• 1 hour 57 seconds
    What the Agentic Era Means for Service Design / John Ayers / Ep. #254

    We are moving way past the point of just typing prompts into chat interfaces. We are entering the "agentic era," where a single person can deploy high-level AI agents who manage their own teams of digital workers underneath them.

    This shift is triggering a massive compression of skills, collapsing separate specialized roles into a single generalist function. If most service interactions shift to agent-to-agent communication, the human experience risks disappearing completely.

    In this episode, John Ayers joins Marc to explore how to help the "80% in the middle". The people who are curious but completely exhausted by the daily AI hype cycle. You'll learn how to take your existing mapping toolkit and adapt it to build "AI service blueprints," translating human personas directly into digital agents so we don't lose empathy.

    As you listen, think about John’s closing challenge: When the dust settles two years from now, what do you actually want your career to look like?

    Be well,

    ~ Marc



    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Episode 254

    01:00 Introducing John Ayers

    02:15 Reality vs AI Hype

    03:45 Lessons From Past Shifts

    07:15 Why AI is Different

    09:00 The Rapid Pace of AI

    11:30 The Shift to AI Agents

    13:15 Agent-to-Agent Decisions

    15:00 Building a Digital Workforce

    16:15 Domain Knowledge vs General AI

    18:00 Helping the Overwhelmed Majority

    26:00 Avoiding Fake AI

    29:15 The Governance Gap

    31:00 The New AI Giants

    34:00 Service Blueprinting for AI

    35:00 Anatomy of an AI Agent

    39:30 The Democratization Trap

    41:30 Human Skills vs Job Losses

    45:00 Stop Chasing Tech Tools

    46:30 Focus on Humans, Not Jargon

    51:45 Human Purpose in the AI Era

    54:30 Avoiding AI Burnout

    54:45 John’s Disruptor Confessions

    56:15 Asking the Hard Questions

    58:30 Wrap-Up and Community Call


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    --- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---



    21 May 2026, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 5 minutes
    How to Shift CX from a Cost Center to a Strategic Asset / Journey Management Playbook S02E02

    Does your "Master Journey Map" just sit in a digital drawer? You aren’t alone.

    In this episode, we dive into "Journey Theater"— the trap of performing progress without moving the needle on business outcomes.

    We’re moving beyond "mapping for mapping’s sake." Learn how to shift from being a service provider to a strategic partner by building a living system that survives the next re-org.

    Watch this episode to learn:

    • Why your budget holder is your real customer
    • The warning signs of Journey Theater
    • How to shift from project cycles to an operational model
    • Using the Journey Maturity Scorecard to track growth

    Just like the rest of the Playbook, this episode is best consumed as a video because we walk through specific examples, like the Journey Maturity Scorecard, on screen. If you’re listening on the go, you can always grab the slide deck from the show notes to follow along.

    Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!

    ~ Marc


    --- [1. LINKS 🔗 ] ---


    --- [ 2. GUIDE 📺 ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Journey Management Playbook S2E2

    03:45 Internal Customer

    05:30 Decision Maker Needs

    07:15 Budget Agenda

    10:30 Impact Over Selling

    13:15 Organizational Friction

    16:15 The Journey Scope

    19:15 Journey Theater

    21:00 Reporting Progress Live

    26:45 Breaking Project Cycles

    30:45 Quantifying Wins

    40:15 Decision Context

    41:30 Continuous Insights

    42:45 Common Language

    44:00 Cross Vertical Impact

    45:30 Eight Success Steps

    46:45 AI Data Leverage

    48:00 Delivery Authority

    49:15 Proactive Influence

    50:30 Impact Focus

    51:45 Six Month Strategy

    53:00 Revenue vs Cost

    54:15 Agenda Alignment

    56:45 Management Maturity

    58:00 Scaling Momentum

    1:00:45 Journey Health Score

    1:04:30 Summary and Next Steps


    --- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

    14 May 2026, 7:00 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Reclaiming Your Energy When Design Feels Like a Losing Battle / Sara / Ep. #253

