Outside‐in service design

Abstract

The authors question the traditional approach to service design, which merely leads to model replication. In order to design a service effectively for a local community this article identifies a need for ‘outside‐in’ service design to truly reflect the needs and environment of a particular community. Using the example of volunteering projects, the authors identify nine key factors that impact on the effective implementation of projects and suggest that consideration of these should form a template for other outside‐in analyses by leaders. The authors pose a series of questions that leaders can apply to their own settings in order to explore the issues raised in this article.

Citation

Bates, P. and Davis, F. (2009), "Outside‐in service design", International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 43-49. https://doi.org/10.1108/17479886200900021