Service Design as an Interdisciplinary Facilitator for Customer-centricity in B2B Industrial Manufacturing Companies
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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en
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79
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Abstract
Customer-centricity, the approach of organizing and driving the firm based on customers’ pain points and preferences, has been around for a few decades. However, many companies struggle to implement or maintain this approach. Therefore, this study aims to identify ways that service design, as an inherently user-centric discipline, can facilitate the transition of a B2B manufacturing firm towards customer-centricity, especially in research and innovation processes. This is a qualitative study, drawing from empirical data gathered through 14 semi-structured interviews with experts in various disciplines from the case company. A thematic analysis was done to synthesize an answer to the research questions. The findings are categorized in three main topics: the definition of customer-centricity from the perspective of different organizational departments, the barriers and enablers of customer-centricity, and the contributions of service design to enhance customer-centricity. Regarding the first topic, the research specified that the common interpretations of customer-centricity among the studied departments are problem-driven innovation instead of tech-driven innovation, understanding the customer’s context, and having extensive knowledge of the customer, mostly in the form of an orchestrated customer database. Moreover, this research demonstrated a set of factors affecting customer-centricity in the organization, including organizational structure, metrics, culture, processes and practices, tools, skills and mindsets, and business models. Building on these findings, the study clarifies how service design can transform these factors from barriers to enablers of customer-centricity, acting as an interdisciplinary facilitator of cross-department efforts towards customer-centricity. Service design can alleviate many barriers and enhance customer-centricity in the organization through customer research, data mapping, visualization, and orchestration, translating user needs into business goals, advocating for a mindset shift, and internal co-designing. Through these contributions, the firm is nudged towards identifying customer pain points at the early stages of the solution development process, therefore, achieving problem-driven development, which is a highlight in customer-centricity. In conclusion, this research identified the key factors in driving customer-centricity in B2B settings, proposing suggestions for how service designers can be effective in elevating customer-centricity.Description
Supervisor
Caic, MartinaThesis advisor
Viljakainen, AnnaLiao, Tjhien