Validation of a Service Design Pattern Language as an Effective Framework for Multidisciplinary Design Pramod Khambete
Debajani Roy
Sujit Devkar
IDC IIT Bombay Powai, Mumbai India 400076 +91 9881155756
IDC IIT Bombay Powai, Mumbai India 400076 +91 99 20 990520
Tata Consultancy Services Yantra Park, Thane India 400601 +91 90 29 072599
[email protected] m
[email protected]
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ABSTRACT A Service and Touch Point Ecosystem Design pattern language was validated for its effectiveness as a service design framework. The participants forming multidisciplinary teams designed for two distinct service scenarios – healthcare and education service. The well triangulated exhaustive study has identified that the pattern language led to richer and comprehensive service design, facilitated multidisciplinary collaboration and enabled structured yet creative design. Further, it established that the participants could design effectively using the pattern language despite lack of design expertise. These and several findings as well add to the knowledge about pattern languages in general as design frameworks.
CCS Concepts Human-centered computing→ HCI theory, concepts and models
Keywords
Service Design, Service Experience, Pattern Language, Touch Point, Touch Point Ecosystem.
1. INTRODUCTION
The shift to services economy across the globe and increasingly more demanding customers have been the drivers for increased attention to the experience centric aspects of services.Services have been studied for past several decades in the management field. The proposals in this regard have ranged from viewing all businesses from Service Dominant Logic [46],aligning business offerings to the demands of Experience Economy[34], and suggesting that the customer value and competitiveness can arise only through customers’ experience[35], among others. Service Design is a young discipline, which departs from the managerialperspectives and accords primacy to the interactional experience of services. It adopts a holistic, lifetime perspective of customer engagement, and addresses the temporal, contextual and dynamic nature of customer interactions. One definition of Service design is ―the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, and communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between P ermission to make digital or hard copies of al l or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee . Request permissions from P
[email protected]. IndiaHCI'15, December 17-19, 2015, Guwahati, India © 2015 ACM. ISBN 978-1-4503-4053-3/15/12…$15.00 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2835966.2835967
service provider and customers‖[41]. Due to the cross disciplinary nature of service design, several methods, tools and techniques originating in other disciplines are used in practice (A comprehensive collection can be found at http://www.servicedesigntools.org). However, Service Design is yet to mature as a formalized discipline. M uch knowledge remains informal and tacit; and a shared vocabulary and methods are yet to be systematized[27]. The discipline would benefit from theoretical base and design approaches [40]. Therefore, a validated theory based yet practice oriented design framework that we propose would be a welcome contribution. The proceedings are the records of the conference.
2. CHALLENGES IN SERVICE (EXPERIENCE) DESIGN Services are intangible, heterogeneous, and temporal calling for complex delivery systems.Service experience unfolds over a period of time, one service encounter at a time, aggregating into a summative perception of the service relationship. In addition, Servicescape[6], comprising the physical, social, socially symbolic, and environmental components contributes to the service experiences[37]. These interactional, relational and spacio-temporal components introduce complexity in Service design. Service Design therefore encompasses designing interactions (between the customer and the service interfaces, or Touch Points), relations (among the Touch Points and entities that are part of the service system) and experiences of the customer[31]. Several complex and subtle factors influence a customer’s service experience. To cite a few: perceived distributive, procedural, and interactional justice [8]; technology readiness of the customers [7]; perceived convenience [14]; perceived control, trustworthiness of the ―service counterpart‖ (or Touch Point, as we have called), and beliefs about the collaboration [51]; hedonic aspects [13] and several more. The imperative of multidisciplinary participation in service design, while retaining the humancentered perspective introduces complexity in the design process.
