The Surprising Design of Services with Majid Iqbal

We are delighted to host Majid Iqbal at our meetup! Majid has thought deeply and written lucidly about the fundamental nature of services for years. He is a designer and professor who has the distinction of having shaped, taught, and defined service design in two separate disciplines: design and information technology management.

At this meetup, we will delve into the deep structure of services, key service patterns, and how they combine in the 16X Frame. We will also explore how these elements connect to value creation and draw a dotted line to service pricing. Majid's presentation will not involve journey maps or service blueprints. Come learn how much more there is to designing services than is commonly understood.

AGENDA
5:45 pm – Doors Open for Networking
6:15 pm – Welcome & Introductions
6:30 pm – Presentation: The Surprising Design of Services
7:45 pm – Discussion
8:00 pm – Networking
8:30 pm – Closing Time

Check out Majid's book, Thinking in Services. Copies will be available. https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Services-Encoding-Expressing-Strategy/dp/906369489X/

Why does this topic matter, anyways? A service is not a hammer. We know this—we know that services are "intangible." Yet to deliver value, every designer must understand the material they shape. (What good is a footwear designer who can't tell leather from rubber?) This axiom poses a dilemma for everyone involved in the design of services. After all, what is the material of our seemingly immaterial discipline? Majid's work clarifies the confusing tangle of agreements and affordances, experiences and outcomes, operations and transactions that comprise services. To design services effectively, we must understand their fundamental nature. Majid has developed a theory of services down to their "molecular" level and brings these elements together into an elegantly symmetrical framework that is at once entirely foreign and obviously practical. In doing so, he proves there is nothing quite so practical as a good theory.