Service blueprint
A diagram that shows, step by step, the actions of the person, of frontstage and backstage staff, the support processes, and the physical evidence of a service.
What it’s for
Understanding, designing, and improving a complete service, connecting the experience with the operation that supports it.
Key elements
Physical evidence
What the person sees or touches at each step.
Customer actions
What the person does throughout the service.
Frontstage and backstage
What staff do, in view and out of view.
Support processes
Internal systems and departments that make it possible.
Three lines
The line of interaction separates the person from visible staff; the line of visibility, what is seen from what is not; and the line of internal interaction, staff from support processes.
An example
Two ways of mapping a night at a hotel.
The blueprint shows where the service can fail before the guest notices.
How it’s done
Lay out the person’s steps from start to finish.
Under each step, add what happens in front and behind.
That reveals the failure points and dependencies.
Applications in design
When to use it
When a service breaks down between departments, or before changing one that involves many people and systems.
Avoid
Making it so detailed that no one can read it: start with the key steps.
Don’t fall for it
Build it with people from each department and validate it against real operations: what procedures say is not always what happens.
Connections
Builds on
Authors and works
- 1982, 1984
G. Lynn Shostack
Proposed the blueprint as a tool for designing services (1982) and spread it in Harvard Business Review (1984).
- 2008
Mary Jo Bitner, Amy Ostrom, and Felicia Morgan
Updated it as a practical technique for service innovation.
Sources
Original sources
- Shostack, G. L. (1982). How to design a service. European Journal of Marketing, 16(1), 49–63.
- Shostack, G. L. (1984). Designing services that deliver. Harvard Business Review, 62(1), 133–139. View source: Shostack, G. L. (1984)
Academic reviews
- Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2008). Service blueprinting: A practical technique for service innovation. California Management Review, 50(3), 66–94. View source: Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2008)
Last reviewed: