Service Blueprint: Self-Checkout Machines

Service blueprint is the breakdown of how a specific service actually works. When creating a service design, the step-by-step process needs to be broken down and examined in order for the service to run smoothly. The first component studied is the customer interactions or line of interaction. That is, how the consumer will interact with this service. The second step is service provider actions or line of visibility, what the service can do for the consumer. The third aspect is backstage process or line of internal interaction. This is, what the company needs to do in order to get your request processed. This is when if the need of affiliating with other companies comes into play, for example, for any online service some companies may team up with another online service to do their shipping processing online etc.  The last element is the support process, or how the service granted the consumer what

These procedures need to be taken seriously before any real service can be released.  The article, “From Small Ideas to Radical Service Innovation” by Mark Jones and Fran Samalionis discuss the many mistakes companies make or overlook when creating a new design. The article then goes on to discuss the proper actions that need to be taken into account in order for a service to be successful. Another article,”Want to Perfect Your Company’s Service? Use Behavioral Science” by Richard B. Chase and Sriram Dasu talks about the same demographic of how crucial service blueprint really is; it can either make or break a business.

Last week, I discussed how one of the worst service designs I encountered was a self-checkout machine. The service blueprint is as follows:

• customer actions-line of interaction: customer gathers items that he or she would like to purchase
• service provider actions-line of visibility: the machine tells you to begin scanning your items; no direction is given on how to do so, a person is just to assume that the bar code is what needs to be scanned.
• backstage actions-line of internal interaction: once you have rung up your items, you are asked if you have any coupons and or have a membership with that paticular store. Once the consumer as answered those questions it is time to pay. Payment can be made in cash or credit and is directed on the screen. The internal interaction that is truly present is when your transaction is being processed, (whether or not your credit card got approved/what the value of your dollar amount is and if you need to receive any change.
• support processes-the only support that self-checkout machines really have is the employees working at the store. If something goes wrong throughout the entire process, majority of the time, in order to really fix it the consumer would have to get someone who worked at the store to assist them.

This service blueprint of self-checkout machines is not as accurate as it should be. When making and or overlooking a blueprint, almost nothing should really be questioned. The entire procedure should be flawless, just like your service. Even though this is not the actual blueprint of this service design, it is an educated guess and has many variables that can be questioned. The main problem with this machine is that you need a human to come and fix the problem when something goes wrong. The main purpose of technology service design is for technology or the service to be fixed on its own; no humans should ever need to get involved. This need for a human to get involved in a technology based service is talked about in the article the article, “the 'moment of truth' in customer service” by marc beaujean, jonathan davidson and stacey madge. The exert states, “But pure technological solutions can never stroke the emotional connection between employee and customer-the kind of connection that characterizes positive moments in complex frontline situations.” All the new advances in technology that are so easily accessible for everyone can overlook the appreciation for humans. The only time technology can create this formal interaction is when the service being done is not too complicated, for example buying a metro card. For services that require a variety of different products, it is best for people to be the ones to handle it since that is what they get trained to do.

Even online shopping has created an entire new demographic for shoppers throughout the world. Its easy and accessible but it still does not have the same experience as to going to the mall and interacting with people who work at the store. It all has its own pros and cons; when it comes down to it, service design is an option for people and everyone knows how much people love having options.