Service design in an industrial company: Case Polar Electro Oy

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Service design in an industrial company:

Case Polar Electro Oy

Ella Murtomäki Master`s thesis Industrial design University of Lapland 2018

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Lapin yliopisto, Taiteiden tiedekunta

Työn nimi: Palvelumuotoilu teollisessa yrityksessä, Tapaus Polar Electro Oy

Tekijä: Ella Murtomäki

Koulutusohjelma/oppiaine: Teollinen muotoilu Työn laji: Pro gradu -tutkielma Sivumäärä: 86 sivua, 2 liitettä Vuosi: 2018

Tiivistelmä

Tässä Pro gradu -tutkielmassa perehdytään palvelumuotoilun hyödyntämiseen teollisen yrityksen tuotekehitysprosessissa. Tutkimus pohjautuu Polar Electro Oy:n toimintaan, ja tutkimuksella haetaan vastauksia kysymyksiin: 1) Kuinka Polar Electro Oy:n tuotekehitys prosessista saadaan asiakaslähtöisempi palvelumuotoilun avulla?Ja 2) Millaisia palvelumuotoilun työkaluja voidaan hyödyntää teollisessa yrityksessä asiakastyytyväisyyden lisäämiseksi?

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Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus ja vastauksia on etsitty laadullisten asiantuntijahaastatteluiden avulla, sekä niistä saatujen kehitysideoiden visualisoinnilla ja prototypoinnilla. Haastatteluiden tuloksia tarkastellessa olen käyttänyt etnografista tutkimusotetta ja luokitellut tulokset sisällönanalyysin avulla.

Sisällönanalyysin lisäksi käytin myös hermeneuttista metodia, jotta sain tuloksista selkeän ja konkreettisen kuvan. Tärkeimpinä huomiona tuloksista nousi esille palvelumuotoilun käyttö tuotekehitysprosessin alkuvaiheessa, palvelumuotoilun liittäminen osaksi tuotekehitysprosessia ja palvelumuotoilijan rooli tuotekehitysprosessissa alusta loppuun asti. Tärkeimmät vaiheet, jossa palvelumuotoilua kaivataan ovat sisällön kehittäminen, määrittely ja käytettävyystestit.

Tutkimukseni tulosten perusteella kehitimme Polar Electro Oy:lle uuden konseptointi mallin, jota pilotoimme tutkimuksen loppupuolella. Pilotoinnin aikana huomasimme hyödyllisiä toimintatapoja, joita tullaan kehittämään jatkossa. Todettiin myös, että yrityksen olisi hyvä hankkia omia palvelumuotoilijoita suuren työmäärän vuoksi.

Palvelumuotoilun käyttöönotto todettiin haasteelliseksi muutokseksi, joka vaatii yritykseltä käytännön järjestelyitä. Myös palvelumuotoilun ylläpito jatkossa vaatii yritykseltä järjestelyitä.

Avainsanat:

Palvelumuotoilu, käyttäjälähtöisyys, tuotekehitysprosessi, prosessimallit,

palvelumuotoiluprosessi, teollinen palvelumuotoilu, palvelumuotoilun käyttöönotto.

Muita tietoja:

Suostun tutkielman luovuttamiseen kirjastossa käytettäväksi: X

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University of Lapland, Faculty of Arts

Title: Service design in an industrial company:

The case of Polar Electro Oy Author: Ella Murtomäki

Degree program/subject: Industrial design Type: Master’s thesis

Number of pages: 86 pages, 2 attachments Year: 2018

Abstract

This Master’s thesis focuses on how to utilize service design in an industrial company’s product development process. The research is based on Polar Electro Oy’s operations and focuses on determining: 1) How the Polar Electro Oy product development process can become more customer-oriented by using service design?

And 2) What kind of service design tools could be utilized in the industrial company context to increase customer orientation?

My research comprises a qualitative case study, and the search for a solution has involved qualitative expert interviews and testing the development ideas obtained via the interviews. I used the ethnographic method when analyzing the research results. I categorized the results using content analysis and employed a hermeneutical method to get a clear picture of the results. The most important findings were the benefits of using service design at the beginning of the product

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development process, how to best integrate service design into a product development process, and determining new ways for the service designer to have an active role throughout the entire product development process. I found the most important stages where service design is needed are content development, product definition and usability tests

Based on the research results, we developed a new conceptualization model for Polar Electro Oy, which we piloted at the end of my research. During the pilot phase, we found useful working methods that will be developed in the future. We also found that it would be good for the company to hire an a number of in-house service designers because of the large amount of work. The introduction of service design was identified as a challenging change that requires practical arrangements.

The maintenance of service design in the future also requires arrangements from the company.

Keywords:

Service design, customer oriented, development process, process models, service design process, industrial service design, the introduction of service design

Further information:

I give permission for the pro gradu thesis to be read in the library: X

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1. Introduction

1.1. Introduction to research

In the summer of 2017, I worked as an industrial designer trainee at Polar Electro Oy.

At the end of my training, there was an idea that it would be necessary to research how service design could be utilized in Polar’s product development process.

Because Polar did not have its own in-house service designer and my training focused on product design, my supervisor decided the subject of my Master’s thesis would be limited to product development. The purpose of the thesis was to determine what roles and tasks the service designer might have in an industrial company and where service design should be located in the product development process. The research idea and perspective is based on Polar’s development process, but in this Master’s thesis I research the topic on an abstract level. My research questions are: 1) How can Polar’s product development process be made more customer-oriented using service design? And 2) What kind of service design tools could be utilized in t h e industrial company context to increase customer orientation?

