When does UX design become service design?

A lot of people ask me, "What is service design?" And my response is always the same—it depends. To understand when UX design becomes service design, we need to first understand what service design is and how it's different from other types of design.

Service design is a branch of UX design that focuses on the end-to-end experience of a customer or user. This includes everything from the initial interaction with a product or service, to post-purchase follow-up. In other words, service design covers the entire lifecycle of a customer or user.

In contrast, UX design generally covers only the pre-purchase phase of the customer journey. Once a purchase is made, the focus shifts to customer support, which is outside the scope of most UX designers. This is where service designers come in. Service designers pick up where UX designers leave off, and their focus is on optimizing the post-purchase experience.

The Difference Between Service Design and Other Types of Design
When does UX design become service design? The answer depends on your focus as a designer. If you're focused on pre-purchase interactions only, then you're likely doing UX design. But if your focus is on post-purchase interactions—or even better, if your focus is on the entire customer journey—then you're likely doing service design.

Service design isn't just about designing better post-purchase experiences, though. It's also about designing for scalability and efficiency. In other words, service designers need to think about how their designs can be implemented at scale without sacrificing quality or customer satisfaction.
One way to think about it is this: Service design is to operations as UX design is to product development. Just as UX designers need to work closely with product developers to ensure that their designs are feasible and achievable, so too do service designers need to work closely with operations teams to ensure that their designs can be implemented smoothly and efficiently.

Conclusion:
In short, when does UX design become service design? It depends on your focus as a designer. If you're focused on pre-purchase interactions only, then you're likely doing UX design. But if your focus is on post-purchase interactions—or even better, if your focus is on the entire customer journey—then you're likely doing service design. Remember, service design isn't just about designing better post-purchase experiences; it's also about designing for scalability and efficiency. So if you're thinking about pursuing a career in service design, make sure you have both pre- and post-purchase experiences in your portfolio!

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