Are we too focused on touchpoints? Maybe we should think about servicescapes instead.

Posted by Anthony Weiler on Jan 25, 2018

As technology rapidly evolves and connects our experiences, what does the future
of our physical environments look like? At Stratos we’re passionate about systems thinking in service design. We don't just look at the intangible offerings of services, but also the tangible artifacts and environments in which these experiences take place. Many design teams are stuck thinking about and innovating around touchpoints but we believe there’s a need to be more holistic in our thinking. This had us asking the question: Is there a way to think beyond touchpoints?

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Tags: Service Design, User Experience, Design Strategy, Customer Experience

Three Practical Ways to Bridge the Gap Between Research and Design

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Jun 14, 2017

Does your organization have challenges bridging the research insights and design development phases on experience-based projects? It can be difficult, especially during large scale projects within an organization.

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Tags: Service Design, Codesign, UX, User Experience, Customer Experience

Co-design: A Powerful Force for Creativity and Collaboration

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Mar 15, 2017

We can all agree that creativity and collaboration are good things, but not everyone is in agreement on what they look like in practice or the best way to support them.

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Tags: Codesign, User Research, Design, User Experience, Design Thinking

6 Strategic Tips for Facilitating Innovation

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Sep 14, 2016

At Stratos, we’ve played a range of roles in the strategic front-end of the innovation process. In our experience, we have found that clients often need more than research insights. They need help bridging the gap between design research and the implementation work streams of their project. If you want to add value to your offering, your role might go beyond that of a design researcher or even a design strategist and become that of a “facilitator of innovation.” Here are some lessons we’ve learned from working on innovation projects:

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Tags: Innovation, UX, Design, User Experience, Design Research

5 Ways Experience Mapping Enhances Design Strategy

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Jun 15, 2016
Experience mapping: The goal is to incorporate multiple perspectives and map experiences holistically.

Experience mapping, a collaborative visioning method, is popular among design strategists complete with its own hashtag, #xmapping. Collaboratively mapping an experience with multiple stakeholders exposes parts of the overall experience that are difficult to predict and articulate. Engaging users and business teams in hands-on activities simultaneously to create a journey map is powerfully strategic and worth exploring.

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Tags: Service Design, UX, User Experience, User Journey Mapping, Design Strategy

Looking to Get Started with Experience Mapping? — 5 Questions You Must Ask

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Mar 16, 2016
5 questions you must ask before starting the process of experience mapping

Experience mapping is a process that aims to visualize a holistic account of your customer’s experience including processes, decisions, and emotions that people feel while interacting with your product or service. It helps companies develop a deep understanding of the people they serve and to put that understanding at the core of their strategic planning.

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Tags: Service Design, User Experience Design, UX, User Experience, Experience Mapping

We are Stratos, and we are here to share and start conversations!

Posted by Stratos Innovation Group on Jan 14, 2015

Let’s navigate change side-by-side.

After a few years of engaging in a range of design research and strategy work, we have started a blog space where we can share what we’ve learned and what we’re up to. We also want to invite a dialogue between other design researchers, strategists, leaders of innovation, members of the continuous improvement community, the user experience community, and beyond. Our goal is to share our thoughts, to share the things we find useful, and to generate conversation across industries.

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Tags: Service Design, Innovation, UX, Design, User Experience