Get an inside look with Harmonic Design

There's an intriguing mystery to the backstage... Think about it for a moment. People love to see what happens inside the kitchen of a Gordon Ramsey restaurant. Or to follow a sports team into the locker room before and after a game. 

We want to look over the shoulder and get an inside glimpse. See things that are usually hidden from the general public. We want to see beyond the frontstage. Well, I've got exciting news, because today we're going to do just that. Not for a restaurant or your favorite sports team but for a leading service design consultancy.

To celebrate their 4th anniversary with the community, the team from Harmonic Design agreed to sit down with me for an uncensored ask-me-anything episode.

In this episode, you'll hear the team react to questions like:

What is your strategy for finding new clients?

What is the most challenging part of your work?

What does it take to get hired at a service design consultancy?

What is the biggest failure you made in a project?

What is the most important thing you look for in a client?

What is the future of agencies?

And many more...

The team promised me the truth and nothing but the truth. I would say listen to the episode and find out if the team managed to live up to their promise.

As you'll see and hear, this is a format we haven't done on the Show before. So let me know if this is something that you enjoy and we should do it more often!

My first encounter with Harmonic Design founder Patrick Quattlebaum was for an interview on the Service Design Show back in episode #115. Ever since our first interaction, Harmonic Design has been a great partner of the Show. I want to use this opportunity to send out my appreciation and gratitude for how they are contributing to the service design community and helping it mature.

[ 1. EPISODE GUIDE ]

00:00 Welcome to Show

04:30 Meet Shreya

05:15 Meet Stephen

05:45 Meet Kerri

06:45 Meet Tucker

07:45 Finish the sentence: communicating the value

11:30 Lightning round: Shreya

13:45 Deep dive: what skill does some need to demonstrate

19:30 Finish the sentence: misconceptions

22:00 Lightning round: Stephen

24:00 Deep dive: how do you get to know the full problem space

32:00 Finish the sentence: our strategy to find new clients is

34:15 Lightning round: Kerri

36:15 Deep dive: how do you scope a project

44:00 Finish the sentence: the most fun part of your work

47:00 Lightning round: Tucker

49:15 Deep dive: the future of agencies

54:00 Finish the sentence: recommendations

59:00 Closing thoughts

[ 2. LINKS ]

https://thisisharmonic.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrimdesignpro/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreya-dhawan/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuckerwitter/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-taylor-3847aa4/

[ 3. BOOKS ]

Orchestrating Experiences - https://amzn.to/3MK5oU5

The Experience-Centric Organization - https://amzn.to/3PGyntK

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - https://amzn.to/3Nt2KSE

Brave New Work - https://amzn.to/3NAcTgz

The Design Philosophy Reader - https://amzn.to/3NOJteP