3. PATTERN LANGUAGE AND SUITABILITY OF USING A PATTERN LANGUAGE FOR SERVICE DESIGN The concepts Patterns and Pattern Language were proposed by Christopher Alexander to design spaces with a timeless, selfevident quality[1].Patterns are structured, sharable articulations of the invariants abstracted from successful solutions to a recurring design problem. They offer design guidance, yet shun specifics to allow creative application. Empirical examples of ―good‖ instantiations aid the process. A pattern language amplifies the
power of patterns by leveraging their connectedness to solve complex design problems. Some of the many advantages of pattern languages are: they present design knowledge in an accessible form [44], serve as lingua franca[18], and allow incremental, coherent design; have generative capability, and help in understanding complex systems[38]; serve as a mechanism for visualization and reflection on the potential effects of a design decision[4]; and can be useful in the evaluation phase[48]. Pattern languages and design pattern collections have been developed in several domains. Those in human centric design include: interface design[43], interaction design[9], web usability[21], web design [45] and computer mediated collaboration [40]. Service design has explorative, generative and evaluative dimensions. The outcomes of design are service interfaces that are useful, usable, and desirable to the customer[29]. In practice service designers adopt a constructive, open ended approach, paying attention to temporal and relational components[26]. As in any design process, the participating designers need effective mechanisms for communication of ideas and deliberation. The artefacts such as Service Blueprints, Experience Journey M aps and Service Storyboards serve that purpose. Such ―boundary objects‖ [19] assist in coordinated creative activity and synthesis of the varied, unique knowledge of the participants in the multidisciplinary teams. Design patterns can serve as boundary objects and pattern languages can provide a ―boundary environment‖ in which the creative exchange takes place. Holmlid[23] identified that service design processes are predominantly explorative and little less analytical. This implies that a service design approach must facilitate creative connection among ideas, through means such as analogy based thinking, for which design patterns are suitable [20]. A pattern language empirically abstracted from practice has the character of a middle range theory[32]. Such theories which allows explanation of observed phenomenon (in our case a situated design problem) based on empirical foundation and suggest valid directions for action. There is abundant evidence of the benefits of design patterns and pattern languages in practice in other domains, as well as in participatory design, a critical requirement for service design [10][16][17]. We used a pattern language for Service and Touch Point Ecosystem design[24], and have attempted to provide substantive evidence of the benefits of using a pattern language in service design. As well, we point to the benefits of patterns languages as a design framework.
4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY AND THE APPROACH
The benefits of patterns and pattern languages have been widely acknowledged in various fields in which patterns have been used. It seems that design patterns have become an integral part of practice over a period in several fields. However, Dearden and Finley [15] noted a lack of empirical or observational studies to substantiate the same. There were a few empirical studies to validate the benefits of patterns. Chung et al. [12] studied use of pre-patterns (i.e. emerging, untested) in ubiquitous computing. They noted that: patterns helped novice designers; designers not familiar with the domain found them helpful; they play a supportive role in communicating design ideas and enabling designers in avoidin g diversions and frequent revision of decisions. M ost participants subjectively assessed that patterns helped them in the design task.
Another study using pre-patterns for designing digital home applications [39] corroborated these results. In addition, it was found that patterns particularly helped in the early stage design, they were effective in the idea generation phase, and as reference to answer specific design questions. Wania and Atwood [47] noted patterns improved performance in redesign tasks. As well, patterns were advantageous in generating and communicating design ideas. They helped in avoiding pitfalls, particularly in the early stages of design and in case of novice designers. A study concerning use of patterns in participatory design, identified that: the pattern language empowered users to explore and deliberate their ideas; it enabled both novice and experienced participants to contribute in their own way; brought to attention aspects of design that might have been missed otherwise and triggered a generative process to lead to internally coherent design solutions [16] [17]. Note that studies cited above used only a limited set of patterns, or pre-patterns that were not validated and did not have multidisciplinary design teams. Further, they used simulated design condition (even ―artificial‖ design tasks, as indicated in [16]) and the design activity spanned only a few hours. Clearly these are not real life design settings. Therefore, though the findings are valuable, it appeared a study at a greater depth was needed to add to the knowledge and practice of service design. The objectives of our study were to identify:
The extent to which participants with diverse background and levels of expertise in service design were able to effectively use the pattern language
The manner in which the pattern language facilitated the design process
The quality of the design solutions
The participants’ perceptions about the effectiveness of pattern language for future use.