It was clear from the beginning that I had to start my research with how the product development process works at the moment, how much information employees are given by customers during the development process, whether they think the information is sufficient, and what other kinds of information they would need and when. The product development process had several steps about which I needed more information. In addition, I wanted to interview employees regarding how the process works and not just rely purely on the process chart.

I also wanted to know how other industrial companies are using service design and what roles and tasks service designers have in industrial companies. At first, it was

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difficult to find companies that have an in-house service designer. However, I thought I knew a few companies that might have a service designer, and I started by contacting them.

My research consists of two case studies. The first comprises interviews with Polar employees, and the second comprises interviews conducted at three industrial companies. The interviews were conducted in a three-month period. The purpose of the interviews was to acquire an overall picture of how customer-oriented Polar’s product development is right now and of how other industrial companies use service design.

This is an interesting topic to research because it is quite commonly assumed that service design is only related to the design of applications and concrete services.

Having specialized in industrial design and minored in service design, it is very interesting trying to determine how these two areas can be combined.

There has not been much research on the subject of utilizing service design in an industrial company. Therefore, the topic is very timely. However, there is significant research on, for example, customer orientation in an industrial company, customer know-how, Lean leadership philosophy, and content strategy. All these clearly converge and have similarities with service design.

The importance of customer orientation has been well known in some companies for many years. Various ways of changing working methods to become more customer- oriented have been sought and attempted. Mattinen (2006) states that general business process thinking may not be suitable for developing customer-oriented operations. In the process model, the processes of a company and a customer are often described separately and at the end are linked together.

The customer cannot be forced into a particular process but should be included in the company process from the beginning. (Mattinen 2006: 40-41.)

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Hiltunen (2015) states that most company management is still thinking about how to sell more of an existing product. Management routines may not necessarily include regular thinking about customer needs. Only in a few of the companies he has encountered is evaluating the customers’ process and continuously developing products or services part of the company’s business. This may be because management is genuinely interested in customer needs and problems. (Hiltunen 2015: 20-21.)

I believe that service design would benefit industrial companies by changing the working method to a more customer-oriented approach and that it could improve internal communication. Employees in large companies often work in their own departments and do not work with each other as much as employees of smaller companies. The participation of employees and improving common communication would help companies improve their operations in many areas. A customer-oriented approach would also connect company employees because everyone would have a clear view of the same goal. As Reason, Lovlie and Brand Flu (2016) state, “Our organization is so complex that the only one who can see the bigger picture is our customer” (Reason, Lovlie & Brand Flu 2016: 141).

1.2. Polar Electro Oy as a company

Polar Electro Oy is a Finnish company that designs and manufactures heart rate monitors and bicycle computers. Polar strives to guide their customers’ training by combining physical, technical, and physiological knowledge and skills.

Heart rate monitor design at Polar has a long history, as the idea of a wireless heart rate monitor began at the ski track in 1975. In 1982, Polar launched the world’s first

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wireless heart rate monitor. To this day, Polar caters to all levels of sports by offering a wide product range. Polar’s heart rate monitors help athletes improve their performance and general health by helping them better understand what their bodies are telling them.

Polar aims to be the best at what they do, and their success is clearly visible. All products are manufactured in their fully owned factories. Polar has strict control over their operations and pays great attention to the environmental aspects and impacts of its products throughout the product life cycle. Polar constantly monitors their materials and production process to reduce scrap and waste. This ensures that their products are safe for people and for the environment.

Polar has grown during the past 40 years into a large company that employs 1,200 people worldwide. The company has 26 subsidiaries globally and manages a distribution network supplying over 35,000 retail outlets in more than 80 countries (www.polar.com).

Sport tester PE2000 (1982) V800 (2014)

Picture 1: Polar Sport tester PE2000. Picture 2: Polar V800.

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2. Research

2.1. Material

My research consists of a qualitative case study of Polar Electro Oy, but I will deal with the subject at an abstract level. At an abstract level, research can be exploited by any industrial company. However, the amount of work will be huge, and industrial companies therefore need a service designer to help introduce service design. My research gives an idea of what changes companies must implement to enable the introduction of service design. It will show how service design can be associated with a company’s operations. In addition, it will show what the roles and tasks of a service designer would be in an industrial company.

The qualitative material of my thesis consists of interviews with Polar’s employees and interviews at three industrial companies. At Polar, 17 key employees engaged in the product development process were interviewed. The interviewees work at different jobs and at different stages of the product development process. Design leaders, segment managers, product managers, program managers, a project manager, a UX designer, the UX manager, the electronics manager, the mechanics manager, technology managers, the principal scientist, the functionality designer, the director of devices, the director of global product management, and the vice president were interviewed. The following chart shows the stage at which the interviewees work.

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Picture 3. Chart of interviewees’ involvement in the process.

Interviews were conducted with three in-house service designers at the three industrial companies selected. Two of the companies are large and one is small. The two larger companies employ several service designers. The smaller company uses an outsourced service designer, which in my opinion was an important aspect of my research. The difference in company size was hardly visible in the results. A major difference is that the larger companies have used service designs for longer.

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Structured, thematic interview material was collected between October and December 2017. Most of the interviews were conducted face to face, and a few were conducted via telephone. The data collection went smoothly and it was positive to see how interested people were in the subject. Most of the interviewees work in higher positions, but there were also so-called ordinary employees. I believe that via the interviews I got a big picture of how the product development process works and which steps require improved customer orientation.

