DESIGNING DIGITAL HOSPITALITY SERVICES - 2021/2
Module code: MANM503
Module Overview
The module builds on the overview of hospitality information technologies and disruptive innovation that are introduced in the Technology, Change, and Innovation module. It aims to provide students with a number of service design techniques and models by which current and cutting-edge technologies can be designed into existing and new service journeys, therefore delivering service innovation through technology to create business value. Students will be exposed to research informed, practice relevant teaching and series of innovative design workshops using emerging service science and service logic thinking to help develop innovative digital solutions to the ideas taught in class.
Module provider
Hospitality, Tourism & Events Management
Module Leader
ASHTON Mark (Hosp & Tour)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 7
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Independent Learning Hours: 84
Lecture Hours: 22
Seminar Hours: 11
Practical/Performance Hours: 33
Module Availability
Semester 2
Prerequisites / Co-requisites
NONE
Module content
Indicative content includes:
- Introduction: Why design a service? Background to service organisations and what they do? Hospitality context and who is doing this well?
- Basics of service design: Guest Journey Analysis, Waiting Lines, Servicescape and Service Blueprinting – designing new services and redesigning existing services including fail points, waiting times, technology integration;
- Creating great service concepts
- Service design process: Evolution of models and techniques and their weaknesses, lack of technology integration and focus on the customers entire ecosystem
- Service innovation
- Employee/Guest/Business/Technology – interaction; trust; acceptability
- Multi-channel service design
- Human-centred design
- Design for inclusivity
- Servicescape design and incorporating service technology
- Evaluating and managing service designs: Service management in new service context
- Drivers and Barriers to adoption of new digital hospitality services
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Individual Report (3000 words max) | 90 |
| Coursework | Individual Learning e-Portfolio (mind map) | 10 |
Alternative Assessment
N/A
Assessment Strategy
The assessment strategy is designed to enable Students to demonstrate their ability to design in digital innovation to service journeys within hospitality organisations. Students will be required to show that they have both the relevant design tools and appropriate methodologies to manage this process and imagine innovative solutions.
In addition, the assessment strategy will enable students to prove that they are building up their knowledge and understanding about service design and the opportunities technology provides to innovate service journeys.
Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:
Individual report – 90%
Undertake digital primary research with a small group of service users for a selected hospitality organisation to understand their current frustrations/friction points/perceived limitations of the existing service experienced/provided. With your results, apply a contemporary service design model/technique of your choice, to develop an innovative digital solution to an entire customer journey for the same hospitality organisation, that creates new business value for all stakeholders. Present these in a report format, critically analyse your output and identify the limitations of your work: 3,000 words incorporating service design models.
Individual learning e-portfolio – 10%
Students will be required to critically reflect on and evaluate their own learning, which should include their weekly online activities, and most particularly the online service design workshops. Students will be required to produce a one-page mind map of their own learning and expand this to illustrate how it will be applied in the workplace in their future careers.
Formative assessment
Students will be required to contribute to moderated discussion forums and seminars to demonstrate the development of their knowledge and mastery of the academic research as well as demonstrate awareness of current industry trends. Feedback will be provided as outlined below.
Feedback
During the first online activity, the assignments and the feedback process is explained;
Feedback is also provided during and after online discussions/guided activities;
As the online activities are built around topic-specific exercises in a group setting, students do not only benefit from lecturer feedback but also receive peer evaluations;
The pre-assignment service design workshops are aimed to equip the students with the tools and techniques required for their summative assessment and are an integral part of this module. During these sessions, students work in groups on a task which reflects the requirements of the assignments and receive feedback on their work;
Once marking is completed, students are provided with feedback, which contains detailed generic feedback as well as a breakdown of marks. This enables students to assess their own performance compared to their peers.
Module aims
- This module aims to provide learners with a systematic understanding of service design techniques that can facilitate the purposeful imagining of new, and improvement of existing, service journeys. The module will focus on understanding the necessary considerations as to how innovative technologies can best be designed into these journeys to provide new value for a balanced range of stakeholders.
Learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | ||
| 001 | Demonstrate a systematic understanding of fundamental concepts of service design | CK |
| 002 | Demonstrate a systematic understanding of why and how information technologies can be used in the service process to achieve operational, tactical, and strategic goals | CK |
| 003 | Demonstrate a practical understanding of the use of information technologies for service enhancement and originality in their application | CK |
| 004 | Demonstrate a systematic understanding of current issues in service design and incorporating technology into designs, including inclusivity, trust and acceptability | CK |
| 005 | Communicate originally, clearly, logically, and persuasively through design models and in writing | PT |
| 006 | Identify, analyse, and decide on original courses of actions to resolve complex, unstructured problems using appropriate service design tools | CT |
| 007 | Demonstrate an ability to synthesise and apply original approaches to innovation that are meaningful and potentially radical | CK |
| 008 | Demonstrate a conceptual understanding to evaluate the elements required for designing and developing a technology-based service innovation strategy for hospitality services | CK |
| 009 | Demonstrate an original and reflective approach to innovation related to the contemporary hospitality industry and the digital economy | T |
| 010 | Develop a conceptual understanding of the importance of developing and implementing organisational strategies and plans, linking technological innovation and the values of a company to commercial performance | C |
| 011 | Analyse and debate theoretical and applied knowledge with originality in the management, operation, organisation, and provision of services in the hospitality sector | K |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Methods of Teaching / Learning
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to provide students with a battery of techniques and models to facilitate service design in innovative and digitally focused hospitality organisations. The module will provide students with a combination of the necessary conceptual knowledge, an awareness of the contemporary challenges and considerations to be made, and practical skills to facilitate, lead and manage digital service design in future roles.
The learning and teaching methods include:
- theoretical lectures with supporting materials from a range of perspectives within service design, innovation, and digital transformation to provide students with a holistic framework of knowledge
- service design workshops, online exercises, practical examples, and topical case studies to critically discuss and apply theoretical knowledge to contemporary industry practices
- a project in which students develop an innovative digital solution to an entire customer journey for a hospitality organisation
- supporting guest service design workshops
- virtual field trip to experience innovative and digitally focused servicescape design
- formative feedback sessions
Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.
Reading list
https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM503
Other information
N/A
Programmes this module appears in
| Programme | Semester | Classification | Qualifying conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Hospitality Management with Digital Innovation MSc | 2 | Optional | A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module |
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.