usefulness
and
5. OVERVIEW: THE SERVICE AND TOUCH POINT ECOSYSTEM DESIGN PATTERN LANGUAGE USED IN THE STUDY
The fully developed pattern language for Service and Touch Point Ecosystem Design [24] was used. It comprised of 116 patterns. An illustrative set of patterns and the summary of their design guidance are presented in Table 1. Touch Point (TP) is ―… an entity with which a customer interacts with the intention of achieving the goal of a service encounter, which could comprise one or several transactions. The Touch Point actively enables the process of commencement to completion of a Transaction. The Provider has control on the presence, operation and behavior of the entity‖[25]. Touch Points can be human (e.g. a call center assistant), or non-human (e.g. Interactive Voice Response System). A set of interconnected, coherent Touch Points form a Touch Point Ecosystem (TPES) which is offered by a service provider to customers. The customers’ experience of interacting with the TPs and TPES results in actualizing the benefits and perceived value. As mentioned previously, the pattern language had undergone formative and summative assessment. Its usefulness in service design was established and several benefits had been identified [24]. The present study aimed at consolidating those findings through application to real life complex problems in a comprehensive manner.
were allowed to participate partially in few sessions so that they could balance their normal and unanticipated work. We present below the details of the two studies. In order to maintain context, several findings are included in situ. The synthesized conclusions appear in the end.
6. STUDY 1: SERVICE DESIGN FOR INDIAN RURAL HEALTHCARE 6.1 Overvie w of the service problem s pace A Touch Point can very rarely support all encounters or transactions. A customer who approaches a Touch Point should know what it can and cannot do. DIRECTING TO A SUITABLE TOUCH POINT: Design the Touch Point Ecosystem to direct the customers to an appropriate Touch Point that can help them achieve the goals. ENCOUNTER COM PLETED IN DISCRETE SESSIONS: Split an encounter in discrete stages, and allow the customer to complete it in multiple sessions using a Touch Point of choice at any stage and sacrificing continuity. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE FROM A WIDE RANGE OF TOUCH POINTS: A provider must support a variety of customers who could differ in their abilities and attitudes. At times contextual factors may also affect their abilities to use certain Touch Points. Therefore, provide a wide choice of Touch Points to choose from to carry out an encounter. SPECIALIZED TOUCH POINT: Specialized encounters would need Touch Points possessing matching expertise, equipped to handle them well. Some encounters can be handled more effectively by breaking them in chunks of transactions, each handled by a specialized Touch Point. This can help in reducing the overall encounter duration and enhance the quality of service.
Healthcare in India for the masses poses immense challenges. The population served is huge, with high levels of poverty and cultural diversity. There are constraints such as inadequate infrastructure and shortage of manpower. For instance, in the year 2010 the estimated number of hospital beds per 1000 people was 1.3 compared to 3.5 recommended by WHO. The situation was worse in the public hospitals, typically used by the disadvantaged was worse [30]. There are some notable successes though. For instance, India became Polio free in M arch 2014 due to a sustained, coordinated drive by the Government. India compares favourably on M aternal M ortality Rate (per 100,000) at 190 compared to global average of 210 [49]. The child mortality rate has declined progressively as well, but children of a large migrant population miss routine and supplementary immunization [50]. M uch remains to be done, but it has been found that innovative service models such as that of Arvind Eye Hospital model [33], and technology based communication strategies such as use of mobile phone for educational videos by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) [36] have contributed effectively. Design approaches such as design thinking [11], Experience Based Design [3], and active engagement among co-designers along with use of collaborative tools were recommended for healthcare service design [5], and they are relevant for Indian healthcare scenario as well.