The interviews in this study can be called expert interviews. In an expert interview, the focus is not the expert him/herself but the knowledge that can be obtained from him/her. The material for my research was collected by selecting key people in the product development process to be interviewed. They can be assumed to be experts in this field. (Ruusuvuori, Nikanded & Hyvärinen 2011: 373-376; Valli & Aaltola 2015: 373-375.)

2.2. Methods

I used an ethnographic survey for each set of interviews because the product development process and its several stages were quite unknown to me. An ethnographic survey is commonly used when the research topic is not familiar to the researcher. With an ethnographic survey, the researcher can gain a deeper understanding of the subject in order to better interpret the findings of the interviews. The aim of the interviews was to gain a broader understanding of Polar’s product development process and how customer- oriented it is at the moment. The intention was also to find out how other industrial companies have implemented a

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more customer-oriented product development process by employing service design. (Ruusuvuori et al. 2011: 65; Valli, Aaltola 2015: 64-65.)

Analysis is a slow process and requires patience. In my research, I had to categorize the material and find different themes of analysis. I went through the material using categorized content analysis methods. Based on categorize, I found rather explicit themes that I was able to analyze better. The internal interview clearly revealed three main points: product definition, content development, and usability testing. I categorized the answers below these areas. Thirteen interviewees mentioned the definition. The biggest problem with the definition seemed to be customer queries, which have to be addressed at the higher level. Another problem with the definition was that the queries were made mostly quantified.

So the employees wanted more qualitative research. Ten interviewees mentioned content development. In the development of content, it was thought of the making excessive feature mass and what is the significance of the features for the customers. Thirteen interviewees mentioned usability tests. Usability testing was increasingly needed in the process. More versatile usability tests were hoped for. It was also hoped that usability tests could be arranged from the beginning to the end of the process. That way, optimization could be done continuously if needed.

While performing the thematic analysis, I was able to pinpoint quite a few similarities in the material. Based on these findings, I found the indicators for the missing phases in product development if looking at things from a more customer-oriented perspective. Based on the convergence of the external interviews, I came up with an idea about what kind of service design tools and methods could improve the customer orientation of the product development process. The elements highlighted in the categorized content analysis do not tell everything about the big picture, but they create an interpretative and meaningful entity. (Ruusuvuori et al. 2011: 219;

Sarajärvi & Tuomi 2002: 110-111, 116; Eskola & Suoranta 1998:156.)

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To develop creative and artistic research is an international challenge. Artistic research differs slightly from traditional research. In the field of art, research is almost always qualitative. An artistic or productive part can be added. (Anttila 2006:

8-12.)

The hermeneutical method is interpretative. Unlike a mathematical model, for example, the idea is to create abstractions from reality. Hermeneutics aim to build a concrete picture and an entity, not just a model. Hermeneutical interpretation is like working at a jigsaw puzzle. The small parts make up the whole, which can change over time. In hermeneutics, the outcome depends on the researcher. Another researcher can obtain a different result using the same material, as the result depends on how the material has been interpreted. (Anttila 2006: 305-312.)

At the end, I compared the results of the internal and external interviews and picked out the connecting features. The internal interviews revealed the need for customer orientation, especially at the beginning of the process. The external interviews revealed that service design plays a major role at the beginning of the product development process. In this way, I be able to say that the most important role of the service designer is at the beginning of the process and was able to focus on development at the beginning of the process. In addition, the internal interviews indicated that usability tests are required in several stages of the process for optimization. The external interviews indicated that the service designer works with the product manager throughout the process. In this way, the service designer can represent the customer throughout the process. The service designer could oversee usability testing and optimizing if it is necessary.

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3. Service design

Service design is still a fairly unknown concept. Explaining it is challenging because of the scope. In English, the word design has more meanings than in Finnish. In Finnish, the term service design may be misleading. Service design is not a new innovation but rather a new way of combining things that already exist. Service design is in a constant state of change, according to the principles of service design.

Service design helps organizations detect the potential of services in the business, develop new services, and refine existing services. Through service design, companies might find new markets that are growing faster than the product market. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 18.)

Basically, service design is intended to influence an experience, be it shopping at a grocery store, shopping online, visiting the doctor, or watching a movie. Many of the things you do can be affected by improving the customer experience. The experience is always different depending on the customer, and the experience cannot be copied. Creating a better customer experience is one of the main goals of service design. The customer is always part of the service event and always builds a new personal experience of the service event. (Miettinen 2009; Tuulaniemi 2011: 26.)

The experience is subjective and occurs inside the head. In itself, experience cannot be planned. However, we can optimize the customer experience by focusing on critical points. We can consider the working methods, the surroundings, and the interaction in the design of the service. We can also remove the factors that detract from the service. The purpose is to create the best possible customer experience.

(Tuulaniemi 2011: 26; Mustonen 2012: 4-8.)

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3.1. What is service design?

The most influential factors in developing service design have been industrial designers. Industrial designers have strong process know-how, and service is a process. This has enabled industrial designers to branch into design services. The difference between an industrial designer and a service designer arises when the work of industrial designers can finally be called a product and the work of service designers can be called service. However, service design is not merely the work of designers, but service design rather gives edge conditions, tools, methods and common language. Service design may involve, for example, experts in research, design, business, and engineering. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 63-65; Ruonala 2011: 13-17.)

Product design has always sought to create better products. Traditionally, planning starts with selecting a user group, and then the product is designed to fit that group.

