planning

Before we started planning how the space will look or feel, we began with research. This took many forms; interviews, polls, and online research. A number of students also visited events happening around Perth to see what was involved. Some of the answers we were looking for included “what makes these events enjoyable” and “what brings people to an event?" To get these answers we asked questions such as.. “What was memorable about recent events you attended”, “Describe a time you experienced an amazing service” and “Can you remember a bad service?” What we often found when conducting this research was that people are much more likely to remember poor facilities and other feelings attached to bad events and services, such as an angry waiter or waiting in a long line to use the amenities. Conducting this research became very helpful for a number of reasons. Firstly it helped the team identity our stakeholders better, we got to understand what they enjoy and dislike. The second consequence of these interviews was public exposure. This was also helpful with staff and fellow students from other disciplines in the Arts who will be in the showcase. They began to adopt some personal responsibility for the showcase's success. 

 

When considering touchpoints, we all grouped around a table with pens and paper and began writing down all kinds of touch-points from advertising, branding, buildings, flooring, colours, smells, wayfinding, packaging, sponsors, flyers, website, mobile, emails, etc. The above image is taken during one of our brainstorming sessions. 

 

The service design group was also tasked with the roll to create a photobooth for the Sound On festival being held at Perth Arena later in the semester. In the interest of longevity and sustainability, we wanted to design a photo booth that could be used at the music festival and the showcase. This meant deciding on a theme for the showcase to suit the photobooth. A number of ideas were bounced around the group from ‘Gatsby 20s’ to WestWorld. The group quickly decided on retro space travel, a kind of Jetsons feel and style. While this style sounded conclusive we later discovered that not everybody was on the same page when we got to branding, which quickly became one of the hardest team exercises of the Service Design.