Table 1: Illustrative Patterns, summary of design guidance and their relationships
5.1 Overvie w of the Approach and Methodology In order to match the intent of depth and comprehensiveness, the study was designed to address the key considerations of multidisciplinary participation: diverse background of participants; differences in the degree of familiarity with designing, service design and pattern languages; multiple teams solving the same design problem. We aimed to test the suitability of the pattern language to handle problems from different service domains. We as well aimed for effective triangulation. The design problems were complex enough yet of manageable scope to match the available time. The duration spanned from 4 days (with regular design sessions) to several weeks (with intermittent design sessions). It was identified in [17] and [24] that the form in which the patterns are presented can influence the nature and extent of participation. Therefore, the patterns were made available in the form of ―cards‖ which gave the key highlights (Name, summary, examples and connected patterns)Figure 2) as well as in a navigable M SExcel workbook which allowed in-depth perusal of every pattern. M easure were taken to safeguard ecological validity, which refers to conducting the studies that replicate the expected real life design setting and participants [42]. For instance, in one of our study the participants were doctors from a large hospital. They
Figure 1: A doctor with a newborn and the mother outside their home; Immunization at a rural Public Health Center We chose for our study mother and child healthcare in the rural population, and specifically routine immunization service. Success of the service requires regular doses of vaccine spread over 5 year period, requiring several, periodic service encounters and a high degree of stakeholder participation (e.g. Doctors, Public Healthcare Centre (PHC) staff, ASHAs), and harmonious operation of several Touch Points (human, non-human and technology based). It was complex enough to be an apt candidate for our purpose. A PHC located in Thane district, M aharashtra, India was selected for the study.
6.2 Methodology and Study Design 6.2.1 Team composition A multidisciplinary team of eight members participated in the service design. The participants comprised doctors, IT professionals, business analysts, a psychologist and a sociologist. In order to assess the extent to which people without formal design background can use pattern language effectively, only one Interaction designer participated very briefly.
6.2.2 Team Induction
6.2.5 Mapping patterns to experience journeys
Preparatory workshops and knowledge sharing sessions were carried out. Apart from familiarizing them with the concepts in design, service design, the pattern language they were provided an overview of user experience and service design techniques like personas, scenarios, service blueprinting and customer experience journey maps. The doctors provided an overview of rural healthcare operations to the rest of the team, highlighting the social challenges and constraints like poverty, access to the healthcare facilities and communication barriers. They informed about the facilitating measures in place such as government support to travel and periodic vaccination camps in the vicinity. This was followed by field visits for primary data collection and in order to acquire empathetic understanding (Figure 1). M ethods used were: participant observation, shadowing an immunization team conducting an immunization camp, semi structured interviews and use of critical incident technique [22]. The data collection encompassed the beneficiaries and health workers (PHC staff, ASHAs). Photographs, audio and video recordings, and field notes were gathered. As well, artefacts used in the immunization service encounters and by the health workers in their routine work were collected. Qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti was used for analysis.
Two teams of 3~4 designed for the same scenario. Patterns relevant to each stage in the experience journey were identified collectively (Figure 2). The teams had the freedom to use their own approaches for selection of the patterns and for reaching consensus. For example, one team distributed the pattern cards among themselves. Each member selected the relevant patterns, and later they decided together on which to retain. The other team frequently referred to the M SExcel based pattern repository to decide collectively, used the pattern cards infrequently and used sticky notes. The facilitators encouraged pace and iterations (e.g. it was suggested ―don’t select a pattern if in doubt‖, in line with Alexander’s suggestion [2]). They provided minimal clarification only on request. There was no additional intervention.
6.2.3 Design Workshops Ten workshops each lasting ½ day to 1 day were conducted over a period of three months. All real life constraints were allowed to play out. For instance, unplanned unavailability of a participant or limited participation of an ―expert‖ midway if the team wanted were accepted. We believe it helped in ensuring the ecological validity. As mentioned previously , the participants used ―Pattern Cards‖ and a navigable M SExcel workbook, with the freedom to use either or both. The pattern cards provided a quick overview of each pattern, and their size (approx. 8cmX12cm) allowed ability to handle, share and use with other design artefects (e.g. stick it to a stage in experience journey map). The team members worked together, in smaller groups during the workshops and individually in between the workshops. The sessions were recorded on video for subsequent analysis. The stages and the activities were:
6.2.4 Collaborative creation of Personas, Scenarios, Service Blueprints, and Experience Journeys The team created two personas, largely based on the rich field experience of the doctors, supplemented with primary research done by the team. A service scenario validated by the doctors was used for the design. The team created sharable and storable experience journey maps depicting the key stages, goals and contexts in an immunization service encounter. Sharable artefacts were created at this stage (e.g. persona posters and journey maps) and used throughout the subsequent phases in order to provide continuity.