    Do you show up as an "A-student" constantly seeking the next gold star, only to feel personally attacked when your work is misunderstood? 🌟 In this episode, we tackle the "identity trap" in design and how to stay passionate without letting corporate exploitation drain your soul


    In this episode, you'll learn:

    • Why wrapping your personal value in professional output leads to burnout and frustration.
    • How the constant need for "exceeds expectations" reviews can actually undermine your professional agency.
    • Strategies to care deeply about your impact without letting it define your humanity.
    • How to feel in control even when your leadership doesn't yet grasp the full value of what you bring to the table


    Our guest: Sara Wachter-Boettcher

    Sara is a vocal leader in the design community and the founder of Active Voice, where she has coached dozens of professionals through these exact challenges. She joins Marc to explore how to lean into conversations about value without feeling like you’re constantly pleading for your seat at the table.


    As you'll hear, Sara brings some "tough love" that helps you come out the other side more confident. It’s about learning to keep your side of the street clean, even when the organization around you feels messy.

    Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Episode 253

    03:30 The collective headspace of design today

    05:30 The impact of AI-related layoffs on design morale.

    08:15 Era of cheap money

    10:00 20-teens tech boom and its consequences

    15:00 The ROI trap and identity

    18:15 How shifting performance standards destabilize personal identity

    22:00 Breaking the spell of work identity

    24:45 Discomfort of realizing a job doesn't align with personal values

    33:00 Navigating organizational change

    38:45 Power mapping exercises

    44:45 Empathy for colleagues

    51:45 Concept of "humanizing" organizations to reduce isolation

    55:15 Radical act of clocking out

    57:00 Leadership without the ego

    59:15 Strategic patience in a crisis

    1:01:15 The value of the human behind the designer

    01:14:15 Question to ponder


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

    7 May 2026, 6:00 am
  • 58 minutes 51 seconds
    How to Thrive When Your Company Doesn't Get Service Design / Inside Service Design / Elle & Nick / Ep. #12

    You look around the room and realize you’re the only one who cares about the customer. 😫 It’s exhausting to be the lone voice begging for user research while everyone else just wants to ship the next feature.

    In this episode, Elle Beaumont-Bilsby and Nick Gaff join the show to discuss the heavy lifting required to be an in-house service design practitioner. We move beyond "thick skin" and look at how to build a sustainable career in environments that don't fully understand design.

    You’ll learn:

    • Why surviving as a lone wolf is impossible and how to locate "quiet allies" hidden in other departments.
    • A practical framework for building resilience at an organizational, service, and personal level.
    • How Elle and Nick practice high-impact design without having "Service Designer" on their business cards.
    • Practical tips for staying sane and avoiding burnout when you are the only advocate for the user.
    • How to find a support crew outside your organization to help you carry the weight.

    I'm curious, if you had to make a guess, how many people do you have around you inside your org that get it? 1, 5, 20... let me know.

    Enjoy the episode and keep making a positive impact.

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to the March Round Up

    01:45 Defining Resilience

    03:30 Service Design in Australia

    04:45 Elle’s Design Journey

    07:00 Nick’s Career Path

    09:00 Effects of Digitization

    11:00 Higher Ed Challenges

    12:30 Impact Over Tools

    14:00 The Resilient Self Season

    14:45 3 Altitudes Framework

    16:00 Organizational Resilience

    17:00 Resilient Service Design

    18:00 Personal Development

    19:15 Recharging and Self-Care

    20:00 Resilience as a Quality

    21:00 Individual Resilience Focus

    24:15 Peer Support Systems

    28:00 Navigating Corporate Culture

    31:30 Vulnerability in Leadership

    35:45 Building Internal Allies

    39:00 Friday Afternoon Reflections

    42:15 Success Beyond Metrics

    45:30 Managing High-Stress Projects

    49:00 Sustainable Innovation

    52:15 Resilience as Design Criteria

    56:45 Switching Off and Recharging


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    --- [ 4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

    30 April 2026, 6:00 am
  • 54 minutes 43 seconds
    The Story Vacuum: Why User Research Isn’t Enough / Brian Whittaker / Ep. #252

    Imagine making the cover of Time magazine...