Service design is a new aspect of design that involves developing services using design methods. Service design is a constantly developing sector. It was born from the realization that design methods can also be used in designing services. (Mager 2004; Tuulaniemi 2011: 61-63; Ruonala 2011: 13-17.)

When product design looks at the customer experience, it aims to improve products to improve function. Service design looks at service from the customer’s point of view. The goal is to make the service as clear and easy to use as possible for the customer but still be effective, productive, and competitive from the company’s point of view. (Miettinen 2004: 15.)

Service design goes hand in hand with traditional products and user interface design, which enables the transfer of creative design methods for service offerings.

Service design is closely connected with user interface design. Service design began as a method to design concrete services and applications but has since become broader. (Mager 2008; Miettinen 2004: 15.)

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Miettinen 2004:15). The purpose is to create customer-oriented solutions and to make the user’s experience easy, simple, and desirable. Service design has become multifaceted and has been developed to interact with robots (e.g., autonomous driving). When developing automated functions, designers want to make the work of users as easy as possible, so easy in fact that the user’s job will be accomplished through automation. (Miettinen 2017: 4-5.)

Service design combines practical design, research methods, design thinking, and the use of different visualization techniques during the service design process.

Service design makes it easier to understand abstract content by specifying it as a whole picture so it can be more easily understood, processed, shared, and prototyped. Service design encourages trying and failing as early as possible. The intent is to train and learn during the service design process. During this process, the focus is on the user experience of a particular customer group while refining concepts and making low-cost prototypes. The intended end result of the service design process is customer-specific, usable service solutions. (Miettinen 2017: 4-5.)

Service design can be thought of as a new approach to creating invisible and abstract services. Digitalization has an impact on customers’ experiences and practices. For example, movies may invoke a lot of emotion in a viewer, but the experience itself may be different depending on whether one is watching a movie at a movie theater or at home. The business model has also changed with digitalization. Previously, movies were rented in the form of DVDs and watched at home. Now, movies can be watched on a variety of online services, such as Netflix, which is much cheaper and unlimited. Watching movies has been made easier than ever before. However, the great distinctive feature is the experience of going to the cinema, which helps cinemas maintain their popularity. (Miettinen 2017: 4-5.)

The service itself can also function as a marketing tool. As Tuulaniemi states,

“service is a product that is sold to a customer”. Instead of lots of ads, it would be beneficial to provide customers with a service that is enjoyable. Good service stays in the mind of the customer, and the customer may tell their friends about the

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service. Customer service has always played a key role in building a company’s brand. Good service helps show customers that a company is focused on meeting their needs. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 52.)

3.1.1. Customer orientation

In looking at industrial companies, it can be seen that they are still quite product-oriented. I noticed this when interviewing Polar’s employees and the outsourced in-house service designers at the industrial companies. The problem with focusing on products is that companies do not consider whether the product satisfies customers’ needs. Customers may have problems that they wish to have solved. Product focus results in the loss of customer focus. If a company promotes a product and all its great features, the customer may not necessarily be interested in the product. The company should therefore talk about the problems the product solves in the everyday lives of its customers to attract customer interest. Of course, this also requires that the company has indeed designed a product that solves customers’ problems. Customers appreciates products that make their everyday lives easier. This can be called customer value. Customer value determines how much a customer is willing to pay, how often, and whether he/she would recommend the service/product to friends. (Tuulaniemi 2017: 105-107.)

When designing and manufacturing products and services, it is important to conduct thorough research at the beginning so that the product/service will be right for the customer. It is also very important to test the product during the design process and after completing initial research to verify its suitability for the user group. In this way, the company gains good insight into what end users like. The

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research on design work shows that many solutions are partly or even wholly based on forecasts and the assumptions of designers. This may completely ignore user-orientation when we explain to ourselves that we already know the topic.

Nevertheless, it is not always possible to make comprehensive purchasing and testing of user information, and often the implementation of the device requires changes and compromises. It is therefore good that the company has a comprehensive database of data and it is worth consciously taking advantage of assumptions and estimates. The most important thing to keep in mind is that a designer’s/manufacturer’s predictions, assumptions, and estimates should support the information garnered from customers. (Hyysalo 2009: 78; Annacchino 2007:

184-185; Rawsthorn 2013: 203-220.)

Large companies have a lot of “silent” information acquired by employees through experience. The problem is that this information can leave the company with the employee, and it may take years to get the same level of knowledge again.

Therefore, it would be good to have some kind of system so that knowledge does not disappear completely when people change jobs or retire. While collecting material for my research, several people I interviewed mentioned silent information as being a potential problem at Polar. They suggested some kind of system where the information could be recorded. Even if the company has information, previous experience, and pre-assumptions about what end users want, it would be good to determine if these are accurate. Predictions and assumptions can be costly mistakes for companies if they prove to be inaccurate. The longer the project has run for, the more expensive the mistake can be. It is also very difficult to prove the accuracy of pre-assumptions to others unless they have been studied and tested. A good idea can die because of a bad solution. Ignorance also often causes escalation, such as “people generally want to…” (Hyysalo 2009: 79).

Common sense facilitates good solutions, but it can also mislead. People do best in what they know well and do not perform as well when they lack knowledge. In the latter case, decisions should not be made based solely on common sense. The generalizations associated with common sense can be very misleading.

