Hasta La Ideas

Guest post by Tiffany Chu, Continuum.

The leading theme of the Service Design Network Conference was, as could be expected, a push-and-pull struggle of how to define service design. While some seasoned veterans tweeted frustration, there were many others who pushed boundaries with fresh insights on what the role could become.

On the healthcare panel, Chris McCarthy of Kaiser Permanente noted, “Service design and healthcare—this is a fascinating combination, and it’s just starting to resonate within our community and gain internal traction. We don’t call it patient-centered care, because it’s not just about them. We call it human-centered, because it’s about the doctors, managers, clinicians, everyone in the ecosystem.” Along with Lorna Ross of the Mayo Clinic, he espoused the future trend of not hiring outside service design consultants, but actually embedding them within the healthcare institution.

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