For about 15 years we transformed our activities from being fully focused on design of objects into pioneering into the Service Design and Innovation Management. Although the recognition recently with the Red Dot and iF Award only a nice looking box is anything but key to a succesful product or company. So after 15 years following our own path EYE-D now is unique in creating product / service combinations.

On the iF Award ceremony I spoke with Apple Designers who received a load of awards for the IPhone, IPod, etc. and they also questioned the role of the awarded design since the succes was more based on the whole concept of IPhone, Istore, ICommunity of developers and the carefully build Apple Brand. Looking at Apple in a bigger picture the open Innovation Culture is one key ellement but most important in my view is its culture of being an innovator in connected interactive concepts. From the early start of Apple they did not stop at the software or hardware alone. Concepts with a high level of usability where hardware, design, software and user interface design carefully blend togheter into new products. Going back and forth during its history of the company Apple has been able to over and over again take new technological innovation and transform this into new connected concepts most of them being the benchmark of many folowers. Key with a strong developed infrastructure of wired- and wireless Internet now is the ongoing relationship between Apple and its community. Apple Stores, Online Communities, Products (offcourse as cariers), software, content, applications, etc. over and over again an Apple customer come back to interact with the brand. The service component of Apple’s proposition is extremly important: Istore and Itunes are service portals between content, software and applications and the hardware that are its carriers and the Apple customer over and over again makes small transactions being very satisfied with Apple serving him or her over his or her favorite channel, on the prefered moment on the location where it matters.

Now Apple is leading the way in product service combinations but good examples of succesfull services can be found anywhere. In retail many chains know how to build a relation with their customers, online there are many fantastic examples, airlines do, Disney does and there are many more excellent services where brands and customer are in an ongoing relation.

With EYE-D being a leader in product- service combinations working on new services, products or creating a product- service combination we get approached often to help companies in setting the first step in a new era. Product Design is dead, long live Product- Service combinations !

A couple of months ago I was approached by Philips Design about methodologies for service design, something EYE-D developed and practiced the past years sucesfully. The opportunities for Philips to me are very clear so I pro-activly made a presentation about what they should do. Unfortunatly the service design awareness is not caried throughout the whole organisation and the initial contact died in beauty. So its time I share my thoughts with the world.