Generalizations such as “old people avoid new technology” are not useful if it is not

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clear why old people avoid technology or what kind of technology they avoid. By questioning the generalization, valuable information can be obtained that can lead to a solution. Perhaps we could just design easy-to-understand technology for old people that would facilitate their activities. (Hyysalo 2009.)

One common assumption concerns what is essential in a product. In marketing and information technology, the general assumption is that users will first and foremost value new features. The design assumes that the product has to conform to “the spirit of the time”. It may be that a mechanic designer favors some fine features or perhaps certain solutions. However, all the above may be secondary to the use and desirability of the product. Customers do not know or care if the end product was easy to produce; rather, they care about everyday functionality and whether the product meets their needs. (Hyysalo 2009: 82.)

One aspect is experience data. It is important that management has knowledge of past products and a good educational foundation. With the help of the aforementioned, they are able to evaluate concepts. However, even management cannot foresee everything. (Hyysalo 2009: 83-84; Anderson 2000: 8.)

Usability refers to the ease of use and learnability of a product. Users have to feel comfortable with a product to be happy with it. If a product is unpleasant or hard to use, users will develop a negative attitude towards the product. “To learn how to design positive experiences you need to know as much as possible about things related to performing the tasks. You have to take into account the operating environment, social dimension, personal values and expectations” (Keinonen 2000:

143).

It is possible to design products that are understandable and easy to use if psychology is used in the design process. Designers must ensure that users understand how a product works and must be aware of how users will likely behave when using the product. People make simple mistakes when using products.

Mindless action or forgetfulness may result in damage to the product and potential harm to customers. Products should be designed to be as simple as possible to

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reduce errors and increase safety. Designers must take into account that people are very different and that some are better at certain things than others in order to reduce the chance of mistakes. (Väyrynen 2004: 63-77.)

The level of knowledge affects how a person uses a product. A user may already know something about the product and therefore may have the ability to solve problems, unlike a user who has no knowledge of the product. Memory also affects the use of a product. If a user has used a product in the past, they can remember how to use it. People who have used Polar products in the past will probably find it much easier to use a new Polar product than those who have never used Polar products. The operating logic is maintained in some way from one product to another. Understanding is also affected by sensing and observation, so the user will notice the important features of the product, such as the power button or lock. For most Polar products, buttons are located in the same place, such as the up and down buttons, the “ok” button, and the “go back” button. (Väyrynen 2004: 67-69.)

Designers favor minimalism, symmetrical lines, and simple geometric shapes.

Customers also often consider simplicity attractive. However, when taken to the extreme, simplicity can become boring. Designer try to leave out anything that does not serve the purpose of the product. The goal is honest design—not trying to obscure what the product is but to highlight the intended use of the product. At best, a product can be so simple that the customer does not need instructions to use it.

The same principle also works in service design. The service should be so clear that no extra guidance is needed. (Kettunen 2001: 21.)

As Kaivola stated in his Master’s thesis (2017), monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction is not enough to ensure customer understanding. The results only show the current situation and do not provide suggestions for development. Satisfaction is also susceptible to change, and each customer’s experience is different. Measuring satisfaction does not reveal how and why a customer’s experience is affected.

(Kaivola 2017: 96-100.)

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It is often thought that customers cannot tell a company what they would like, which is true. Customers cannot think of everything that might be possible or achievable.

Therefore, companies must be able to ask customers the right questions. This can be addressed by clarifying users’ role, by observing users, and by interviewing users.

(Hietikko 2015: 59-62.)

According to Saukkonen et al. (2000), the following features are typical in customer- oriented design: the active participation of users, a clear understanding of the customer and of the requirements of the mission, iterative testing, improvement of design solutions, and multidisciplinary design. Customers should be involved in the design because they know their own needs and practices. The role of customers should depend on the design objective and the design situation. The design should seek to make the product effective and to give the customer a meaningful experience. (Saukkonen, Kuutti, Jokela, Abrahamsson, Välikangas, Villman &

Sandelin 2000: 12.)

We live in an era where similar products and services are offered at different prices difference. It is important to target the product and its marketing to the right customer group, hopefully resulting in satisfied customers. If marketing is targeted at a larger/different group than the product is actually designed for, it can be misleading for the customer. When the product is not exactly what the customer really needed/wanted, the result is a disappointing customer experience.

Keronen and Tanni (2017) write about content strategy related to marketing.

Content strategy also relates to service design because the goals are the same. In addition to marketing, customer orientation can start at the beginning of the process and continue to the very end, thus increasing effectiveness. Organizations have begun to make their businesses more customer-oriented, and the megatrends behind this shift have made content strategy more important. (Keronen & Tanni 2017: 18.)

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Content strategy refers to an organization’s planning, development, and management of content, which affects customer orientation and profitability. The core of a brand and the core of content strategy is the same, but they have different tasks. The brand defines an organization’s identity and what it is or would like to be. By using content strategy, value promises are made according to what is valuable to customers. The purpose of both is to build customer experience. In Finland, a brand is often seen as a visual expression of the company. A company should be able to keep its value promise if it wants good results. If a company advertises itself as environmentally friendly, for example, the business should operate accordingly and not just make claims. This greatly affects customers’

expectations of the company. With service design, it is possible to determine what customers expect and then strive to improve operations so the company can meet those expectations. (Keronen & Tammi 2017: 25.)

