Innovating business with design thinking
MANILA, Philippines – Regional customer experience company On-Off Group hosted the country’s first ever Service Design Summit 2016 on April 4 & 5 at Hotel Jen, Metro Manila, Philippines.
The innovation focused event event drew large numbers of people, from chief executives to front line support staff. The Summit showcased how Design Thinking is used to innovate products and services and make businesses more appealing to customers.
The two-day event included a practical workshop from UK based Service Design expert Sarah Drummond and case studies from local companies such as Ideaspace, Habi Lab Education, Cebu Pacific, Curiosity, Security Bank, Kalibrr, The Office of Senator Bam Aquino and the On-Off Group.
Designing Government Services
Drummond’s government-themed workshop taught attendees how to research citizen problems and needs, generate ideas and prototype products and services that are valued by the people who need them. The focus was not just fixing the symptoms of the problem but diving deeper to find the root cause.
“Design is completely 100% about people. It’s not about you, the designer, it’s about who you are designing for.”, stressed Drummond. “For every service there’s a front stage and a back stage. It’s not just what customers see online, it’s about how people behind the scenes work too.”
Local Case Studies
Some local Philippines have already embraced Design Thinking, Service Design and Customer Experience and speakers shared valuable insights and stories about the benefits of implementing these practices – as well as some of the challenges.
“We’re trying to deliver the best experience possible for our customers.” – said Gerry Dy of Security Bank.”, who demonstrated some of the innovative services the company had recently designed for customers.
Some of the challenges highlighted by speakers included the problem of getting the whole company to adopt a customer-centered mindset and measuring the return on investment.
Audience Feedback
The event received high praise from audience members, who came away with an appreciation for how Design Thinking enables businesses to differentiate themselves in the market and build sustainable competitive advantage.
“Two of the most valuable and educational days of my life.”
“I learned many new things that I can apply in my everyday work.”
“The workshop was exceptionally helpful and I learned a lot!”
“Having speakers from diverse industries made a real difference”
“Learning from the experiences of the speakers was good so we can understand what made the project a success and also see what mistakes we need to avoid.”
Future Events
For information about upcoming Design Thinking, UX and Service Design events, please visit On Off Group (www.onoffgroup.com) or contact Philippines Director, Phil Smithson ([email protected]).
