Today we’re going to answer one of the age old questions of marketing.

What differentiates your business from a similar business right around the corner?

The answer my friends, according to Moz, is good service design.

Good service design is a series of choreographed tangible and intangible brand experiences that lead users to differentiate and choose between products and services, according to this post.

One Major Principle of Service Design

One major principle of service design is meeting users where they are. And guess where users spend a good chunk of their time? The internet.

Grab Users’ Attention Early

Service design helps weave together experiences with brands, creating an ongoing brand relationship, according to the article.

One example the author used was Lululemon’s “One More Time“campaign, which asks the heylululemon online community members to collectively decide which garments to bring back into production. Lululemon then relays the story of how and why the garment was made in “Sketchpad to Shelf.”

Very clever, if you ask us!

The multiple asks for user-participation in “One More Time” lets users feel like part of the decision making process, while the “SketchPad to Shelf” collateral allows users to experience even more of the creation process.

As a consumer, don’t you like feeling like you have a voice?

Don’t Just Design for yourself. Design for Everyone!

Service design improves support system infrastructure while empowering all users, according to the article’s author.

Kiind, a “zero-waste gift campaign platform,” gives gift-givers the ability to send and track gift card usage. The service allows gift recipients to either use the gift certificate or donate the dollar amount to charity. The gift-giver is notified of how the recipients used the gift, so they can determine the best gifts to give in the future.

How thoughtful is that? Kiind’s smooth operational design and close attention to its users’ needs is already one step above its competition.

Dream Big and Expand your Brand

The application of service design principles can expand business offerings, defend brand ethos and re-affirm customer loyalty, according to Moz.

The author uses the popular “Dumb Ways to Die” Internet video sensation, which supported a pledge campaign for rail safety and is now expanding into the plush toy market, as an example.

The idea to push the cute dead-defined creatures to plush came from fans of the viral video.

While there were other offers for product monetization, Metro spokesperson Leah Waymark stated they “narrowed it to what we thought would be most important, and that’s the brand integrity […] Finding a way to engage with people in different ways and keep the conversation alive was foremost.”

The focus on maintaining the original piece’s brand integrity not only maintains consistency but prolongs the character(s) of the video in an important way. Service design places a large emphasis on the user relationship, not just a single interaction.