In order to deliver valuable content to customers, we need to know their level of knowledge, their needs, and their motivation. The company must stand out from its competitors in a way that is valuable to both the company and the customer. The question is how to stand out. The most profitable thing to find is the true strength of the company and its value to the customer. However, in the industrial field, the strength may be technology-driven and should now become intelligence-driven. The purpose of content strategy is to help prioritize content so that resources are directed to things that bring value to both the customer and the company. The purpose of service design is to design services that bring value to both customers and businesses, in this case services and products. Content strategy is therefore ideally suited for use in service formatting. (Keronen & Tanni 2017: 34-37; DiJulius 2008: 275-277; Gurski 2014: 4-5; Saunders & Hunter 2009: 15-21.)

As Keronen and Tanni stated in 2017, acquiring customer data through interviews is considered too complicated and is thought to be too time-consuming. Where does the time actually go then? If the end result is failure, all the work will have been wasted. As quantity does not replace quality, prioritizing can often be helpful—“Make less, but better”. (Keronen & Tanni 2017: 72.)

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The customer is at the heart of service, and the task of the service designer is to understand customers’ needs and to put customers at the center of the design.

In-house processes should therefore focus on the customer and on value-generating issues. The end result is mutual satisfaction, meaning that that products/services are economically viable for the company and that those products/services are customer-friendly. Of course, good value for the customer means a good experience, and experience can be influenced in many ways.

(Tuulaniemi 2011: 32-40.)

3.1.2. Customer experience

For decades, traditional industrial design has emphasized user understanding. Originally, it meant ergonomics until we started talking about usability. Functionality has become a matter of course. In addition to ease of use and learnability, usability now extends to providing people with an emotional experience. (Mattelmäki & Battarbee 2000: 142;

Valtonen 2008: 138-143.) The most important thing about services is customer experience. Customer experience can be divided into activities, feelings, and meanings. Activities relate to meeting customer needs. The level of activity refers to the smoothness of the processes and the accessibility and usability of the service.

The level of activity must be at a certain point in order for the service to be on the market at all. Feelings refer to the personal experiences of customers. Experiences can be easy, pleasing, interesting, inspirational, or unpleasant. Meanings refer to the

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expectations of an experience. The value experienced by customers can be described using a pyramid in which the bottom layer is activities, the middle layer is feelings, and the top layer is meanings. Good activity is needed as a foundation to create good experiences and meanings. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 74-77; Joseph 2010: 15-26.)

Picture 4. Experience pyramid (https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/566046246890766680/)

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3.1.3. Empathy

In order to understand the customer’s experience, the service designer needs to step into the customer role. This requires empathy. Empathy, a genuine and profound interest in the target group, is one of the most important aspects of service design.

The service designer must get along with different people, as their job is to help meet common interests. The work of a service designer often involves finding compromises and the most productive ways of working.

During my research, I noticed that in industrial companies different departments often have their own ideas and needs. The service designer should be able to listen to and understand different people and their opinions, find compromises, and prioritize so that implementation requirements and customer needs are taken into account.

3.1.4. Participation

Service design is not one person’s job. It requires the participation of different parties and is about working together. According to Tuulaniemi (2011), “Developing together is service design and the other way around” (Tuulaniemi 2011: 116). The central idea is to involve the various parties in developing the service. At the center of the service is the customer. There are usually several different actors on the service provider side, such as customer service people, service production people,

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and maintenance people, all of whom should be involved in developing the service from the very beginning. The role of a service designer is to provide different ways of working, tools to enhance creative problem-solving skills, and better methods of communicating. These include visualization, prototyping, and sharing information with other employees in the organization. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 116-118; Stickdorn, Lawrence, Hormess & Schneider 2018: 342-347.)

The goal of developing together is that all aspects of the service will be taken into account as much as possible in the collection and analysis of information. The developing together method is a way of working on the principle of service design rather than the actual tool. Collaboration is often done during workshops and group work on the premises and in the service environment. The role of a service designer is to guide and enable collaboration to achieve the defined goals. (Tuulaniemi 2011:

116-118; Stickdorn et al. 2018: 342-347.)

3.2. Service design process

The service design process is different in every project. However, the process usually follows the double-tier model defined by the Design Council. A variety of tools have been developed and can be selected according to the project. Traditionally, the designer’s work is focused on customer understanding, brainstorming, and concept development. The service designer’s work is also very much about the research and design phase. However, it would be useful to extend the knowledge and perspective of design to the definition phase to understand the organization’s goals and the resources available. It is also important that service design is involved in product development from start to finish, so that the customer information that is initially acquired can be reflected in the finished product. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 127.)

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Miettinen states that the research phase in the service design process is part of understanding the service context, the customers, and the business environment.

The construction and creation phase is about visualization, collaboration, participation, and prototyping, during which understanding is achieved by comparing prototypes to see if the created service is valuable to the customer.

(Miettinen 2009: 13.)

Service design involves creative problem solving. The process generally refers to the progress and repetition of functions. The process makes things clearer and saves resources when doing the right thing at the right time. The difference between a designer and service designer is that the designer is focused on customer understanding, brainstorming, and designing. The service designer is doing the same things during the research phase but should also be involved at the definition stage to understand the organization’s goals and the resources available.

(Tuulaniemi 2011: 126; Erl 2008: 478-479.)

In his book, Tuulaniemi (2011) emphasizes that service design is a process and not a project. Service is continuous and is never finished. A project starts with a need and ends when the need is met. Industrial companies may have a process whereby the projects rotate. It can therefore be assumed that in industrial companies service design should be part of the process and the project. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 232.)

To support the development of the service, it is good to follow the general service design process to make the process easier to understand. This is important, particularly when planning a new service. When developing an existing service, the process can be followed according to needs and resources. In the double-diamond picture below, I combine the essential parts of two different models. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 129.)

