From product to service design: A thinking paradigm shift

The economy, society and industry are experiencing change by a shift from products to services. It is apparent that this also brings an on-going ‘conceptual shift’ in business and industry characterised by a movement from traditional goods-centred dominant logic to emerging service-centred dominant logic. While a “problem solving” approach is commonly used for the development of products, as the primary unit of exchange moving from goods to service, new design approaches for the development of services are needed. The diverse nature of services in comparison to products, where service are specialised competences such as knowledge and skills that people can acquire and exchange, highlight the need for new design approaches. This research argues that a fundamental transformation in the design world is taking place, manifested in a thinking paradigm shift from problem solving (designing products) towards system thinking (designing services). Furthermore, the very own nature of products has also changed. From being purely physical and tangible entities, they are becoming mixed entities, with both physical and virtual (or intangible) attributes. Also, from being individual objects that stand alone, products now are part of complex systems, becoming the touch points (TP) of a service. The touch points include interactive properties that allow people that use them (users) to exchange information in and out, acting as enablers in the communication between the service providers and users. These changes have direct implications in the activity of designers, and in the way designers approach problems and issues