    Okay, maybe not. Nobody gets into service design for the fame.

    Actually, as we’re always saying on the show, our best work is usually the stuff nobody notices.

    The spotlight stays on the CEOs. You rarely see the people in the trenches, the ones making sure the "faceless" public services we rely on actually work.

    Think about it for a moment, you can thank a mailman because he’s a human being standing on your porch in the rain. But when water is coming out of your faucet, there’s nobody to thank. It’s just "the system".

    That invisibility is exactly why people sometimes get hostile toward the government or big institutions. It's always "us versus them" because there’s no "them" to relate to.

    So our guest for this episode, Brian Whittaker, decided to change by starting a project called Humans of Public Service (HoPS).

    In this episode, we talk about the early days of the project and the weirdly difficult task of getting modest, quiet service design professionals to actually talk about themselves (on camera). He also shares hard won lessons on how he finally got the project to take off.

    It’s an inspiring conversation. It shows how much the vibe changes when you put a human face on a anonymous system.

    So if you’re trying to build empathy inside a big, messy organization, Brian’s blueprint really might just be what you need.

    While you’re listening, try to think of one "boring" story in your own org that deserves a spotlight.

    Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Episode 252

    03:45 Family Roots in Service

    05:00 Current US Service Challenges

    07:30 Private to Public Transition

    10:00 Modernizing Federal Tech

    11:00 Passion of Public Servants

    13:30 The Shift in 2020

    14:15 Humans of Public Service

    15:45 Growing on LinkedIn

    17:00 Amplifying Unheard Voices

    18:15 Shifting the Narrative

    21:30 Bridging the Empathy Gap

    25:45 The Power of Recognition

    32:45 Institutional Design

    38:30- Scaling Human Connection

    44:55 The Future of Service

    51:15 Advice for Change-Makers

    53:30 Final Reflections


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

    23 April 2026, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 15 minutes
    Why Bad CX is Your Greatest Leverage Point / Journey Management Playbook / S2E01

    How do you get your boss to actually fund journey management? 💰

    We’ve all felt the frustration of making an impressive map that everyone "likes" but nobody actually uses. when that happens, our practice loses credibility. Season 2 of the Journey Management Playbook is here to fix that by focusing on the BUSINESS CASE.

    What we cover in this episode

    • Why journey management is a strategic asset, not a "nice-to-have."
    • how to calculate the actual cost of bad customer experience.
    • shifting the conversation from "fluffy" CX metrics to boardroom metrics.
    • getting stakeholders to embrace a journey-led way of working.

    Martin Palamarz is the chief customer officer at TheyDo. he spends his time helping global organizations scale their CX efforts and understands the language of executive decision-making.

    It’s best to watch the video version on Youtube to see the examples on screen, but you can also find the slide deck in the show notes below.


    --- [ 1. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 2. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Journey Management Playbook S2E01

    02:00 Martin's background

    04:30 Origin story of TheyDo

    06:45 Series overview: CX costs

    08:45 The CX Toolkit

    10:00 Bridging the gap

    13:45 Forrester research findings

    16:30 CX & business performance

    19:30 The Norway story

    23:00 Boardroom metrics

    30:45 The Cost of Bad CX

    38:30 High-value journey steps

    40:30 Drop Off Rate Explained

    42:30 "Nice-to-have" trap

    48:15 Service design & revenue

    50:00 Starting small

    52:15 Mckinsey research

    57:30 AI for customer data

    1:00:00 3-minute executive reports

    1:01:30 Ticket value & variables

    1:08:30 Bad CX VS. CX Investment

    1:12:00 Building momentum

    1:14:00 the final challenge


    --- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---


    16 April 2026, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Why "Being Human" is Your Only Future-Proof Skill / Nav Qirti / Episode #251

    Our brains were not designed for this pace...

