Service Blueprinting

Introduction

The service blueprint is a technique originally used for service design and innovation, but has also found applications in diagnosing problems with operational efficiency. The technique was first described by G. Lynn Shostack, a bank executive, in the Harvard Business Review in 1984.^[1] The service blueprint is an applied process chart which shows the service delivery process from the customer's perspective. The service blueprint has become one of the most widely used tools to manage service operations, service design and service positioning.

Elements

A simple way to think about blueprints is as a process chart which consists of inputs, process and outputs.

Inputs (raw materials) → Process (transformation) → Outputs (finished goods)

Service blueprints include actions and the amount of discretion for varying each step

A service blueprint is always constructed from the customer's perspective. A typical service blueprint identifies.

·        Customer Actions: The steps that customers take as part of the service delivery process.

·        Front-stage (Visible Contact Employee) Actions: Steps taken by contact employees as part of the face-to-face service encounter.

·        Back-stage (Invisible Contact Employee) Actions: (The 'line of visibility' separates the front-stage and back-stage actions). Non-visible steps taken by contact employees behind the line of visibility. e.g. taking a hotel or restaurant reservation by telephone.

·        Support Processes: Activities carried out by employees who are not contact employees, but whose actions are required for the service to be delivered.

·        Physical Evidence: Tangible elements associated with each step that has the potential to influence customer perceptions of the service encounter e.g. uniforms, delivery vans

·        Inventory (if required): the amount of inventory build up required for each step

·        Line of Visibility: Line that separates front-stage and back-stage actions

Optional inclusions – depending on intended application.

·        Line of Interaction which separates customer actions from service provider actions

·        Line of Internal Interaction which separates the front office and the back office

·        Line of Implementation which separates management zone from the support zone. That is management are responsible for planning and controlling while support activities include preparation. Yet other scholars and practitioners have recommended adding different lines including

·        Line of Order Penetration which separates customer-induced activities from customer-independent activities

·        Minimum expected wait times

·        Potential bottlenecks and/or fail points

Building a blueprint

The original service blueprint is a highly visual, graphical map that delineates the key contact points in the service process and the nature of the contact – whether with physical evidence, personnel or procedures. It can be seen as a two dimensional map in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the basic steps in the process. A line of visibility is included to separate actions visible to the customer from actions out of sight. Employee latitude, which refers to the amount of discretion given to employees to vary the service process, is shown on the map a call-out sign attached to the step. Process complexity is shown simply by the number of steps in the process.

The process of structuring a blueprint involves between five and seven steps, depending on the intended application. From the outset, the blueprint was designed to be seen from the customer's perspective while simultaneously providing insights for management. Accordingly, the starting point should be to imagine the customer's step-by-step contact points, indicating, where known, customer's expectations in terms of minimum tolerable waiting times for each step.

Basic Service Blueprint

1.   Identify activities, sequence of activities and linkages between activities. Activities include

(a) Customer actions

(b) Front stage contact personnel actions

(c) Back stage contact personnel actions

(d) Support activities

2.   Identify line of visibility and add to blueprint.

3.   Identify standards and tolerances, scripts, operating procedures, supporting services and inventory for each step and add to blueprint.

4.   If required, draw additional lines such as line of physical interaction and line of IT interaction (optional, but recommended for complex services).

5.   Specify time frames. Show average timing or minimum tolerable customer expectations for each step and indicate responsible personnel.
Diagnostic Information (optional)

6.   Identify and note fail points and excessive waits.

7.   Manipulate divergence and complexity.

Traditionally, service blueprints have been depicted with lines and text boxes to depict anything from user actions to support processes. Fail points, bottlenecks and average time taken for each step can also be added at the analyst's discretion. The amount of information included in the service blueprint largely depends on how it is to be used. Over the years, a system of commonly accepted symbols associated with service blueprints has been developed. Although blueprints are not difficult to prepare, there is no universal agreement about how to present the finished process map.