Service Design offers us new tools and insight into how we can build experiences that built trust and influence behaviour change that is beneficial to brands and organizations. In a world where a growing number of interactions are digital in nature, I hope we can move (as an industry) beyond online advertising, promotions and contests.

1. PUTTING
TRUST IN
DIGITAL
A call for service design.
2ND DRAFT
3RD DRAFT

2. THE
INTRO
We are increasingly interacting with brands in
digital channels.

3. THE
INTRO
With so many brand touchpoints in digital, our
tactics should be accountable for the things that
matter to the business.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
DRIVE SALES
RETAIN CUSTOMERS
INCREASE SATISFACTION
MOBILIZE FOLLOWERS

4. THE
INTRO
Only most digital programs aren’t measured
against these key indicators. Frankly, because
we aren’t delivering on them.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
DRIVE SALES
RETAIN CUSTOMERS
INCREASE SATISFACTION
MOBILIZE FOLLOWERS

5. THE
INTRO
Because changing consumer behaviour is really,
really challenging.

6. THE
INTRO
We seem to have forgotten that we have to earn
an individual’s trust before we can positively
impact their behaviour.

7. THE
INTRO
And we have to build trust in a channel where
customers often can’t touch the product or
service we are promoting.

8. WHAT IS
TRUST?
“Trust is high confidence in having a positive
interaction with another.”
- Douglas Reid, PhD, Strategy Professor at Queen’s University

9. WHAT IS
TRUST?
“Trust is high confidence in having a positive
interaction with another.”
- Douglas Reid, PhD, Strategy Professor at Queen’s University
!
In other words, trust is based on a customer’s
expectations and is built experientially by
interacting with a brand or organization.

10. WHAT IS
TRUST?
Trust is formed when we demonstrate a
reliable connection between commitment
and delivery.
!
We say something will be there tomorrow at 11
and it is there by 11.
We deliver exceptional customer service in every
channel we participate in.
We provide value where we participate and not
just promotional messages.

11. SERVICE
DESIGN
Building trust is about service delivery.
Which is one very good reason to explore
service design principles and tools.
AC
TO
RS
O
FFERIN
G
EXPEC
TATIO
N
S
W
AN
TS
AN
D
DESIRES
H
ABITS
AN
D
AN
XIETIES
EXPERIEN
C
E
DESIG
N
TO
U
C
H
PO
IN
TS
STAKEH
O
LDER
M
APS
PERSO
N
AS
SERVIC
E
SAFARIS
SH
ADO
W
IN
G
JO
U
RN
EY
M
APS
C
O
N
TEXTU
AL
IN
TERVIEW
S
SELF-LED
ETH
N
O
G
RAPH
Y
AN
D
M
O
RE…

12. SERVICE
DESIGN
“Service Design is all about making the service
you deliver useful, usable, efficient, effective and
desirable.”
- UK Design Council, 2010
!
!
AC
TO
RS
O
FFERIN
G
EXPEC
TATIO
N
S
W
AN
TS
AN
D
DESIRES
H
ABITS
AN
D
AN
XIETIES
EXPERIEN
C
E
DESIG
N
TO
U
C
H
PO
IN
TS
STAKEH
O
LDER
M
APS
PERSO
N
AS
SERVIC
E
SAFARIS
SH
ADO
W
IN
G
JO
U
RN
EY
M
APS
C
O
N
TEXTU
AL
IN
TERVIEW
S
SELF-LED
ETH
N
O
G
RAPH
Y
AN
D
M
O
RE…

13. SERVICE
DESIGN
Step one is to create online experiences that
meet or exceed customer’s expectations
Customer
expectations
Brand
credibility

14. SERVICE
DESIGN
And to ensure that the brand experience is
credible and consistent with offline activity
Customer
expectations
Brand
credibility

15. SERVICE
DESIGN
Expectations around task-oriented goals are
relatively straight forward to understand and
assess.
!
We just need to know the user’s purpose and
whether they can reliably accomplish it.

16. RESEARCH
TOOLS
Evaluate task completion on a website property for FREE.
Visitors are asked to rate the experience, specify the
purpose for visiting, how they valued the experience and
whether they accomplished their task or not.
Simple feedback tab that can be integrated into any web
property to allow visitors to get help or submit an idea on
how to improve the experience.
Feedback drives forum participation, voting on ideas and
communication between organization and customers
around new features or areas where an experience isn’t
meeting expectations.
SOME DIGITAL

17. SERVICE
DESIGN
Step two is to begin mapping the experiences of
our audiences against their expectations.
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment

18. SERVICE
DESIGN
Step two is to begin mapping the experiences of
our audiences against their expectations.
Across every touchpoint.
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment

19. SERVICE
DESIGN
Expectations are not always so straight forward
to assess and understand. We have to move
past the 1980 frameworks on value (perceived
quality and perceived value)
Zeithaml, 1988

20. SERVICE
DESIGN
And explore explore frameworks for how
customers value experiences.
Boztepe, 2007

21. SERVICE
DESIGN
This begins when we embrace research
methods that uncover the expectations and the
value customers place on their experiences
across channels.
STAKEHOLDER MAPS
PERSONAS
SERVICE SAFARIS
SHADOWING
JOURNEY MAPS
CONTEXTUAL INTERVIEWS
SELF-LED ETHNOGRAPHY

22. DIGITAL AS
SERVICE
Digital drives customer and brand value when
we engineer experiences that build trust by
exceeding expectations across touchpoints and
actors.
MY PROPOSAL