    Just think about it. For thousands of years, humans had ages to adapt to new technology. When we discovered fire or the steam engine, we had generations to figure out the implications.

    Today, things are shifting so fast that trying to keep up by just "learning more stuff" feels biologically impossible. At least to me 🤣

    It’s like you’re trying to run 2026 apps on the operating system of a legendary—but limited—Nokia 3310 phone.

    So, for this episode, I sat down with Nav Qirti from the School of Metaskills to talk about why we’re looking at the "skills gap" all wrong.

    Nav argues that we should stop chasing "functional skills" (which have a very short shelf life anyway) and focus on the things technology can't touch: judgment, curiosity, and reasoning.

    We also dive into why you can’t just read a book to get better at empathy or judgment. Nav explains that you need a "proxy environment" to train those muscles. Most professionals I know practice by just following a script, but Nav shows us how to build the mental strength behind the craft.

    This conversation offers an optimistic path forward by focusing on the core human abilities that technology simply cannot replace.

    Which of your "mental muscles" feels a bit weak lately? If you’ve got a moment, leave a comment below and let me know. I’d love to hear what a "workout" would actually look like for you 🙂

    Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact.

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Episode 251

    04:00 The Falling Behind Puzzle

    05:30 6Adapting to AI

    08:15 Seeing what matters

    10:15 Obsolete hard skills

    12:30 Outdated learning models

    15:00 The 90/10 Imbalance

    16:45 Bucketing Skills

    17:15 Communication as a base

    19:00 Human survival traits

    21:15 Building capacity

    25:45 Expertise vs. scripts

    29:15 Measuring the wrong things

    37:30 Leadership and meta-skills

    39:45 The shift from "doing" to "leading"

    42:15 Why technical expertise has a ceiling

    45:00 Identifying your personal meta-skill gaps

    48:15 Low-stakes practice

    50:00 Defining Proxy Environments

    51:30 How to practice judgment daily

    55:15 Building empathy without the pressure

    58:15 Anxiety to Control

    59:00 Reframing the AI threat

    1:01:00 Focusing on the human operating system

    1:02:15 Regaining professional confidence

    1:02:30 Closing thoughts


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

    9 April 2026, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 3 minutes
    The Curse of the Competent Service Designers / Chad & Jin / Inside Service Design #11

    What happens when a service design professional does their job well...

    Usually? Absolutely nothing.

    No organizational gears grind. No customers complain. No one panics.

    You did your job, so the disaster simply stayed in your head instead of becoming a reality.

    That’s the curse, though. No one's going to congratulate you for a crisis they didn't have to experience.

    I sat down with Jin Wan and Chad Cheverier for the this episode of Inside Service Design to talk about this "great enabler" trap.

    To make things practical, Jin had a great example about redesigning an onboarding journey. His biggest win wasn't a shiny new interface. It was moving a step in the verification process to the backend so nobody had to intervene manually. It saved the company (and customers) countless hours, but the solution itself is completely unseen.

    Chad mentioned a similar struggle. Looking at his quarterly review and realizing he doesn't have many "shiny" deliverables to show. His best work was aligning teams and coaching PMs to do their jobs better, which doesn't look like a "deliverable".

    So, how do you stay motivated when your best work is invisible and goes unnoticed? And more importantly, how do you sell the value of that work to the people holding the budget?

    We unpack all of that in this episode.

    If you had to make an estimate, how much of the work you do is "invisible"? Send me a quick reply and let me know.

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to February Round Up

    05:00 Jin's path: From IT and HR to Marketing and CX

    07:30 Chad's path: From photography to in-house design

    10:45 What a CX professional does at a startup

    11:45 Why you should ignore job titles

    14:30 Jin’s digital onboarding in financial services

    18:00 Why service design feels like internal consulting

    24:35 Core competencies missing from design education

    31:15 Navigating the "messy middle" of organizational change

    39:00 Dealing with stakeholders who bake in solutions

    45:30 The power of simplifying complex journey maps

    52:00 Strategies for building internal resilience

    58:45 Advice for aspiring in-house service designers


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    --- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

    2 April 2026, 6:00 am
  • 35 minutes 30 seconds
    My Biggest Lessons from 250 Episodes / Marc Fonteijn / Ep. #250

    I'll let you in on a small secret...

