How Rituals Can Transform Your Services / Ted Matthews / Episode #170

Service Design Show

I'm sure you know them. Services that made you smile, made you feel special, made you feel... human. Unlike the bland and ordinary services that quickly fade from our memory, they are the services that we remember and look forward to.

The secret behind these exceptional services is the emotional connection they create with their users. But creating this emotional connection isn't easy.

Luckily, there's a proven "tool" that can help you do it - rituals.

Think for a moment about the rituals in your life, whether it's your morning coffee or your weekly dinner club. These moments are important to us, big or small. And our lives are filled with these moments.

So, why not design our services with these moments in mind? But how...

In today's episode, we're joined by Ted Matthews, a researcher, and expert in rituals as a tool for service design. Ted believes that rituals offer us the opportunity to design memorable services that make a lasting impact on the lives of our users. In this episode, we explore the power of rituals and how you can leverage them in your design process to create unforgettable experiences.

Whether you're a seasoned service designer or just starting out, seeing the power of rituals is something that you can't unsee. So, let's embrace it as a community and keep making a positive impact.

Thanks for your time, and enjoy the conversation :)

- Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 170
06:00 Who is Ted
08:00 Lightning round
13:00 Rituals as a design material
17:30 Habits, routines, and habits
22:00 Rituals in the context of services
28:00 Crafting experiences
34:30 Designing for the collective
39:00 Extraordinary ordinary experiences
42:30 How much is too much
46:00 Ethical questions
49:30 Is it different
51:30 Most common questions
54:00 Recommended resources
56:00 Closing thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• Ted's PhD (in=depth and difficult) - https://aho.brage.unit.no/aho-xmlui/handle/11250/2758408
• Chapter 9 of this book (easier overview but reductive) - http://www.experience-centric.com
• Rituals for Work (book) - https://amzn.to/3y7QIbz
• Rituals for Virtual Meetings (book) - https://amzn.to/3yksE5L
• Ritual design tool kit - https://interactionfoundry.com/rdt
• On consumption rituals - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666318302496

--- [ 3. SELLING SERVICE DESIGN WITH CONFIDENCE ] ---

Learn how to get buy-in for service design from your clients, stakeholders and co-workers.

https://servicedesignshow.com/confidence