DESIGNING DIGITAL SERVICES - 2022/3

Module code: MANM515

Module Overview

The module 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 Management

Module Leader

PEREIRA DOEL Pablo (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

Workshop Hours: 22

Independent Learning Hours: 117

Lecture Hours: 11

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? HTE 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 - 3,000 words 90
Coursework Individual Learning Portfolio - 500 words 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 HTE 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 HTE 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 HTE 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 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 workshop, the assignments and the feedback process is explained; Feedback is also provided during and after online discussions/guided activities; As the 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 HTE 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 HTE 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: MANM515

Other information

This module will run in a compressed format in the Summer as an optional module for those students taking a non-dissertation pathway

This module adopts the University curriculum framework, which aims to develop learners with strong capabilities in Digital Capabilities, Employability, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module contributes to the development of the following capabilities: 

Digital Capabilities: This module focuses on developing students’ capabilities in 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. They will learn how to use a software to design and map service journeys. Students will use the virtual learning environment (VLE),¿SurreyLearn, and Smpaly, service design software,  to facilitate learning. These include accessing teaching and learning materials and engaging with their instructors and¿peers.¿Module assessments require students to work collaboratively with service users to understand their current frustrations/friction points/perceived limitations of the existing service experienced/provided. 

Employability: The assessments in this module require students to extract business insights from existing service users and to develop an innovative digital solution to an entire customer journey for the same HTE organization, that creates new business value for all stakeholders. These analytical and design skills will prepare students to be successful managers in the digital age.  

Global and Cultural Capabilities: Students will learn how to interpret results of service success in diverse businesses and consider how to improve/redesign service journeys based on these.   

Sustainability: Students will learn how to reflect on how to interpret service intelligence to support sustainability in the services industry. 

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students will be required to use a range of sources to identify relevant organizations and their service results, conduct independent research, network with relevant service users, and work to develop innovative digital solutions. Finding these solutions through unstructured problems is the key learning aspect of this module that will develop students’ resourcefulness and resilience.  

Programmes this module appears in

Programme Semester Classification Qualifying conditions
International Tourism Management MSc 2 Optional A weighted aggregate of 50% overall and a pass on the pass/fail unit of assessment is required to pass the module
Strategic Hotel Management MSc 2 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module
International Hotel Management MSc 2 Optional A pass as determined by the relevant criteria is required to pass the module
International Events Management 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 2022/3 academic year.