    Ten years ago, the Service Design Show was never even supposed to be a podcast.

    And somehow here we are. We've officially hit episode 250. Its been a decade since I published that very first interview. Somewhat of a cliche but, I never expected to reach this milestone.

    I still remember the early days very well when I was struggling with a "split identity". Torn between running a service design agency and following this pull toward content creation. It took me a good three years to finally take the leap, but looking back, it was the best decision I ever made.

    As you'll notice, this episode is quite different. Usually, it’s my job to ask the questions, but in this one, I’m the one answering them.

    I wanted to share some of the messy, behind-the-scenes lessons from the last decade. They are quite personal but who knows maybe you can use them as tools in your own practice.

    We’re diving into things like my cheat code to gain clarity, the power of friction, what I’ve learned about building real connections and how "remarkable" things are often built through consistent, often unglamorous work. And yes, I even answer some hot questions from the community.

    I have to say that recording this episode was both difficult and incredibly rewarding.

    So, if you’ve been on this journey with me, I’d love for you to join me for this reflection. This milestone isn't just mine, it’s ours.

    By the way, if you prefer our regular interview format, feel free to skip this one. I won't judge! We’ll be back to our normal schedule next week.

    Thank you again for your attention, your trust, and for being part of this movement.

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to EP 250

    03:30 Friction of a "split identity"

    05:00 How did I get into service design

    06:30 Overlap between engineering and design skills

    07:00 Letting go of code

    08:15 Biggest lessons I learned in the last decade

    08:45 Don’t wait for permission to start your project

    10:15 The power of consistency over perfection

    12:30 Choosing guests for the podcast

    13:00 The "Curiosity Filter"

    15:45 The shift from generalist to specialist topics in service design

    18:30 One of the most challenging episodes

    19:15 Dealing with technical failures and "lost" interviews

    22:00 The future of the Service Design Show

    22:45 Moving towards more community-driven content

    25:15 Some Advice for someone starting their own podcast

    26:00 Focusing on the "Why" before the "How"

    28:30 Importance of building a platform you own

    31:45 The ripple effect of 250 conversations

    34:30 Thank you for being part of the journey


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

    26 March 2026, 7:00 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    How to Lead with Head and Heart in the Age of AI / Birgit Geiberger / Ep. #249

    This episode falls into a pattern that's hard to ignore...

    I'm seeing a growing undercurrent of design leaders strongly advocating for a more sustainable approach toward work and life.

    It is hard to separate this development from the rise of AI, which is shaping many aspects of our lives and turning what we know upside down. Sure, there's always been a push to do more, and preferably faster and cheaper, but now with AI, it feels like the volume knob has been turned to 11.

    Of course, this has a significant impact on us as service design professionals. The "productivity" pressure is rising for us as well. And if we're honest, it often reaches a point where it not only takes away the fulfillment we find in our work, but also leaves us on the edge of burnout.

    But we're humans, not machines. We're not merely replaceable cogs in a system. So we must find an alternative.

    One of the leaders advocating for this more sustainable approach toward work is our guest, Birgit Geiberger. She argues that in order for us to thrive in this new reality, we must adopt a different leadership style. Birgit says we need to focus on leading with both head and heart in a way she calls regenerative leadership.

    In this conversation, we unpack what this form of leadership entails and why it's now more important than ever. Birgit offers ideas on how you can push back and escape the unsustainable pace of work when everything and everyone around us seems to demand more, go, go, go.

    We discuss what you can do on a day-to-day basis to find your grounding and stay true to who you truly are in a world where compromises are unavoidable. And finally, we investigate how you can show that doing things in a regenerative way is not just good for you, but also accelerates and increases your business impact.