6.2.6 Ideation based on selected patterns and solution synthesis The chosen pattern set was refined by addition and deletion (e.g. some patterns were identified as relevant to more than one stage). The teams at this stage generally sought clarification, expert advice or additional data (e.g. they consulted the doctors, a field healthcare worker, and one team member made a field visit to bridge the gaps). The design guidance from the chosen pattern set was used for ideation and synthesizing several solution ideas (e.g. It is common in the culture of the persona to have babies wear a bead bracelet as an auspicious charm. The context was used to think of a wearable, visual body temperature indicator. This would help an illiterate mother to easily assess whether the post immunization fever is in the normal range, and to seek medical attention if needed). The outcome was conceptual design of service encounters, Touch Point design ideas, and identification of the operations infrastructure needed for the service.
6.2.7 Analysis of the observations, debriefing and insight consolidation Thematic Analysis of the observation was done to gather insights about how the pattern language was used, collaborative aspects, team dynamics and the design process. A debriefing session for experience sharing and collective reflection was conducted. The participants shared views on various aspects: the usefulness and effectiveness of pattern language in the design, the process and in the multidisciplinary team work. As some members could not attend the session, the outcome of the debriefing session was shared with the entire team to validate the collective insights.
7. INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDY 7.1 Active user participation
M ost of the team members lacked formal knowledge of pattern languages and service design beyond what they learnt in the preparatory workshops. Despite that, it was noted that the participants were actively engaged in different modes – synchronous and asynchronous, jointly and individually, as well as sequentially. Use of the personas, scenarios and experience journey maps was beneficial and the participants referred to the personas and scenarios throughout the process.
7.2 Shared vocabulary Figure 2.Pattern Cards, experience journey map and their user in the collaborative design
The patterns along with the design artefacts (e.g. the post-it notes bearing the pattern names stuck to the experience journey diagrams) gave them the freedom to externalize their thought process. The participants were able to structure their thoughts, articulate their ideas and build analogies which encouraged discussions. The artefacts as well helped in overcoming the limitations of discontinuities in the team interactions (―the
diagrams and patterns helped us move forward‖). It also helped in carrying forward the information gathered in one workshop to the next. It was observed that combining externalization mechanisms with the pattern language facilitated continuity in the team interaction.
7.3 Develop a common understanding among participants of different discipline
Participants could gain adequate understanding of the design guidance based on the pattern names, brief summary and examples of implementation. They found it helpful that examples from a variety of service domains were provided (e.g. example from ecommerce or banking served as analogies). The patterns did act as a common, discipline agnostic means of communication. After using the patterns for a while, the participants used the pattern names to express their ideas. This was consistent with [4] and [18] that pattern language works as a mediator.
7.4 Conve rged varied pers pective
Initial design ideas triggered by the patterns were based on the participants’ previous experiences and associations. It was interesting to note how patterns triggered different thought process and bring out different perspectives for the same problem situation. The varied perspectives of the doctors, IT professionals and social science people added different dimensions. Progressively, deliberation with reference to the patterns lead to a convergence towards rich solutions.
employers, arranging their presentations, scheduling the selection activity to ensure minimal deviation from acad emic activity, etc. The design school has a different academic structure and the student expectations compared to the rest of the institute. We decided to address the service design of the campus recruitment from the perspective of these students.
8.2 Methodology and Study Design The fourteen participants were senior postgraduate students who had taken a Service Design and Pattern Language course. As such, they were familiar with the relevant concepts and methods. They came from Interaction Design (9), Visual Communication (3) and Product Design (2) streams. We can therefore reasonably consider the participants as representative service design professional working for a real life project. As well, they were prospective ―customers‖ of the service, as the placement activity had not commenced. They were given the problem to design the service from commencing the placement process up to the actual selection process. This was a one week, graded assignment, thus reflecting in a way real life design project rewards and constraints. The post assignment participation in the survey and debriefing interviews was optional, with no linkage to their grades. A
B
7.5 Building analogies
The power of analogies in design is well recognized and role of patterns as ―productive units of analogical transfer‖ was noted [20]. We found that patterns, in particular the examples, triggered analogies which played an important role in richer understanding of the problems, as well as in generation of creative ideas (― … can we have something like an hour glass to remind the mother of the vaccination date …‖). Occasional need of inputs from pattern language experts: Occasionally there was the need of clarification of a pattern by an individual knowledgeable in the pattern language.
