1. Join a Book Club and Actually Finish Reading a Book on Your Reading List

Case in point: Ever since I heard about the much buzzed about Palvelumuotoilun bisneskirja (The Service Design Business Book), I was eager to get my hands on it. Needless to say, I never got around it. It wasn’t until I saw the advertisement for the Service Design Network’s Book Club featuring the book, that I decided to finally read it. There is nothing like a set deadline to boost your motivation.

2. Discuss with Interesting Participants in a Relaxed Setting

It was great to exchange views about the book with other service design enthusiasts. The consensus was that the book outlines well why a business should invest in service design. Several recent business cases were featured in the book to help comprehend how service design is implemented in practice. The book also described the different stages that a company goes through when transforming to a service design-led organization. One of the participants said it well: “It is easier for a company that is born now to be inherently customer driven than for a company that has a long history to transform its well-established processes and ways to be more customer centric.” The book was also really reader friendly, thanks to the clear illustrations and jargon free writing. It is now on my recommendations list for anyone who wants to learn about service design especially from a business perspective.

3. Gain Fascinating Insights from One of the Authors

One of the book’s authors, Mikko Koivisto (pictured in the middle), took part in the book club. Koivisto shared that the cover and the title of the book were decided even before any content was written. This was because the publisher wanted to start promoting the book straight away. And even though there has been interest for an English version of the book, Koivisto said that it will have to wait for now. All the authors are quite busy at the moment and translating the book into English would require also updating the content to better serve an international audience.

4. Host the Next Book Club

Naturally the next step is to host the next book club. Yep, I got asked to host the next one and I gladly accepted the challenge. So, get your calendars out and mark yourself busy for the 2^nd of December from 5pm to 7pm. The next book club will take place in the Helsinki Central Library Oodi. Details of the book will follow. Stay tuned and I will see you there!

Written by Lyydia Pertovaara

Links:

https://www.palvelumuotoilunbisneskirja.fi/

https://www.service-design-network.org/chapters/finland