Empathic Service Design: Challenges in Design, Analysis and Services

Through case studies from across the globe, this book helps designers understand how forward-looking service prototyping, analysis and tools can promote and create empathic, emotion-oriented and relevant services.

Despite services being at the core of organisations, to create service flows, designers, groups and their diverse stakeholders must negotiate ever more complex and hybrid interactions between human and more-than-human role players in service delivery. The challenge lies in delivering empathic, relevant and desirable services, despite these complexities. New knowledge is needed to bridge the gaps, uncertainties and even anxieties that organisations face in making their service delivery empathic and keeping them purposeful to users.

Addressing problems within service delivery like empathy fatigue, poor collaboration, and siloed work experiences that lead to poorly-functioning systems, the authors suggest concrete solutions for developing empathetic approaches and tools with consideration for the needs of participants. The book critically examines the role of empathy, and explores how compassionate understanding of the end-user is key to success.

Case studies include mapping of children’s services, wearable technologies for pandemics, understanding cultural sensitivity, emojis and chat bots, and AI used in care settings.

Dr Melanie Sarantou is a professor of social design at Kyushu University, Japan. Her interests span the role of improvisation in arts and design practices when the unsuspected emerges and surprises the researcher.

Dr Satu Miettinen is a professor of service design at the University of Lapland, Finland, with research interests spanning the themes of design methods in engaging with the Arctic region, service design methods for inclusion, the participatory development of services and socially responsible art and design methods.

Dr Titta Jylkäs is a senior lecturer at the University of Lapland, Finland and a service designer focusing on digital services with artificial intelligence and data science. She also works as an independent design consultant.