7.6 Benefits of Pattern Language
The pattern language provided a structured way forward in their thought processes but did not constrain the participants from creative explorations. It helped in ensuring that every aspect of a service encounter was addressed (―patterns make you sure that you don’t leave this out, patterns guide/prepare the foundation to work further‖).
8. STUDY 2: SERVICE DESIGN IN THE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION DOMAIN 8.1 Overvie w of the service problem s pace
Campus placement is one of the key services offered by several institutions in India. We chose for study a design school in a premier technology institute in India which has a well-established campus placement program. The program is managed by students themselves, facilitated by the institute. For the students this is a highly valuable and emotion laden service. Several aspects such as equal opportunity, fairness and balancing the academic life with the placement schedule have to be taken into account. The ―service provider‖ in this case is the elected student body which manages the placement, and the students are the ―customers‖. The organization includes representatives from each department / school as local ―placement coordinators‖, who are students themselves. The service involves inviting the prospective
Fig.3. Artefacts created during the design process: Experience Journey Map with patterns and design ideas (A), A design session (B) They formed three groups of (4, 4 and 3 members, one of them included one of the authors as a participant observer). They followed the full design lifecycle from data collection to evaluation. As a part of rapid data collection, they conducted face to face or telephonic interviews with past coordinators, past students, current students, institute representatives and prospective employers. At the end of the data collection, they shared the findings in the group, so that everyone commenced the design phase with a common understanding of the design problem, stakeholder perspectives and the contexts. The choice of design methods and techniques (e.g. whether they wanted to depict the current service as a blueprint, scenarios or any other means) was left to them. They used the same pattern language, the pattern cards and the navigable Pattern Language M SExcel workbook as in the previous Study 1. At the end of the assignment, they presented the designs to the whole class. Two experienced interaction des ign professionals who were familiar with the pattern language were invited audience. They informally and privately gave their assessment of the quality of the design outcomes and the process to the authors. The students were given a questionnaire to give feedback on their experience of using the pattern language covering various aspects such as the usefulness of the pattern language, ease of using it and its role in the collaborative design. Two authors conducted group interviews on the basis of the questions asked in the questionnaire. Thematic analysis of the interview responses was done to uncover additional insights as well as for triangulation. The outcomes appear in the following section.
8.3 Analysis of the Responses to the Questionnaire and Intervie ws The questionnaire comprising 21 items addressed aspects of the pattern language itself, the process of using it and the quality of the outcomes. Statistical significance was assessed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, with null hypotheses of the nature H0= ―Pattern Language did not have a significant effect concerning the aspect being tested‖. The pattern language had a positive influence on all aspects, 13 at 0.01 and 8 at 0.05 level of significance.
8.3.1 The Pattern Format and Articulation was highly communicative Items in the questionnaire and significance in parentheses: a. The language used to describe the patterns was easy to understand (0.01); b. The examples helped in better understanding of the patterns (0.01); c. My initial understanding of a pattern based on the name was confirmed when I read the details (0.01). Participants commented that the language used to describe the patterns was easy to understand. The names were intuitive and catchy, which facilitated the participants to use them in their communication. It also gave a common language to the team to understand and interpret each other’s ideas. ("Pattern helped in communication within the group. It gave a common lingo to people working it is same domain"). The examples helped in better understanding of the patterns. At times only reading the examples was adequate. ("I only read the examples...."). Participants concurred that the examples triggered a number of solution ideas as well as confirmed appropriateness of some ideas they had independently ("Examples also triggered some solutions, some solutions were already there in my mind, but after I read the pattern I realized that they were matching"). However, some of the participants thought that the examples were somewhere restricting there thought process (―We read the summary..... sometimes we read the examples but they were trying to narrow down the solution‖). Initially Participants inferred the patterns based on the names, and confirmed their understanding when they read the details ("The name itself was intuitive but the examples helped me identify which pattern was it. Some of the names are similar and overlapping, in that case the pattern examples helped in understanding")
8.3.2 Process of using the Pattern Language enhanced the quality of design outcomes; facilitated effective group interactions and collaboration: Items in the questionnaire and significance in parentheses: a. Reading the patterns triggered recollection of relevant design solutions I had come across (0.01); b. The pattern language helped me in visualizing alternative service encounters (0.05); c. The patterns and connected patterns helped me understand facets of the design problem that I might have missed (0.05); d. It was easy to convert the pattern ideas into design solutions (0.05); e. I could come up with more design ideas in the available time because of the Pattern Language (0.05); f. There is no significant advantage in using pattern language over an intuitive design process (disagreement at 0.05); g. Pattern language hampered the free flow of ideas (Ambivalence, not significant at 0.05); h. Arriving at the same quality of the solution without the pattern language would have taken … (Significantly longer to Significantly shorter) (Agreement that it took significantly shorter at 0.01); i. I looked up the pattern details … (Almost always to Never) ((Ambivalence, not significant at 0.05).
