Service Blueprint

Service design applies design methods to the definition and orchestration of products, communications, and interactions (i.e. service touchpoints), as well as, the operations, values, and structure of an organization.  It requires looking not only at the customer experience but also the business experience.

Think of service blueprints as part two to customer journey maps. Similar to customer-journey maps, blueprints are instrumental in complex scenarios spanning many service-related offerings. Blueprinting is an ideal approach to experiences that are omni-channel, involve multiple touchpoints, or require a cross-functional effort (that is, coordination of multiple departments).

What journey maps and customer narratives don’t show is the internal workings of the organization. The service blueprint seeks to uncover and document (often for the first time!) all the things that go on beneath the surface and the internal makeup of the organization that creates it. It is a data visualization of how your company works; the deep, dark inner workings of how the things customer experiences are actually produced. The difference between a journey map and a service blueprint

A service blueprint corresponds to a specific customer journey and the specific user goals associated with that journey. This journey can vary in scope. Thus, for the same service, you may have multiple blueprints if there are several different scenarios that it can accommodate. For example, with a restaurant business, you may have separate service blueprints for the tasks of ordering food for takeout versus dining in the restaurant.

Service blueprints should always align to a business goal: reducing redundancies, improving the employee experience, or converging siloed processes.