Innovating business with design thinking

Editor’s Note: This press release is from On-Off Group

MANILA, Philippines – Regional customer experience company On-Off Group hosted the country’s first ever Service Design Summit from April 4 to 5 at Hotel Jen, Pasay City.

The innovation-focused event drew large numbers of people, from chief executives to front line support staff. The summit showcased how design thinking is used to innovate products and services to make businesses more appealing to customers.

The two-day event included a practical workshop from UK-based service design expert Sarah Drummond and case studies from local companies such as Ideaspace, Habi Lab Education, Cebu Pacific, Curiosity, Security Bank, Kalibrr, The Office of Senator Bam Aquino, and the On-Off Group.

Design thinking for government services

Drummond’s government-themed workshop taught attendees how to research citizen problems and needs to generate ideas, prototype products, and services that are valued by the people who need them. The focus was not just on fixing the symptoms of the problem but diving deeper to find the root cause. 

“Design is completely 100% about people. It’s not about you, the designer, it’s about who you are designing for,” stressed Drummond. “For every service there’s a front stage and a back stage. It’s not just what customers see online, it’s about how people behind the scenes work too.”

Local case studies

Some Philippine companies have already embraced design thinking, service design, and customer experience. Speakers from these companies shared valuable insights and stories about the benefits, as well as some of the challenges, of implementing these practices. 

“We’re trying to deliver the best experience possible for our customers,” said Gerry Dy of Security Bank, who demonstrated some of the innovative services the company had recently designed for customers.

Some of the challenges highlighted by speakers included the problem of getting the whole company to adopt a customer-centered mindset and measuring the return on investment.

For information about upcoming design thinking, user experience, and service design events, please visit On-Off Group (www.onoffgroup.com) or contact Philippines director Phil Smithson via phil@onoffgroup.com. – Rappler.com