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Duncan Stephen
Service design and
the Mario complex
User Experience Manager
The University of Edinburgh
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS UX Glasgow — 3 March 2021
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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User experience
encompasses all aspects of
the end-user’s interaction
with the company, its
services and its products.”
Don Norman
www.nngroup.com/articles/definition-user-experience
“
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Contradictory themes
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Fix the plumbing?
Change the world?
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Be humble?
Be a saviour?
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Be an expert?
Be a facilitator?
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Ditch the
journey maps?
Trust the process?
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Unattainable
utopias?
Flawed futures?
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User-centred
for today?
Planet-centred
for tomorrow?
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Actors
Planet
Non-humans
Society
Other people
Individual users
Now Months Years Decades Time
User-
centred
design
Adapted from
Cennydd Bowles —
Building Better Worlds
nownext.studio/
building-better-worlds
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Products ⟶ Services ⟶ Systems ⟶ Society
Shanti Mathew — Reflections on, at least, three Ps
2020.govservicedesign.net/programme/reflections-least-three-ps
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Adapted from
Shanti Mathew —
Reflections on, at
least, three Ps
2020.
govservicedesign.
net/programme/
reflections-least-
three-ps
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Problem definition escalation
Sophie Dennis — Let’s talk about strategy… — UX Scotland 2018
www.slideshare.net/sophiedennis/lets-talk-about-strategy-extended-workshop-what-it-is-
why-it-matters-and-how-to-do-it-well-sophie-dennis-90089444
Michael Beirut — You’re so intelligent
designobserver.com/feature/youre-so-intelligent/5917
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Can you design my
new business card?
The problem
isn’t your
business card,
it’s your logo!
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Can you design my
new logo?
The problem
isn’t your logo,
it’s your
brand identity!
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Can you design my
brand identity?
The problem
isn’t your brand
identity, it’s your
business plan!
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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?
The real problem
is world hunger!
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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But someone still
needs to design my
business cards!
?
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
Adapted from Michael Beirut — You’re so intelligent
designobserver.com/feature/youre-so-intelligent/5917
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
Charles Eames and
Ray Eames —
Powers of Ten
https://youtu.be/0fK
BhvDjuy0
Nicola Dobiecka –
Understanding
design better by
looking from
different levels of
magnification
https://blogs.ed.ac.
uk/website-
communications/
understanding-
design-better-by-
looking-from-
different-levels-of-
magnification/
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
Service design?
Scope creep?
Adapted from Sally Halls, Schumoné Groener and Alex Sykes —
How to keep traffic moving across Greater London —
twitter.com/stradella/status/1235579502794858497
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Who can fix climate change?
⟶ Scientists
⟶ Politicians
⟶ Diplomats
⟶ Economists
⟶ Social scientists
⟶ Designers?
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Design is a political act.”
Shanti Mathew — Reflections on, at least, three Ps
2020.govservicedesign.net/programme/reflections-least-three-ps
Everything is political.
The contradictory themes represent
different political stances.
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
“
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Plumbers
Saviours
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duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Be a lumper, not a splitter
Marc Stickdorn, Adam Lawrence, Markus Hormess, Jakob Schneider
— This is Service Design Doing — page 20
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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User experience)
Service design)
Design)
Human-centred approaches
(
(
(
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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What do you think?
Should we be more like
plumbers, or saviours?
duncanstephen.net — @DuncanBSS
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Duncan Stephen
Read more in my blog post
Service design and
the Mario complex
duncanstephen.net/service-design-and-the-mario-complex/
@DuncanBSS
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