Service Design and Behavioral Science work fantastically together

Service Design and Behavioral Science work fantastically together!

At the moment my team and I are working with a client in the health industry, and it is great to see how behavioral science and service designer come together to complement each other - it's such a win win, and so recommended if you aren't doing it in your organization already.

We had a workshop yesterday, using a patient journey and adding insights into it from a deep behavioral analysis we did.

I can see why Elizarova and Kahn wrote a paper back in 2018 about it called "align and combine" (image credit)- and how much foresight they had putting this together back then.

In the end by combining and including new methods both service designers and behavioral scientists can create a valuable tool for analyzing and designing behavior change.

So does this look like in practice?

Step 1: Define the target behavior - Be specific on what do you want people to do more, less, or differently? Step 2: Gather evidence before mapping - Do quick internal research/quant + qualitative interviews. and ask about the drivers.

Step 3: Code insights with a behavioral model (COM-B for example) - Cluster into the COM-B domains, or tag them so you know what you are addressing.

Step 4: Map the current or future journey - Determine variables including the main phases and steps, touchpoints, actors, and emotions people go through.

Something we do with clients is run co-creation workshops at this stage, where we can actually ideate with the people we are designed for, but in a more structured and evidence based way - which ends up giving us better insights to create and validate concepts and ultimately final deliverables.

Step 5: Align the COM-B drivers with journey steps - Layer your behavioral insights under each stage, this will show where capability gaps, motivational frictions, or opportunity constraints show up in the experience.

Step 6: Prioritize and design targeted interventions - Each driver lets us understand what design lever we have.

Step 7: Iterate and measure - Use the combined map as a living artifact to test what works, visualize which drivers remain, and decide next design sprints.

How does your process work?

We had a workshop yesterday, using a patient journey and adding insights into it from a deep behavioral analysis we did.