The hottest Service Design Substack posts right now

Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder, has moved to Washington to serve as the U.S. Chief Design Officer and launched the National Design Studio.
He’s applying product and design methods to redesign federal websites and services, and has built platforms like TrumpRx and Tech Force to make government tools easier to use and to recruit tech talent.
This design-led push is changing how the government presents policy and programs, updating things like nutrition guidance and retirement information to be more modern and user-focused.

Don't hunt for a single, perfect problem statement. Use multiple layers to see the customer's story, other actors' views, and the wider system shaping behavior.
Listen to how customers describe the issue and collect perspectives from everyone involved, while treating history and past attempts as useful data.
Turn the integrated understanding into small, testable interventions your product can realistically influence, and be clear about what capabilities or constraints will expand or limit your impact.

Creating proposals is hard and often time-consuming because it can be overwhelming to decide what to offer clients. Instead of struggling with proposals, it's better to focus on defining clear services.
Ditching proposals for a scalable pricing model can save time and make it easier to get clients. Using upfront billing means clients agree to your terms right away, like a product purchase.
There are different pricing models you can use, like one-time services, monthly subscriptions, or a mix of both. This way, you can offer consistent services without repeating the proposal process for each client.

Think of your product operating system like a product itself. It needs to fit everyone's needs and constantly adapt to new challenges.
Senior leaders should take responsibility for the product operating system. Their commitment is crucial to build trust and ensure everyone follows the guidelines.
Start with simple interactions and routines for teams to use regularly. Well-designed rituals help improve communication and decision-making while reducing bureaucracy.

American buses stop too often, which makes them slow, unreliable, and less useful than driving. Increasing the distance between stops (stop balancing) speeds buses up and expands how far riders can get in the same time.
Stop balancing is cheap and quick to do and lowers operating costs because faster routes need fewer drivers to maintain the same frequency. Agencies can use those savings to run more service or protect routes from cuts.
Fewer, better-placed stops let agencies invest in higher-quality shelters, real-time info, and safer sidewalks, improving the rider experience and visibility of the network. Closing overlapping stops usually only slightly reduces coverage while making the remaining stops more useful and likely to attract riders.

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UX must change for AI: designers need patterns for long-running "Slow AI" work (resumption summaries, conceptual breadcrumbs, tiered notifications, salvage value) and must embrace generative, disposable UIs that are created on-the-fly for immediate user intent.
Human roles and skills are shifting from pure craft to higher-level capacities: agency, judgment, and persuasion become key, with new hybrid roles like product engineers and forward-deployed engineers who integrate, oversee, and operationalize AI.
Measurement and economics are in flux: AI introduces extra variance in A/B tests, creates a "measurement gap" for traditional metrics, and while AI is often cheaper and improving fast, teams must manage hallucinations, noisy evaluation, and calibrate human trust and vigilance.

Human-centered design started in the military during World War II. It focused on understanding how people interacted with equipment to prevent crashes and improve safety.
John Arnold formalized human-centered design processes in the 1950s, laying the groundwork for its use in technology and public services.
In recent years, human-centered design has gained attention in government to enhance services. It's about putting people's needs first to build trust and engagement.

AI makes it easy for anyone to create products and experiences, so standing out will depend on clear intent, a strong mission, and high product quality.
The design of AI output is its own challenge — you must decide if AI is the product or a feature and intentionally design for differentiation, trust, and taste.
Putting humans at the centre matters more than ever, because genuine stories, authenticity, and human delight will command a premium in AI-driven experiences.

AI is shifting value away from routine craft toward human skills like agency, judgment, and persuasion; tools like vibe coding and generative UIs let people state intent while AI handles implementation.
UX practice must evolve with new interaction patterns for AI: design for long-running "Slow AI" tasks (return recaps, conceptual breadcrumbs, tiered notifications), use prompt-augmentation interfaces (prompt builders, parametrization), and optimize content for AI citation (GEO).
AI will reshape organizations and the economy by lowering transaction costs and flattening firms, displacing many routine knowledge jobs while creating new roles (super-users, auditors, FDEs) and exposing gaps in how we measure value and ROI.

Travel companies must improve their customer experience to meet higher digital expectations. Customers now want their travel experiences to be as smooth and simple as their favorite online services.
Communication is key in the travel industry, but many companies struggle with providing clear and helpful information to customers. They need to make sure customers understand what to expect throughout their journey.
Internally, travel companies need better systems to share information about customers and products. This helps employees give the best service and avoids confusion for travelers.