    A great conversation, packed with hope, inspiration, and practical advice for anyone who wants to bring back the joy in their work again.

    What might be good to know is that I haven't selected my recent guests based on their interest in this theme, or instructed them in any way to discuss it. This is just something that emerges when I ask them to speak about what is dear to their hearts right now.

    If you've been listening to the Show, I'm curious if you've noticed this undercurrent as well.

    Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

    ~ Marc

    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to Episode 249

    04:15 Human-Centered Leadership Legacy

    06:30 Post-Pandemic Reflections

    10:00 Redefining Growth and Resources

    13:00 Introduction to Regenerative Leadership

    15:00 The Power of Self-Leadership

    18:30 Designing for Mental Capacity

    22:00 Moving Beyond Short-Term Business Thinking

    24:45 Breaking Functional Silos

    33:15 Leading through Global Uncertainty

    40:15 Service Design as a Cultural Catalyst

    47:30 Empathy as a Business Strategic Tool

    54:30 Scaling Influence Through Others

    1:00:30 Closing Reflections


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

    12 March 2026, 7:00 am
  • 59 minutes 37 seconds
    Mastering The Most Important Tool in Your Design Toolkit / Inside Service Design / Kara & Sidd / Ep. #10

    Let's be real for a moment...

    In the corporate context, what's the thing that usually gets rewarded the most?

    It’s often the person who "just" grinds through the chaos, works overtime to fix a broken process, and absorbs all the organizational friction without complaining.

    From very early on in our careers we are taught to treat ourselves like machines that just need to carry more weight.

    But as Kara Snyder points out in our conversation, that is treating resilience as output. It’s performing professionalism when you are completely depleted. And it is a fast track to burnout.

    Instead, Kara challenges us to think about resilience as capacity.

    What do you actually need to sustain yourself so you can stay in this deeply human and emotionally demanding work?

    Because at the end of the day, the most important tool in your service design toolkit isn't a journey map or a blueprint... well, it's you.

    In this episode of Inside Service Design, I sit down with Kara and Siddhartha Saxena to talk about the inner game of being an in-house service design professional.

    We step away from the frameworks and talk about how to actually survive and thrive in this beautifully complex role.

    This conversation touches on topics like:

    • How to stop measuring your worth by how much stress you can carry.
    • How to create a "liminal space" between you and your work.
    • And how to get to Friday and actually feel a sense of accomplishment, even when the work is messy.

    So if you’ve been feeling the weight of driving positive change using service design, take a deep breath, slow down, and tune into this one.

    How do you protect your own capacity? Have you found any specific rituals particularly helpful?

    Let me know, I’d love to hear how you're dealing with this.

    Be well,

    ~ Marc


    --- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

    00:00 Welcome to the January 2026 Round Up!

    03:30 Kara’s Journey: From Accounting to PWC

    06:30 Facing Burnout and Personal Loss

    09:00 Sidd’s Journey: From Architecture to Startups

    11:30 Discovering Service Design as a Business Bridge

    12:30 Remote Healthcare in India

    14:00 Designing the "Nervous System" of an Organization

    15:45 Navigating Complexity

    19:00 Why Service Design Feels Like the "Wild West"

    19:50 Tool Spotlight: Using the Emotional Culture Deck

    21:30 Moving from Doing to Being

    24:00 Resilience in Startups vs. Corporate Safety

    26:15 How Personal Grief Shapes Professional Perspective

    31:15 The Gap Between Self and Work

    34:30 Why Service Designers are Natural "Absorbers"

    38:30 Building a Protective Layer Against Burnout

    41:15 Mapping the Invisible Organizational Nervous System

    44:45 Managing Design at Scale

    48:15 When to Say "No" to the Machine

    52:30 The Power of Invisible Labor

    56:15 Measuring the Value of What Can't Be Seen

    59:00 Protecting Your Design Culture from Company Culture

    1:00:15 Final Takeaways


    --- [ 2. LINKS ] ---


    --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

    Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

    ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle


    [4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

    5 March 2026, 7:00 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App