Conversations as a service design material

This chapter argues that conversations are a key material in service design, and that service designers shape and use them to facilitate multi-actor value exchanges and decision-making throughout the design process. Through a real-life study of service design labs in two large hospitals in Norway, five types of service design conversations were identified: meta-conversations, meaning conversations, approach-conversations, plan-conversations, and practice conversations. The study also revealed six ways in which service designers influence these conversations: through meta-conversations, by introducing new perspectives, by leading the conversation, by creating a shared understanding, by aligning language, and by creating a sense of shared ownership. This chapter emphasizes the importance of paying more deliberate attention to the nature of service design conversations, in order to increase the likelihood of successful service proposals and support the implementation process over time.