About us : London

“Sorry, we can’t do that – the system doesn’t allow it”

How many times have you heard something like that from a service provider when you asked them to do something simple? Too often I bet. The point is that if the ‘system’ can’t deliver a simple, common sense request from a user then the ‘system’ needs to be re-designed. That’s what we do here at live|work.

I’m always asking “Why?”. “Why does it have to be like that?”, and “Why can’t it be like this?”. Nearly all of the time it can be, and it should be. Think back to the days before the Oyster travel service in London. Passengers were not able to use the same tickets on different modes of transport from the same provider. Then guess what? They re-designed the system and found that not only could the system do want people wanted, but it could do it much better than before.

Services need designing as much as anything we interact with – it’s just harder for most people to see it that way. This is because to most people services are invisible and difficult to pinpoint. However, the frustration you feel when a service isn’t designed or designed badly, is very tangible indeed. By the same token, the feeling you get when a service really works, and gives you something of value by using it is amazing. That’s why I’m a service designer.