Service design training in 7 days
By: Mariana Salgado
Tags: Courses And Training, Design Education, Training, Reception Centers, Service Design

PAMU ABC

One of the Inland’s strategic goals is to bring human centered design to the organisation. In order to make this goal concrete, in 2018 we organised a year long training and created a network of service design ambassadors in Migri.

This year we wanted to explore new and lighter formats of design training. We offer a basic training in service design to Migri’s reception centers. The training would last 7 days, 5 of which was based on classes and 2 days of independent work. We call this training PAMU ABC (PAMU is abbreviation for word palvelumuotoilu, which means service design in Finnish). We did the first version of this training in May and June in Joutseno, a Migri reception center in eastern Finland. In this article we give details of the training and reflect on the results.

Description

The training was divided into two parts: a) 2 days in May, b) 3 days in June. Between the two visits there were a 3 weeks period in which participants had time to read and work in the projects independently . Every participant in the training was allowed a total of 7 days for this training.

Inland trainings are always hands-on, which means that we take a real problem from the participants everyday work life, and we solve those problems together with the participants. In this case, we were asked to find ways to improve the communication with asylum seekers within reception centers.

Participants were 1 worker in the detention unit, 2 health workers, 2 social workers and 1 manager from the administrative staff. Designers in charge of this training were Mariana Salgado and Pia Laulainen.

We gave lectures on the following topics:

Design thinking Critical design Previous work of Migri colleagues using Service Design Service design methods: service blueprint, customer journey, personas Drama methods in service design Digital prototypes Design in the Finnish government Evaluation in service design

Learning-by-doing is the way to train civil servants in service design, therefore lectures were not long. Mostly they last less than half an hour, because most of the time went into the exercise of creating a new project.

We selected readings, videos and podcasts, mainly in Finnish. During our previous ambassador training, we gave participants many readings in English and it added an unnecessary level of complexity to a new subject.

While we had a plan for this training involving more focus on digital outcomes, we changed it when we realised that the participants’ ideas were not digital. We added a lecture on drama methods and we helped them do experience prototyping, instead of digital prototypes.

Projects

Two groups of three persons each, designed two new services.

Group one redesigned the orientation experience for newly arrived asylum seekers.

When an asylum seeker comes to the reception center, there is an information session which normally happen in a room. A social worker will introduce rules, practices and places through a slide show presentation. The amount of information is huge, considering that the person that has just arrived and is often under stress after a long journey and claiming asylum in an unknown country. Therefore, the group proposed to replace the static slideshow presentation with a tour through the premises, giving newcomers the information on the move. To help workers remember each station the group designed a series of cards that could be hung around the neck with a lanyard.

On one side these cards have a picture of the place to visit. On the other side there is all the information that needs to be told to the asylum seekers about the place.. The cards can also be used by other workers, who usually do not give the orientation to the newcomers. During the training, participants tested the cards with different people, including other staff and asylum seekers. They made changes and improved them on the basis of the feedback they received.

The second group worked with two main challenges:

a) the staff in the reception center has to repeat instructions to clients redundantly, and

b) the staff sees a need for other forms of interaction with clients that are not in real time.

For the first challenge the group designed a series of posters with messages that they often repeat to hang in the building. Additionally, they added signs to places (see picture 3), as for example, the main office. These signs also have an explanation of what you can do in this space.

They tested the signs and posters, asking the clients what they understand when they see them. The group then made a final proposal after collecting feedback.

Picture 3. New signs in the office indicating that this is the office and what people can do there.

Picture 4: Posters were hung on the wall but also displayed in the digital screens.

In relation to the second challenge, the need to have other ways of interaction than in real-time, the group designed an interactive poster campaign. One example is a poster in which a person can write a skill she can teach on a small paper and leave it in a small box. Afterwards, a social worker arranges a sessions in which clients can teach each other.

These new services were also shared with Migri’s Oulu reception center. Participants in this training presented their concepts explaining details and shared all the digital materials so they could be used in Oulu as well.

Learnings

We asked participants how they could benefit in the future of service design. They indicated that they could experiment with new methods, develop working services in an efficient and client oriented way, better understanding how to overcome challenges and create new solutions , and how to lead development projects.

In addition, we asked the participants to evaluate the training . They thought it was of good quality and an efficient use of their time. They especially appreciated that it was linked to their daily tasks.

For us, one important condition of a training is that participants get to develop something related to their current work. We believe this to be the only way that our colleagues may come to understand the value of design: by doing a concrete design project in relation to their work and their area of expertise.

One of the hints that we did a good job is that participants expressed that they are eager to learn more about service design in the future. These short trainings are good formats to raise curiosity about design. We have planted a seed in Joutseno, now we want to continue the gardening somewhere else.

Editors: Pia Laulainen and Suse Miessner