wider / end to end experience
of our customers
Make it relevant and thus
repeatable for the customer
Real time
analysis
Seamless
integration with
non-digital service
Be more
relevant
Simplicity and
personalisation of the
experience.
Less ego and more
understandingWhat would
make your
digital service
better?
Question 4:

33. To conclude.
We want to thank all the participants of the wonderful evening for their enthusiasm and contribution. Digital
will be on the business agenda for the foreseeable future. Using service design thinking can bring another
level of capabilities to organisations by bringing in the crucial human perspective that makes any digital
endeavor more relevant.

34. Erik Roscam Abbing
erik@liveworkstudio.com
+31 (0) 624 51 84 62
Melvin Brand Flu
melvin@liveworkstudio.com
+31 (0) 655 76 72 78
www.liveworkstudio.com
Thank you from the Livework team!
Watch the after movie here: https://vimeo.com/189339603

35. Service Design –
From Insight to implementation
Service Design for Business:
A Practical Guide to Optimizing
the Customer Experience
Brand-driven Innovation –
Strategies for development and
design
www.liveworkstudio.com
@liveworkstudio