Illuminating letters: what the heck is a service designer?
A deep dive into my day job
Dear reader,
I have been a service designer, at least by job title, for a number of years but I still descend into panic when someone asks me about my job. I get all in a tangle trying to explain what I do. Service designer isn’t a job I thought I would have when I was little, it’s not even a job I knew existed.
I know having a succinct summary shouldn’t matter. Whenever someone asks you what your job is in a non-work setting they’re not really asking for an elevator pitch. It’s about moving the conversation forward. They want to find something to connect to, something to help understand who you are. It always makes me think of a Dawes song:
When people ask me where I come from
To see what that says about man
I only end up giving bad directions
That never lead them there at all
I don’t want to give endless directions and not get to the good stuff. So, in the spirit of these comics often being my much better answers (hopefully!) to questions after the fact, here’s what I wish I had shared.
A huge thank you is in due for the kind service designers who responded to the survey I ran to gather data for this one and detailed their days, desks and favourite ways to destroy a lemon. This comic wouldn’t have been have been possible without them.
This month’s zine is pretty special. It includes a little card to sign yourself up as a friend of service design and folds out to a poster version of “we’re all just making it up as we go” which I think is pretty much the universal string that ties jobs together. When you purchase a copy, all profits go to Arts Emergency which helps young people flourish in higher education and the cultural industries.
If you enjoyed this newsletter or want to spread the joy and mystery of service design, please do share it.
Write/draw again soon,
Natalie
As someone who also struggles to describe their work I love this, especially the Magpie skills nest.
Reading through, this sounds quite akin to what a Project Co-ordinator or Project manager or Business (Service) Analysts would do - depending on who holds the responsibility for making the final call / where the accountability rests.
It sounds like a fun job, with lots of attention shifts, meetings and getting people to move their behinds.
And also something one can burn out quickly enough from, if accountability and responsibility are not well assigned (and also if one doesnt get new blood into the job, and move on).
Have fun.
I liked the "Red box" thingy - whatever it is (what is it?) and the lovely zine in the fig at the end!