I’ve read quite a few definitions, and thought i’d start putting them back up here for reference, the below video i thought was a great introduction:

Service Design Network, Learn Basics Page:

Within Service Design, Service Interfaces are designed for intangible products that are, from the customer’s point of view, useful, profitable and desirable, while they are effective, efficient and different for the provider. Service Designers visualize, formulate and choreograph solutions that are not yet available. They watch and interpret needs and behaviours and transform them into potential future services. In the process, exploring, generating and evaluating approaches are used similarly and a redesign of existing services is just as much a challenge as the development of new innovative services.

http://service-design-network.org/learnbasics

The definition in the video is ok. re: “Application of design concepts and design methods to services in order to create solutions that are useful, usable, desirable, efficient, effective and different” at 10:59.

I like this statement in explaining what service design does 19:09: “Service Design went into the user perspective, created the system a concept, Visualised it”…

Also the 10 basics are worth listening:

1. Look at your service as a product
2. Focus on the customer benefit
3. Dive into the customers world
4. See the big picture
5. Design the customer experience
6. Design a visible service evidence (e.g. the toilet paper fold in a hotel)
7. Go for standing ovations with your service (it takes happy staff to have happy customers)
8.  Define flexible standard
9. Create a living product (learning processes, designed into the service)
10. Be enthusiastic (look at the culture)