Potential of Service Design to Transform Voluntary Organisations

THE$POTENTIAL$OF$A$DESIGN$FOR$SERVICE$$APPROACH$TO$TRANSFORM$VOLUNTARY$$COMMUNITY$SECTOR$ORGANISATIONS$$$Authors:$Laura%Warwick,%Prof.%Robert%Young,%and%Ma9hew%Lievesley%Northumbria%University%%%

Third&Sector&or&Voluntary&Community&Sector:&&‘Non%governmental.organisa1ons.that.are.value%driven.and.which.principally.reinvest.their.surpluses.to.further.social,.environmental.or.cultural.objec1ves..These.include.voluntary.and.community.organisa1ons,.chari1es,.social.enterprises,.coopera1ves.and.mutuals’.(HM.Treasury,.2007:5)...Design&for&Service&approach&.Designers.draw.on.an.arsenal.of.dedicated.tools.to.act.as.facilitator.and.provoker.(Tan,.2012,.p..167),.to.both.enable.actors.to.co%create,.and.support.the.visioning.process.by.promp1ng.more.radical.thought.(Manzini,.2011)...

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Knowledge&Transfer&Partnership.Use.and.embed.Service.Design.approaches.to:.•.create.a.coherent.suite.of.services.that.meet.the.changing.aspira1ons.of.over.50s.in.Newcastle.•.help.the.organisa1on.become.more.sustainable,.efficient,.and.effec1ve.%&

The&facts&

•.53%.of.the.VCS.community.in.North.East.England.have.suffered.a.reduc1on.in.funding.•.40%.of.the.region’s.VCS.organisa1ons.are.making.redundancies,.and.almost.half.are.decreasing.the.number.of.services.that.they.provide..•.21%.will.or.may.close.in.the.next.12.months..But...&&•.Over.70%.of.VCS.reported.a.sizeable.increase.in.service.demand.•.35%.of.VCS.organisa1ons.are.planning.to.develop.or.expand.their.service.offerings.in.the.next.12.months.$

%(VONNE,%April%2014)%

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The&Value&of&Design&for&Service&Approach&to&Develop&Public&Services&in&the&Voluntary&Community&Sector&&&The.aim.of.this.research.programme.is.to.explore.the.role.that.Design.for.Service.approach.can.play.in.helping.organisa1ons.understand.their.services.from.their.customers’.point.of.view,.par1cularly.during.the.current.1mes.of.austerity..

Methodology.•  Three.project.se[ngs.(chari1es).comprise.one.exploratory.case.study.•  Had.to.be.a.registered.charity.with.an.income.from.charitable.ac1vi1es.between.

£200,000.and.£500,000.per.year.•  8.weeks,.full.1me.and.data.collected.in.same.way.in.each.se[ng.

Charity&A&–&Impact&•  Focus:.health.and.wellbeing.services.in.new.geographical.area.•  BIG.Locery.grant.worth.£425k.•  A.new.wellbeing.service.rolled.out.across.the.Tyneside.region..•  A.shie.in.organisa1onal.culture,.new.policies.and.new.process.

Charity&B&–&Impact.•  Focus:.Improving.the.membership.services.•  BIG.Locery.Grant.worth.£190k.•  New,.simplified.membership.structure.•  Improved.customer.communica1on..

Charity&C&–&Impact.•  Focus:.Improving.customer.experience.for.centre.visitors.•  300%.rise.in.their.annual.pass.upgrades,.which.equates.to.£52,500.a.year.•  Increased.collabora1on.between.departments.•  A.shie.in.organisa1onal.culture,.new.policies.and.new.process...

ServiceElevel&vs.&TransformaFonal&&

Evidence.of.transforma1onal.change.in.Charity.A.and.C,.but.not.in.Charity.B..%.