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Picture 5. Doublediamond of service design (based on two models https://twitter.com/kreapal/status/857287670531227652

https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-nail-a-user-interviews-in-a-ux-hcd-or-design-thinking-process-full-guide- 7d4eeee8dc3)

In the following paragraphs, I will briefly describe the steps of the service design process. However, as noted previously, the service design process is different for each project. The work steps are therefore indicative and should be applied on a project-by- project basis.

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3.2.1. Research

Each design process usually starts by defining needs. At this stage, it is not known exactly what should be done, but it is definite that something needs to be done.

There is some kind of problem or several problems. The organization must define the goals of the development process, such as what kind of needs must be addressed. Improving customer understanding is one of the most critical aspects of service design. To this end, both qualitative and quantitative information must be collected. Both are important, but qualitative research is most important. Qualitative research increases customers understanding as a basis for planning, while quantitative research is necessary to assess the success of a service. Ethnographic tools can be employed to increase customer understanding. (Tuulaniemi 2011:

132-146; Ulrich & Eppinger 2008: 54-68.)

In the ethnographic research method, people are studied in natural conditions. In this, empathy is indispensable, as the researcher must understand the customer in order to understand customer behavior. Ethnographic methods include interviews that provide information about customers’ lives, ideas, and experiences. Interviews can be conducted with staff as well as with customers. (Ruusuvuori et al. 2011: 65.)

According to the double-diamond model, research is a step in the growth phase.

This phase involves gathering information about a project. There should be a lot of information after this stage.

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3.2.2. Define

At this stage, customer understanding is created, and it is decided which parties should be involved in the design. To gain customer understanding at this stage, customer personas and customer journeys can be defined. Ideas and solutions can also be developed, but at this stage should be much of ideas. At this stage, previously gathered information is extracted from the project’s feasibility study to determine what kind of solutions should be offered to users.

The result is customer understanding. Obtaining customer understanding requires a lot of research on customers, technology, markets, etc. from the previous stage. At this point, there should be an understanding of customers’ needs and behaviors and of what is possible and what needs to be implemented. At this stage, ideas not need be final; they will be developed further in the next step. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 142-173.)

When you look at the double diamond, this step is shrinking. The amount of data collected in the first phase will be processed and the most essential data is selected for further development. In other words, information shrinks in order that the idea can move to the implementation.

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3.2.3. Develop

At this stage, ideas that have been obtained earlier are developed. Prototypes are also being built and can be tested to see how they are working. Xènia (2011) states that when a problem is understood and defined, service solutions can be developed.

With a bigger group it is possible to create different concepts in collaboration workshops and in the end provide practical solutions for users. (Xenia 2011: 54.)

Tuulaniemi (2011) states that the goal of brainstorming is to create as many solutions as possible. At this stage, the idea is to develop a lot of ideas the functionality of which is tested with prototyping, and any solutions that are found to work are developed further. According to the double-diamond model, this phase is growing, meaning that at this stage a lot of ideas are created and information on the functionality of the solutions is collected. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 182-195.)

Prototypes at this stage can be quite simple but can provide valuable information. A prototype is a quick model built for planning and development. Testing with a prototype at an early stage can help to prevent major mistakes in later stages, but most importantly it is possible to find out if the customer thinks the suggested solutions are interesting and desirable. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 196-231.)

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3.2.4. Deliver

At this stage, a solution has been found, but testing and development needs to continue to help decide the timing of the release and to set goals. The delivery stage is very much about definition, and in this stage all aspects should be defined as accurately as possible so that changes do not need to be made in later stages.

At this point, the solutions will be refined so that they can be launched. For concrete services or applications, this step may be slightly easier because the so-called

“ready” service can be easily changed after the introduction and after feedback is received. The same service can be further developed, refined, and renewed as needed. (Tuulaniemi 2011: 245.)

At the baseline, the service design process was hardly visible in my own work at Polar. Prior to my research, the company was creating concepts and conducting validation and usability testing. However, the above were not consistently linked to the product development process. They were also not consistently carried out because it was not required in the process. In my view, one of the problems in the past has been that the company had no designated person to guide customer-oriented service design practices.

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4. The product development process

The product development process is quite different than the service design process.

While the service design process has growing and shrinking phases, the product development process is shrinking. By shrinking, I mostly mean accuracy because the more the product development process progresses, the more accurate it becomes.

An industrial company is more likely to have some kind of product development process based on the products they design and manufacture. When a company has several experts in this field and possibly several different departments, all of them are doing their own work, it is good that everyone has one common direction and destination. The product development process helps everyone stay within the same limits and move forward at a predetermined rate. (Ulrich & Eppinger 2012: 12-16;

Huutola 2016: 10-17.)

We talk about the product development process, but Hietikko (2015) states that according to the current understanding, product development can no longer be considered a separate process. This is because the activities it includes are integrated with other business functions. According to Hietikko, it would be better to talk about product development projects that are part of innovation. (Hietikko 2015:

45.)

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4.1. Product development

In the product development process, it is important to remember that products are designed for users. The goal is to make them easy to use, easy to learn, productive, and safe. The basic principles of design are functionality, usability, appearance, and price. The goal and competitive factor is the usability of the product. Usability is considered at an early stage of the process and can be evaluated with various tests.

