Getting Started in Service Design: A How-To-Do-It Manual For Librarians

Joe J. Marquez and Annie Downey

ISBN-13: 9780838915646 

112 pages • 8½ x 11
Year Published: 2017

Service design is a holistic, collaborative methodology that puts the user at the center of the service delivery model. Because this approach prioritizes users and their overall experience, it’s a valuable framework that librarians and administrators can use as a group to assess, revise, and create library services, spaces, and workflows. In this book, the authors use an action-oriented assortment of exercises, templates, and tools to make service design more accessible to all types of libraries. Escorting readers through all the fundamentals, this how-to-do-it manual

• introduces the service design concept, what it is used for, and how it can benefit every institution;
• includes a checklist for determining if service design is the best approach;
• describes the four necessary phases for any service design project, with key exercises for thinking in service design terms to craft a “thick description” of the library’s users and behavior;
• explains the importance of making assessment part of the fabric of the library, and offers tools following through;
• reviews real-life examples of implemented service design, spotlighting how students and researchers use library services;
• provides templates for documenting service design; and
• offers advice for moving forward and managing change.

This book is the perfect primer for those new to the methodology as well as a useful reference to consult throughout a service design project.