In service design, the most prominent role of designer is to create products that are of optimum value to the end-user. Service Design is all about how any product can be most useful to the customer. A Value Pyramid can majorly tell the designer how a product addresses different needs of the customer. This helps in deciding the target-market of the product, its usability, and also to decide the level of customer-loyalty. More points a product scores in Value pyramid, the more it ensures customer loyalty, thus increasing the company’s sustainable revenue growth.
At Saransh, our business experts list out 4 keys pointers to keep in mind, while thinking of a value pyramid to improve service design, as follows:
Functional Value
Consumers not only need products, but prioritize products and services that bring value to life. ‘Functional Value’ refers to anything that reduces our effort, makes the process more convenient for us. Since everyone wants this for themselves, this is perhaps the first and most basic block of the value pyramid.
A good example of a functional product is a smart phone. Quite ahead of the olden days when phones remained tied to a wall with a wire, mobile phones added incredible functional value to the lives of ordinary people. Not only was it possible for people to call or message other people on-the-go, but, as the mobile phone evolved, they became central to our lives since many functions such as banking, entertainment, business, etc. all became possible through it. Since the functionality brought to the palm of our hands through this gadget is so highly valued, smartphones are highly sought after by the general public, making them an excellent example of functional value-based product design. Naturally, people are willing to pay high prices for mobile phones.
Needless to say, the service design aspect of any popular smart phone is worth learning from. While its basic function originally was making calls and sending messages on the go, service design has allowed it to continually transform into a more versatile product that does a lot more than just calls and messages, which explains why mobile phones have become such a central part of all human lives.
Emotional Value
People don’t always buy products just because of a need. Many a times, a purchase is made because some products have emotional and sentimental value to someone’s lives. Examples of such products that hold sentimental value could be a painting, book, a movie etc.
Once buyers have satiated their primary needs, they move on to further address their psychological needs. Since this is common human behavior, service design can be used to integrate emotional value into functional products to ensure that they are not only functional but also provide sentimental comfort.
As a service designer, one can look at how a particular product connects with customers’ preferences. Ordinary products can be enhanced by carefully weaving sentimental value into them, so that it transforms from being just a product into becoming something much more valuable for the end-user.
Life-changing Value
The ability of a product to add life-changing value to a person’s life is not common. This is because most often, service designers get stuck on the first two levels of the Value Pyramid, without being further able to identify what can really provide life-changing value to a person. This is also why using a basic service design approach to designing products is not enough. A Value Pyramid, must be used to introspect and find out what end users value enough, and find impactful on a spiritual level. The successful end of this rope may enable a service designer to pretty much turn any product into a life-transforming experience.
Social Impact
At the very top of the value pyramid is an aspect of people’s lives that comes to the fore, when all other needs are met. However, it is a pity since, in terms of using a product or otherwise, social impact-based value-system has the ability to give a person vast satisfaction. For a service designer, this can potentially mean having the person hooked onto the product. While this seems difficult, there are already plenty of examples of this around us. Though cars have been in the picture for a long time, luxury cars have grown into an altogether separate category. Service design, when done right, can be used to transform daily objects into something much more valuable.
The Value Pyramid is a depiction of a common person’s needs and aspirations. Its ability to show what people want, the order in which they want it, and what they prioritize, can be immensely helpful while designing products. From paying attention to the Value Pyramid, good products can become great and great products can become extraordinary, if only the service designer can fill up the gap between what a product is, and what it can become.
If you liked this post and wish to know more about how service design can be enhanced, talk to our service design experts at info@saranchinc.com.