Sure, AI is pretty cool, but have you heard of something called Retrieval-Augmented-Generation (RAG)... We don't often spotlight specific tech on the Show, but RAG?

I firmly believe that RAG has the potential to shake up service design in a big way.

Imagine having a super-powered teammate on every project. This teammate has the ability to recall every meeting, every workshop, and every sticky note, not just yours but your entire team's, even from years ago. Not just yours but your whole team's.

Ask them a question, and a few seconds later, they've got the answer. It's like being able to have a conversation with your entire project history. Just think about the impact of this for a moment.

Now, we all know about those fancy Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. Amazing, right? But they're not trained on your data. Ask them about your project, and you'll get... well, something made up. But what if you could combine the conversational magic of LLMs with the deep knowledge of your own data?

In a nutshell, this is RAG's promise. It lets those powerful LLMs tap into your world, giving you answers that are not only smart, but relevant.

I've been tinkering with RAG to unlock the wisdom hidden in our Circle community discussions. But I'm far from an expert, so I brought in someone who is: Kirk Marple, founder of GraphLit, a startup using RAG to make your knowledge AI-friendly.

In our conversation we dove deep. How do we even start with RAG? Do you need to be a coder? How do we make sure the answers you get are any good? What about privacy when AI sees your data? And that's just the start to be honest.

What struck me was Kirk's idea that using AI is more art than science. It's about 'prompt sculpting', not (just) engineering. There's a lot of gray area, and that's where we as a design community shine.

We should be all over this AI thing... What do you think?

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00:00 Welcome to Episode 209

05:00 What Kirk does in life

10:00 AI for content discovery

14:00 AI and service design

16:00 Data retrieval with AI

19:00 Tracking unstructured data

22:00 Podcast metadata example

24:30 Vector search explained

30:00 AI vs human experience

35:00 Privacy concerns with AI

37:30 Large language models and understanding

41:00 Importance of graphs in AI

44:30 AI: art or science?

48:00 AI's growth and data processing

51:30 AI agents

56:00 Kirk's AI roadmap

57:30 Tips for AI beginners

59:00 Common AI terms

1:01:00 AI resources

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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How can we leave the world in a better place than we inherited it... And what's design's role in all of this?

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 208

04:00 Who is Steve

07:00 Better Planet for Our Kids

09:30 Design's Role

13:00 The Landfill Problem

14:30 Why Haven't We Solved It?

17:00 Old Ways, New Challenges

18:00 Potential Changes

21:45 Decision-Making for Longevity

24:30 Designer's Dilemma

27:30 Staying Positive

30:34 Measuring Success

33:00 Products vs. Services

37:00 Reconnecting People and Nature

41:00 Accelerating Change

44:00 Government Intervention

45:30 What to Do?

48:30 Good Design Defined

51:00 Designing Standards

53:00 Final Thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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Ever felt trapped in a service you couldn't escape...

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 207

05:30 About Joe and Endings

07:00 Ending Journey

08:30 Joe's Passion for Endings

15:00 Businesses & Endings

18:00 Businesses & Status Quo?

20:00 Reassurance Endings

24:30 Divorce example

27:00 Measuring quality of an ending

35:00 Endings & Memberships

38:00 Alumni or Death Phase?

43:00 Healthcare Offboarding Example

47:00 Ex-Customers = Value

51:00 Importance of Alumnis

53:00 Pondering about Endings

55:00 3rd Book Preview

57:00 Giveaway announcement

58:00 Resources

59:00 Key Takeaways

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CONTEST ] ---

To enter the contest, head over to the video version of this conversation on YouTube and leave a comment there to answer the question posed in the episode.

https://go.servicedesignshow.com/207-youtube

--- [ 4. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

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Let's crack the code of proving design's impact on the bottom line...

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 206

07:00 OKRs & KPIs

13:00 Rethinking Measurement

16:00 Strategy Mapping

22:00 Statistician Thinking

29:30 Measuring Impact

32:00 Google's Money Machine

33:30 The Implication

37:00 Beyond Best Service

37:30 Apple vs Dell: Design?

42:00 Management & Narrative

48:30 Design vs. Innovation

49:30 Minto Pyramid

52:30 EasyJet Example

57:30 Defining Good Work

1:02:45 Community Matters

1:08:00 Key Takeaways

1:09:30 How You Can Help Ryan

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

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Good Services... A book that has quickly become a classic in our field.

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome (keep the same)

04:00 Beyond Design Justification

05:20 Good Services Journey

08:00 The Gap: Bad Services

13:30 Finding Value's Middle Ground

16:00 External Validation

19:00 Misunderstanding Service Design

25:00 Lightbulb Moment

28:30 Great Service Example

31:30 Design vs. Service Pros

35:00 Understanding the Service

37:00 Service "Designers" debate

44:00 Understanding your role

48:00 Grow Service Design Skills

51:00 The New Service Book

53:00 New Book vs. Good Services

55:00 How We Can Help

56:30 Wrapping Up

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

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What are the materials of service design... A seemingly simple question, but one that I believe has the potential to reshape our understanding of service design.

Historically, design has always been about shaping and manipulating materials to give form to things around us.

It's only in recent years, with the popularization of design thinking, that design has drifted away from its roots and heritage of a craft.

The focus shifted on -sometimes mindlessly- following a flawed double diamond process.

Even though people over the recent years have tried to raise the question of what the materials of service design are, the conversation never really caught on.

Something tells me that's about to change with the release of the book "The Materials of Service Design." (links below)

This book, in my opinion, marks a turning point in the history of our field. Yes, I absolutely feel it's that important, and no, I'm not getting any commissions on the book sales.