23. DIGITAL AS
SERVICE
Experiences
that meet or
surpass
expectations
Create value
for your
customer
Create value
for the
organization
UTILITY DIFFERENTIATION
REVENUE
WORD OF MOUTH
RETENTION
SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
EMOTIONAL
SPIRITUAL

24. DIGITAL AS
SERVICE
Experiences
that meet or
surpass
expectations
Create value
for your
customer
Create value
for the
organization
Trust is a measure of your organization’s ability to
create interactions of value to your customers
UTILITY DIFFERENTIATION
REVENUE
WORD OF MOUTH
RETENTION
SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
EMOTIONAL
SPIRITUAL

25. DIGITAL AS
SERVICE
Experiences
that meet or
surpass
expectations
Create value
for your
customer
Create value
for the
organization
Intrinsic and extrinsic forces by which your
customers set their expectations
UTILITY DIFFERENTIATION
REVENUE
WORD OF MOUTH
RETENTION
SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
EMOTIONAL
SPIRITUAL

26. DIGITAL AS
SERVICE
Experiences
that meet or
surpass
expectations
Create value
for your
customer
Create value
for the
organization
Benefits of putting the customer first and
using service design as the business model
UTILITY DIFFERENTIATION
REVENUE
WORD OF MOUTH
RETENTION
SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
EMOTIONAL
SPIRITUAL

27. ONE
STORY
Here is a personal story of an organization doing
this remarkably well.
!
!
!
I was looking for a new website to promote my
photography.

28. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
Squarespace was a sponsor of three of my favourite
podcasts. The hosts spoke personally about how
much they liked Squarespace.
SPONSORSHIP

29. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
I spoke to two developers with 15+ years of
experience. Both were impressed with Squarespace
and what someone could do with no programming.
WOM

30. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
So I stopped by the site for a feature tour. It was
impressive, but then the site REALLY impressed me.
INTEREST

31. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
The site encouraged me to start building my site
immediately with a “free trial” that did not require a
credit card. I moved immediately into trial.
INTERESTTRIAL!

32. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
Any questions I had were answered within minutes
via email or twitter.
INTERESTTRIAL!

33. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
I purchased two weeks later with a 10% off code. I
expected the discount would only apply to the first
month. Nope. Every month. Brilliant.
PURCHASE

34. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
I launched another site on Squarespace for a friend
less than a month later. Just as easy and painless.
ADD-ON PURCHASE

35. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
Squarespace struggles with enabling advanced
customization without upsetting the drag and drop
interface. Not an easy task.
CUSTOMIZE

36. ONE
STORY
Meets Expectations
Wow Moment
I stumbled on the suite of amazing apps that
Squarespace offers to all their clients for free: Stats,
Portfolio (for photographers), Notes and Blog.
VALUE ADD

37. SERVICE
VALUE
A growing number of successful organizations are
creating value through exceptional and trusted
experiences across touchpoints.

38. SERVICE
VALUE
Sephora
brings
a
strong
focus
on
the
customer
experience
across
tradi5onal
and
digital
touchpoints.
Strong
and
vibrant
presence
on
Facebook,
Instagram,
Twi8er
and
more.
Site
integrated
with
Pinterest.
Employees
encouraged
to
build
Pinterest
beauty
boards.
iPads
in
store.
Mobile
opAmized
eCommerce
as
well
as
a
mobile
app.
Apple
Passbook
users
spend
two
Ames
the
annual
avg.
!

39. SERVICE
VALUE
Zappos
brings
a
focus
on
customer
service
that
is
close
to
unrivalled
in
the
online
retail
space.
Focus
on
building
a
culture
of
service.
Policies
that
create
key
“wow”
moments
for
customers.
Went
from
gross
sales
of
1.6
million
in
1999
to
$1
billion
in
2008
Focus
on
service
not
gizmos.
!
!

40. SERVICE
VALUE
Square
brings
a
focus
on
the
merchant
experience
to
a
space
that
has
always
been
about
frac5ons
of
a
percentage
for
the
merchant
and
horrific
service.
Pioneer
in
the
smart
phone
credit
card
swipe
technology.
Built
an
online
experience
that
remains
unmatched
by
compeAtors.
Focus
on
the
“wow”
factor
by
Dorsey.
In
3
years,
they
had
over
3
million
users
and
$15
billion
in
transacAons
annually.
In
2012,
Starbucks
announced
their
partnership
with
Square.
!

41. LET’S
TALKS
Are you looking to build trust and value in your digital
channels?
!
If so, we should talk!

42. LEARN
MORE
Interested in learning more about Service Design?
Where to start:
h8p://amzn.to/1iV8FA8
Other
Reading:
Service Innovation Through Touch-points: Development of an Innovation
Toolkit for the First Stages of New Service Development, Clatworthy, 2011
User Value: Competing Theories and Models, Boztepe, 2007

43. SMART
PEEPS
Thanks to the following for their input to this deck:
!
Douglas Reid
Eli McIlveen
Paul Tedesco
Willem Simonis
Jasmin Cheng
Gavin Heaton

44. ABOUT
MOI
I have built strategy teams, launched digital agencies
and worked with some of the largest accounts in
Canada. I am looking to join a sharp and dedicated
team of people who have fun creating online
experiences that drive real business value for their
clients.
I am currently looking for my next Director of Strategy
or similar position in the Toronto area.
ca.linkedin.com/in/seanhoward/
me@seanhoward.ca
photo credit: Rannie Turingan
SEAN HOWARD
Digital Strategist
BUILDING
TRUST
IN
DIGITAL