One of the results of my qualitative research was the need to conduct more usability tests. According to a survey by Vorne et al. (2004) it is desirable to improve usability at all stages of product development, and most skills were needed for usability tests. The problem is often that validation and usability tests are considered expensive. In fact, even small resources give good results, and small-scale tests are better than not doing usability tests at all. (Vorne, Törmänen, Apaja, Anttonen, Anundi & Klementti 2004: 4-5.)

The product development process is a daily matter for industrial companies and a vital part of the business. The process is important to the company because it needs to be able to meet the ever-changing needs of the market. As the ultimate goal of product development is to create the kind of products customers want, the company must realize how important customer-oriented product development is.

Product development is a process that involves identifying customer needs and designing, productizing, and commercializing a product that is relevant. (Ulrich &

Eppinger: 2000.)

The aim is also to continually improve existing products, develop more functional products, and acquire more satisfied customers. Businesses should strive for a more customer-oriented product development model, as it is pointless to produce a product customers do not want or need. The product may not be wanted even if it is inexpensive to produce and quickly available to customers. In conducting the

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external interviews, one of the important observations was that modern companies have come to realize the importance of customer orientation to increase sales and gain a competitive advantage. (Mynott 2012.)

Companies often have to think about where resources will be placed. Resources should be utilized at the right time and place. The resources consumed in the product development process are wasted if the customer is not ready to buy the product. Therefore, companies should invest in customer research, particularly in the early stages of the product development process. (Keronen & Tanni 2017.)

There are several types of process models used by companies in product development. However, companies often use rather generic process models that can easily be tailored to suit each business. In extreme cases, the process wants to create a sense of control or raise the value of a project. Design and mechanical design work may end up solving problems found during a project. The process model can guide the process forward, and it may be difficult to deviate from the planning requirements. However, premature locking of requirements may stop, for example if requirements are allowed to float freely throughout the process.

(Hyysalo 2009: 58.)

Another common factor in product process models is that they starting from zero point. It is clear that this can not be the case. It is likely that much background research has been done before the project starts. Often, process models are also described in the so-called " Swimming pool models, in other words, they start and end. The new project always relies on previously accumulated knowledge. Previous design solutions pave the way for new projects and also limit what kind of products are being implemented. If staff have been in house for a long time, they are used to a certain type of behavior that can be difficult to change. This is called the path dependence of product development within the company. (Hyysalo 2009: 58.)

Product development should continue even after the product launch, so that it can be learned for the next time. For a completely new product, a company may need to make a variety of prototypes. In addition, a significant part of the product

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development will take place only after launch. The product should be good enough to get positive feedback from customers, ultimately making the product profitable and generating positive publicity. For the following products it would be desirable to find out what things made the previous product good in order to improve the usability and functionality of the next product. Product development can expand into a product family that expands the market with new customer groups. (Hyysalo 2009: 59.)

According to Hietikko, the much-used process model involves the following steps:

the identification of needs; the definition of problems; the synthesis, that is, the stage of creative work; and analysis, that is, testing the concept’s reliability and functionality. In addition to these, optimization—which mainly consists of refining details and testing before launching—and an assessment of how the initial identified need is met are undertaken. (Hietikko 2015: 46-47.)

4.1.1. General process models

Process models have been created to facilitate the smooth progress of the process.

Through the process, staff know what to do, when to do it, and what the schedule is.

Without the process, the project could stretch out indefinitely, which affects the company financially. Of course, a long-term plan is needed in addition to the process model, taking into account the processes and their duration. With the process model, everyone has to make their own contribution, and the timetable is the same for all.

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Most companies use some kind of process model to support projects. Most process models are based on some of the most common models, such as the waterfall model or the stage-gate model. With the waterfall model, the idea is that product development is a flowing process. In this model, the downside is the challenge of returning to a previous stage in the process and the visibility of errors in the next steps. However, the waterfall model is a good model for goal-oriented processes.

The waterfall model is easy to use and understand, but it is only useful if the application area is familiar to the project team. If the methods, tools, and project area are already familiar, it is immediately known how the project is going to proceed and that project requirements will remain the same throughout the project.

The waterfall pattern phases are often in a predefined order, and after each step a report is made in which some kind of evaluation of the previous stage is given. This kind of approach is very common for other process models as well. (Sailio 2015:

26-27.)

In the waterfall model, design begins with defining requirements, which delineates what the product should be able to do in which environment, the price, and other constraints. When the requirements are clear, it is possible go to the conceptual design of a program or device, which often generates alternative suggestions about what kind of product can be implemented within the requirements. This can be shifted to technical design, which aims to first define the main solutions and then to work out the smaller details. Once the design is complete or at least its main features are clear, the product can be implemented (and/or implemented materially). After that, its functionality is tested, that is, compared against the original requirements/specifications. When the product is found to be functional it will be put into operation. (Hyysalo 2009: 55-56.)

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Picture 6. Example of waterfall model

Another process model is the Stage-Gate model, developed by Robert G. Cooper in the 1980s. The Stage-Gate model typically consists of at least four different gates. A project passes through each gate where a decision is made whether to continue with the project or not. The gates serve as quality-control checkpoints with three goals—to ensure the quality of execution, to evaluate the business rationale, and to approve the project plan and resources. Each gate is structured in a similar way:

that are responsible for the quality during the product development process. Each gate has its own criteria to determine if the project can proceed. The purpose of the gates is to ensure that the quality of the product remains at the desired level and that unprofitable projects can be identified and, if necessary, paused at an early stage. (Burrell 2016.)

Service design in an industrial company: Case Polar Electro Oy