Participants felt that reading the patterns triggered recollection of relevant design solutions. They could build analogies and come out with many alternate solutions. Patterns were able to give a wider perspective of the scenario and the problem situation. It helped them visualize alternative service encounters ("The ideas we were having were specific. After looking at the patterns we kind of abstracted, and tried to come out with other alternative solutions."). Referring to the connected patterns helped them understand facets of the design problem that they might have missed ("We went through the connected patterns that made us understand the possible connected problems.", “Some patterns gave different solutions which would not have come otherwise ..... artifacts served as a good reference."). Overall participants could easily convert the pattern ideas into design solutions ("We had a solution, we saw the patterns and checked the connected patterns. Got betters ideas and realized that the solutions are evolving"). Participants observed that they could come up with more design ideas in the available time because of the Pattern Language. They also felt that there was significant advantage in using pattern language over an intuitive design process (―If we would have just trusted our intuition then it would have taken more time.....this gave us more structure‖). Patterns led to free flow of ideas. The switch from one pattern to another and transition between stages, without missing the details was seamless. The patterns continuously triggered idea build-up ("Some ideas kept coming and leading to further ideas. There were not exactly related to the connected patterns but they were connected ideas. So we are not very sure what was leading to the free flow of ideas‖). It was felt that arriving at the same quality of the solution without the pattern language would have taken more time (―It reduced the time we otherwise would have needed to solve the problem.‖).
8.3.3 Enhanced quality of the design solution: Items in the questionnaire and significance in parentheses: a. The connected patterns suggested details that I might have missed (0.01); b. Using the connected patterns resulted in more comprehensive design solutions (0.01); c. The Patterns guided me towards appropriate solution ideas (0.01); d. Looking up the connected patterns led to richer quality design (0.01; e. The Pattern Language was useful for service design (0.01). Patterns helped in enhancing the quality of solutions (―There were two ideas which came because of the patterns, then I realized that it is good‖). The connected patterns suggested details that the participant might have missed ("We had a solution, we saw the patterns and checked the connected patterns. Got betters ideas and realized that the solutions are evolving"). Using the connected patterns resulted in comprehensive design solutions ("We went through the connected patterns that made us understand the possible connected problems."). Patterns provided a guideline towards appropriate solution ideas. ("It was like a guidance which helped us make the solution broader and richer"). The use of connected patterns led to richer quality design but at times it required certain creative efforts ("Once we got the patterns that were strongly connected then the process (of enriching the solution) became very smooth", "We tried to detail out what the artifact/ touch point would exactly do. We referred the connected patterns to detail out, but it was still at an abstract and did not help us detail out a solution (right away)"). Overall the Pattern Language was useful for service design (―If I didn’t use the patterns my results would have been different”, “There were two ideas which came because of the patterns, then only I realized that it is good‖)
8.3.4 Role of Pattern Language as mediator in collaborative team work: Items in the questionnaire and significance in parentheses: a. Pattern language helped in communicating the design ideas with the team members(0.05); b. Creating a shareable Experience Journey map to which patterns could be associated helped in team discussion (0.01); c. Participation of team members of different disciplines helped in generating a better solution (0.05); d. Using the pattern language individually instead of in a team would lead to design of similar quality(significant disagreement at 0.01); e. My team and I worked together … (how often the team preferred to work together … Almost always to Never)(Significant preference to work as a team at 0.01). Pattern language became a lingua franca amongst team members. They could communicate the design ideas with the team members easily without elaboration ("We would just communicate with each other using the name, rather than explaining the entire idea."). Creating a shareable Experience Journey map embedding with the relevant patterns helped in team discussion as well, the knowledge gathered in one work-shop could be transferred to the next workshop with the help of the experience journey map. Participation of team members of different disciplines helped in generating better solutions. Further, participants realized that using the pattern language individually instead of in a team would not have led to design of similar quality. (―The whole process is a group activity and the [team has to work together …] at every stage of the process” “Individually it would have been difficult..... The whole process from starting to end is a group activity‖)
The pattern language supported a structured yet flexible design process. It seems to have augmented the creative possibilities.