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Yes, new policies and federation

Yes,toolkit

Yes,new delivery

Yes, ‘thinking

differently’

New awareness

New capacity

New organisational standards

New community of designers

Charity A Charity B Charity C

Yes, but no permission

No

No

Yes, but no permission

Yes, new policies

Yes,partnership

Yes,new focus

Yes, ‘thinking

differently’

New%quesNon:%The%Value%of%Design%for%Service%Approach%to%Enable%OrganisaNonal%TransformaNon%in%the%Voluntary%Community%Sector%%

Analysis&•  .25.Interviews,.108.Reflec1ve.logs,.28.Emails,.31.Mee1ng.Summaries,.7.Notebooks..•  ‘How.was.design.for.service.ac1vity.established’.and.‘How.did.the..organisa1on’s.response.to.the.design.for.service.approach.impact.on.the.design.ac1vity?’..

Feature&1:&Understanding&of&the&role&and&remit&of&DfS&

‘It’s.not.your.role.[to.say.what.services.should.operate].but.I’m.prepared.to.listen.to.those.large.facts’..CEO,%Charity%B,%project%meeNng%.Versus&&.‘[We.want.outcomes.that].influence.personal.and.organisa1onal.learning….influence.the.way.we.work’.CEO,%Charity%A,%commencement%interview%.‘I.think.being.challenged.to.think.about.things.in.different.ways….that’s.one.of.my.expecta1ons…some.of.the.outcomes.that.would.quite.excite.me.are.kind.of.strategic’...CEO,%Charity%C,%commencement%interview%%&

Feature&2:&Valuing&process&and&outcomes&

‘What.I.want.is.the.solu1ons’..CEO,%Charity%B,%project%meeNng%%Versus&&%‘The.legacy,.in.terms.of.its.subtle.shie.in.organisa1onal.culture,.has.made.us.a.stronger.charity.and.becer.equipped.to.face.new.challenges’..CEO,%Charity%A,%postVcollaboraNon%meeNng%%‘The.process.is.as.valuable.as.the.results….the.process.is.gold.dust’.%Programmes%Manager,%Charity%C,%project%meeNng%

Feature&3:&The&affinity&between&exisFng&org.&culture&and&DfS&approach&Predictable&change&‘[Execu1ve.Management].agree.to.one.thing.one.minute,.and.then.change.their.mind.the.next.’..Service%Manager,%Charity%B,%project%meeNng%$

Coerce&vs&Persuade&‘If.anybody.wants.to.come.up.with.a.new.idea.it.comes.through.me…we’ll.decide.if.it’s.a.goer.or.not’..Programmes%Manager,%Charity%B,%commencement%interview%.

High&degree&of&parFcipaFon&&‘I’m.on.a.lower.level.so.you.don’t.actually.get.to.find.out.[what.is.being.developed]’..Service%Manager,%Charity%B,%postVcollaboraNon%interview%

Feature&4:&Being&recepFve&to&fundamental&change&

‘A.professional.coming.in.helps.us.massively.try.and.get.where.we.want.to.get.sooner’..Programmes%Manager,%Charity%B,%project%meeNng%%Versus&.‘We.were.ready.to.stand.back.and.look.at.what.we.were.doing.and.why.we.were.doing.it’...CEO,%Charity%A,%postVcollaboraNon%interview%.‘We.recognised.we’d.plateaued.and.we.needed.to.take.a.leap’..OperaNons%Manager,%Charity%C,%commencement%interview%.

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DraP&process&model&for&enabling&transformaFonal&change&in&VCS&contexts&

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What&next?&

•  Understanding.the.rela1onship.between.the.four.features.and.how.much.these.can.be.predicted.before.a.project.starts.

.•  Exploring.the.importance.of.personality.(empathy).in.building.trust,.

and.how.that.links.to.confidence.and.permission.to.begin.more.transforma1onal.work..

•  Reviewing.the.model.with.VCS.and.service.design.community.

•  Organisa1onal.transforma1on.will.con1nue.to.be.limited.by.the.suppor1ng.system.and.community..How.could/should.Design.for.Service.feature.in.these.infrastructures,.and.how.could.it.challenge.the.exis1ng.system?.

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