It offers a fresh, materials-based perspective that adds a much needed nuance and richness to how we think about service design.

Imagine being able to have constructive conversations about designing with time, relationships, culture, and all the other materials that make up services.

Imagine understanding the properties of these materials deeply enough to co-create a shared library of service design patterns.

The implications are huge.

This approach once again makes it clear that services can't be designed by a single person; they require the involvement of experts from many areas.

It also challenges us to reimagine how we teach service design.

All in all, it really does open up a world of new questions and possibilities.

As you hopefully can read, I'm excited about the direction and trajectory that could take us.

So, join ​Simon Clatworthy​, co-author of the book, and myself as we dive into this exciting new perspective of a materials-based approach to service design.

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 204

04:30 Beyond the Toolkit

08:00 The 4 Unexpected Materials

11:00 Lost Essential?

16:30 Service Design vs. Design Thinking

20:00 Skills for Designing Services

24:00 Unveiling the Book's Materials

30:00 Data as Material: Conversations

34:00 Shaping Conversations

42:00 Time: A Material to Master

44:30 Measuring Time in Design

46:30 Specialization in Service Design

49:00 The Rise of Service Design Specialists

51:00 Co-Design: Your Service Design Team

54:30 The Responsibility of Design

58:00 Implications for Service Designers

1:01:00 Beyond Designers: Service Experts

1:06:00 The "Taste Buds" of a Service

1:07:00 A Library of Service Materials

1:09:00 Aesthetics of Service Design

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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What does it take to become a great design leader...

Regardless of whether or not it's in your official job title, you're already leading to some degree.

You are leading because your work is to deliver change.

Change because we want to break free from outdated mental models that can't solve today's challenges.

But what kind of leadership is needed to transform our organizations from the dehumanizing machines they are today into adaptable living beings?

Returning guest Marzia Arico has some valuable perspectives on this.

With a PhD in Organizational Studies and experience leading complex projects at LiveWork, she has many juicy insights to share with us.

In this episode, we explore the emergence of a new, more empathetic leadership style that's quite different from the traditional notion of leadership.

We discuss how to present ourselves confidently in our work, even when imposter syndrome is lurking around the corner.

And we also delve into whether we should be explicit about the change we seek make or take a more trojan horse approach to influencing things.

This is a must-listen episode for anyone who wants to step up, take charge, and offer an alternative to the current leaders who aren't doing what's required today.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that we are all setting an example. Each and every day. So let's be intentional about what we want to put into the world.

Take care and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 203

03:30 Welcome back Marzia

04:30 Machines to Living Beings

11:30 What made her want to make the change

17:00 How to quickly build your confidence

21:30 From Machines to Living Orgs

30:30 Onboard with How, Not What

33:30 Conversation with the oblivious

40:00 Empathizing with the machine

42:00 The example of technology

46:00 Fast-tracking to leadership

47:00 Being strategic when you talk

50:30 Discussions to ponder

51:30 Food for thought

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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Why is it that we rarely question the systems that govern our day-to-day lives?

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 202

04:00 Who is Fang-Jui

07:00 How she got into SD

10:00 Lightning Round

12:30 All beings thriving

18:30 Outdated systems fail

23:00 Asking a river permission

30:00 What we took for granted

38:30 How to prevent overwhelm

46:00 Moving forward without panic

48:00 The skill that will help

51:30 what we can to help

1:01:00 where to reach them

1:01:30 One thing you can remember

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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My daughter dared me to 15 meters free-fall... I was on a climbing track with her, and this was one of the "attractions." Of course, she had taken the plunge without shedding a sweat.

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 201

03:00 Who is Lilli

04:00 how Lilli heard about SD

05:15 Lightning Round

06:15 Community needs to reflect

11:15 Why Lilli needed to Step Back

13:30 Moving to the sustainability spectrum

19:30 World that's not going to be here

22:30 Black foot tribe

25:00 The responses / the results

29:15 Crisis to nature and to ourselves

33:15 How do I preserve this life?

39:15 What Imma Collective is doing

45:00 The biggest challenge

49:00 Do it with Joy and patience

50:30 The journey most proud of so far

51:30 One piece of advise

54:30 How to embark in this journey too

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

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Recently, I turned 43... I don't really celebrate my birthdays anymore.

Don't worry; I have an amazing wife who makes sure there's always cake.

But I do always try to take a moment and reflect on my past year because “The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come.”

Well, today, it's not just about my journey; it's about ours.

We've hit a massive Service Design Show milestone: 200 episodes!

That's a new interview every two weeks for over 8 years.

And by now, we've clocked in over 500.000 listens to our conversations. Truly mind-boggling.

Especially when you consider how niche our field is (still). It tells me what I do matters to people like you.

Honestly, if I had to, I'd still do this show just for my own learning... but knowing you're out there makes it so much better.

To celebrate, I'm flipping the script. For this episode, it's me answering YOUR questions. Some are about service design, some get a bit personal...

Here's a sneak peek:

You might be surprised by some of the answers.

Guess, there's only one way to find out...

This episode was a lot of fun and quite a challenge to produce. Let me know if you like this format – maybe we'll do a follow up...

Take care,

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 200

01:50 Why Service Design

04:30 Lessons learned from 200+ conversations

10:15 The business model

16:15 How to stay healthy and sane

25:00 Communicating service design

31:00 Designing timeless services

36:00 Is Journey Management the next big thing

40:00 Where are things going

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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