Joe J Marquez

Service design is a holistic, collaborative methodology that puts the user at the center of the service delivery model. Because this approach prioritizes users and their overall experience, it’s a valuable framework that librarians and administrators can use as a group to assess, revise, and create library services, spaces, and workflows. In this book, the authors use an action-oriented assortment of exercises, templates, and tools to make service design more accessible to all types of libraries. Escorting readers through all the fundamentals, this how-to-do-it manual
* introduces the service design concept, what it is used for, and how it can benefit every institution;
* includes a checklist for determining if service design is the best approach;
* describes the four necessary phases for any service design project, with key exercises for thinking in service design terms to craft a “thick description” of the library’s users and behavior;
* explains the importance of making assessment part of the fabric of the library, and offers tools following through;
* reviews real-life examples of implemented service design, spotlighting how students and researchers use library services;
* provides templates for documenting service design; and
offers advice for moving forward and managing change.

This book is the perfect primer for those new to the methodology as well as a useful reference to consult throughout a service design project.

Service design is a holistic, co-creative, and user-centered approach to understanding user behavior for creating or refining services. Use this LITA Guide to help as a toolkit for implementing service design studies and projects at all types of libraries. It begins with directions for how to create a service design team and assembling a user working group for your library and move through the various phases in a service design journey. The authors outline the tools required to gain insights into user behavior and expectation and how to diagnose the difference between a symptom and a problem users face when interacting within the library environment. The guide features a series of examples that the service design team can use to learn how to work with library staff and patrons to find out what current user experience is like and how to refine services to better meet user expectations.

This book is a toolkit, not a step-by-step, paint-by-the-numbers book. It is geared towards libraries of all types and sizes and will provide tools that any library can use and ideas for developing a service design project that fits within the means of your library so that your project will be meaningful, useful, and sustainable. While several books have been written on how to implement service design, this book will be the first to explain how to practice service design in libraries.