DISCOVER PHASE

Service blueprint

Better understand a service and how you can improve it by visualizing the many pieces that work — or don’t work — together to create it. Include people, the tools they use, and the processes.

How to use this method

A service blueprint extends a customer journey map. It’s a diagram that shows the relationships between different service components — people, props (what people use during a service), and processes — as they interact in the various touch points along a customer journey. To build your service blueprint, use the template and follow these steps:

1. Set the stage

Determine which part of your service or system you’ll focus on. It could be the whole thing, end to end, or a piece of the service. Gather research about your customer and the service you’re examining.

2. Document customer actions

Customer actions are the sequence of activities they do in the course of a service. You can use the steps from the customer journey map.

3. Document employee actions

Map the corresponding actions that employees take, both on the frontstage (what customers see) and the backstage (what happens behind the scenes).

4. Document the support processes

Track the processes that employees use during the service. This can include any process that supports the service, even if they’re not used by employees who interact with customers.

5. Document evidences

Evidences are the physical or digital tools that customers or employees use or interact with during the course of a service. This could include a technology function (for example, a form on a website or a confirmation email) or something physical (such as a support manual or a customer service desk).

6. Refine and share

The service blueprint is an important artifact to communicate your understanding of the internal organization. If you have the resources, design a clean, visually compelling version of your diagram. This can include additional details, such as arrows to show relationships between the elements. Share with stakeholders.