There was overwhelming agreement that the pattern language enabled richer and comprehensive solutions.
Use of sharable design knowledge artefacts that embedded the pattern language both for reference (e.g. pattern cards) as well as for capturing the design outcomes at each stage (e.g. experience journey maps with associated patterns) enhanced the interactions and quality of the outcome.
The research design of our study was comprehensive. We used a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, two distinct service design problem areas and varied subjects and design settings. These factors significantly validate the conclusions. Literature study suggests this is arguably first such comprehensive study which used a well-developed pattern language. Therefore, it significantly adds to the knowledge about patterns, pattern languages as well as service design.
10. DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The advantages of a multidisciplinary team for service design was underscored on several counts (e.g. synthesizing multiple perspective, contribution to enrichment of the design …).
Practitioners’ understanding of patterns increases through use. Studies in gamification of the process of learning patterns as well as design strategies and processes that motivate the participants to initiate the use of a pattern language and acquire deeper understanding over time could provide additional theoretical and practical insights. The effectiveness of sharable artefacts built around patterns in knowledge transfer and support to continuity of thought process in face of real life constraints was a significant finding. Fruitful research could be carried out in identifying the way pattern language can be optimally interwoven in sharable design artefacts to match the team composition and needs of collaboration. Implementing services would involve not only service design but other aspects such as user experience design and software development. Exploring whether and how mutually supportive use of pattern languages from various disciplines e.g. Interaction Design [43] and ubiquitous computing [28] leads to higher quality of solutions, or fosters collaboration could be a promising area of research (e.g. for mobile or ubiquitous computing)
The pattern language used in the study appears to be communicative and can serve as a shared, discipline agnostic means of communication for service design.
11. IMPLICATIONS ON THEORY AND PRACTICE
The effectiveness and usefulness of patterns and pattern languages as design enablers for service design was established.
The Pattern language played a positive role in aiding collaborative work in a multidisciplinary design setting.
It seems team members need not have thorough knowledge of the pattern language at the outset, so long as they can fall back on a ―pattern language expert‖. The pattern language seems to help novice as well as experienced designers in comfortably working together, and arrive at greater number of high quality design ideas.
For participants belonging to different disciplines patterns facilitated externalization of individual thought processes, convergence of multiple perspectives and a shared understanding among.
9. CONCLUSIONS Several theoretical and practical aspects concerning effectiveness and use of the specific pattern language employed in the study and pattern languages in general were confirmed and new knowledge was discovered. Several findings below relate to the Service and Touch Point Design pattern language, but are generalizable to any pattern language. We have highlighted these in the sections above. To briefly summarize:
The data and analysis established in the given study has attempted to validate pattern language taking a real life scenario. Being the first well-triangulated, comprehensive study of its kind, the knowledge generated from this would help design researchers, design strategist and people working in the area of service design to use and implement the Service and Touch Point Design Pattern language framework to study the different sectors of service design. The process followed in the study seems to be suitable for service design practice. These findings have significant implications on practice in terms of team composition and the service design process.
12. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Part of this study was carried out under the aegis of TCS—IIT Bombay Research Cell funded by Tata Consultancy Services, India. We thank doctors from KEM Hospital, M umbai; staff at the Public Healthcare Center in Thane District, M aharashtra, India and the students from Industrial Design Center, IIT – Bombay for participating in the study.
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