Applying
System Dynamics Perspective
to examine the Service Design
Overview
In my thesis research, I have been continuously exploring various possibilities in design research. It wasn't until I read books and articles on systems thinking that I discovered its application in service design is a topic still being actively explored and experimented with by many researchers. This approach stands apart from traditional service thinking and frameworks, inspiring me to delve into this innovative research methodology. I decided to apply these newly conceived ideas in a case study of Taiwan's diving industry.
Research Purpose
I use the perspective of system dynamics to analyze cases in Taiwan's diving industry.
By integrating the perspectives of various stakeholders within the industry, we incorporate these insights into a systematic model to better clarify the key issues in this complex sector and propose fundamental solution directions. The goal is to adopt a macro perspective and approach, comprehensively considering multiple service dimensions to develop holistic service strategies. These strategies aim to address the bridging challenges between users and the industry while fostering and expanding the diving economy.
• Exploring how to use the system model to clarify the complex network
• Analyzing how to use the system analysis to understand the interaction among stakeholders
• Explaining how to use system change to propose service strategy
Industry Challenges
- The current diving service organizations in Taiwan are mostly operated under an individual business model. Compared to the modularized systems and standardized service processes of diving training and courses abroad, Taiwan's diving industry lacks an integrated and comprehensive structure. This limitation restricts the commercial activities of various organizations.
Process Overview
I adopted the double diamond iterative approach, integrating systems thinking . Through a loose, lean, process I managed to find calm from chaos and success. The process used field observations, in-person interviews, user research survey studies, and converting qualitative data to system dynamic modeling.
Information Gathering
Field observation | User Interview
To understand the structure and functioning of the organization we used ethnographic methods which included observations, in-person interviews and user research survey studies. We also conducted extensive desk research to gain a deeper understanding of various aspects of the diving industry.
Information Gathering – Diving service providers (such as diving centers, gear shops, and dive resorts)
- Before the interviews, I planned the specific types of information that different organizations should gather. We conducted seven field observations where each observation lasted for one hour. The observations focused on understanding the current registration trends for various activities, the impact of market demand on business operations, and how organizations implement strategies and offer new services. In the follow-up interviews, we aimed to help outline the industry's structure and provide an overview of the overall market landscape.
- • My observations encompassed both non-participatory and participant observation methods, aiming to capture detailed and nuanced descriptions.
- • During the observations, I took field notes and later wrote thick description for each observation and documented all the data
Information Gathering – Divers with varying levels of experience
Divers with different skill levels have distinct developmental paths and behavioral needs. I segmented the users based on their characteristics. For instance, recreational divers prioritize the novelty of dive sites, focusing on the leisure experience. On the other hand, professional divers tend to prefer more challenging dive activities and have a higher demand for certification assessments.
- To identify suitable interviewees, I distributed questionnaires through various diving communities and collected around 36 valid responses. From these, I selected 8 divers for interviews. Notably, I created four tailored interview scripts to suit divers at each skill level.
• Each interview lasted for about 40 to 50 mins
- • All the interviews were audio-recorded and later transcribed to episode transcript
- • An Inductive approach was followed for analyzing the data
Contextual Analysis
Customer Journey map | Stakeholder map
All the answers and data gathered was collated to identify obstacles, patterns and activity preferences of the users.
Beginner ----> Professional
Analyzing the qualitative data we found the relationships between the roles of people and the environments in diving industry.
During the course of our research, we discovered that the diving industry is undergoing expansion. Assuming that the progression of divers becoming more specialized is a process that gradually enhances industry operations, the pain points encountered along this journey—such as psychological barriers, emotional factors, and the quality of environmental experiences—become critical challenges the industry must address. How to bridge connections between various organizations during this process, and how to generate a deeper impact on the industry, remain open questions.
By applying systems thinking theory, we can elevate our perspective to an industry-wide level. This approach allows us to use systemic design methods to uncover the truths behind the current state, while also considering responsive measures and the long-term interconnections of future developments.
System Dynamic Modeling
The qualitative modelling in the viewpoint of system dynamics
The group modeling stage requires organizing a workshop that includes group discussions, brainstorming, idea sketching, issue categorization, and defining the themes of subsystems.
Through reorganizing the recognition among the stakeholders towards the event and collaborative restructuring, the whole appearance of the structure is established to carry out practical discussion from the fundamental concept.
• Four stakeholders of diving organizations and four divers at different professional stages for group modeling.
• The workshop lasted for about 2.5 t0 3 hour.
• I created brainstorming facilitation cards and used a presentation to showcase the current state of the industry and the identified issues.
In stage 1 : Discussion of industrial issues on group modeling
I structured this stage around three key topics
• Topic1 . Behavioral Processes and Service Items: This topic focuses on analyzing the behavioral differences among diving participants at various stages and their corresponding interactions with service offerings provided by organizations.
First of all, the four diving participants talk about the activity items that they involve from the leisure activity behavior to career development. During the process, we will ask some open-ended questions. The four different stakeholders then describe the service items provided in their organizations for both parties to write down the corresponding behavioral scenarios.
We further map out the essential service scenarios from the personal experience of divers and connect it briefly with the service items provided by each stakeholder.
• Topic2 .Key Dimensions of Discussion: We explored five critical dimensions: activity participation, communal behavior, course assessment, equipment utilization, and career development. Participants and stakeholders shared their perspectives on these aspects, addressing pain points, interventions, and supply-demand dynamics.
It shows that some long-term issues are emerged through the interaction, such as the diving market has more divers registered but still difficult in balancing the registration between the peak season and the slack season as well as the impact of the season. These industrial issues highlight the missing of long-term goal in the service and management aspects to respond to the overall operating difficulty.
• Topic3 .Topic Classification and System Overview: Discussions were classified into distinct themes to summarize the current state of services in the diving system from multiple viewpoints.
After summarizing the viewpoints of several events, we classify discussion topics with different natures. They are used to conclude important activity items, current issues, and pain points in the industrial service system. Eight key industrial core activities are sorted out to clarify the essential key factors of the system composition.
In stage 2 : Selection of subsystem and crucial factors
To explain the process of developing subsystem from the eight key industrial core activities.
• Diving activities, training, and career development as part of a continuous, dynamic process. Since divers have different goals, we split this into two groups: “activities for recreational participants” and “activities for professional development.”
• Equipment rental, field management, and business growth fall under services provided by diving organizations. These can all be grouped into “activities for service providers.”
• Resources and community interactions are combined into the “activities for resources and community engagement” subsystem.
From the distinguished four key subsystems, the key factors constructing the whole industrial service system are presented based on the viewpoints of the participants (in orange block) and of the stakeholders (in blue block).
Solution Identification
Causal loop diagram
The construction logic of the systematic service design starts with user journeys and behaviors and defines the core service scenarios. Moreover, it establishes key factors and lists the possible subsystem themes helping not only in sorting the impacts faced by various organization but also in smoothly bridging the causal connection between service recipients and providers. Thus, by usin.g the system tools in combination with the human- oriented principle of “service,” a new systemic design framework is created, which performs service integration and reform.
