Navigating Change and Building Impact / Inside Service Design / Ep. #01

Apr 17, 2025

Shelby Bower, the first UX professional at Rush Health Systems, discusses her pioneering role in enhancing digital transformation in healthcare. Nicole Bennett, lead service designer at Lairdall, shares insights on translating health tech products for the US market. Together, they explore the messy realities of service design, the power of storytelling in fostering collaboration, and the critical importance of stakeholder relationships. Their personal anecdotes reveal the emotional challenges and rewarding moments in navigating the complex healthcare landscape.

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INSIGHT

Defining In-House Success

Success in in-house service design isn't just final implementation; early team alignment is key.
Momentum and shared direction indicate progress, even before tangible results appear.

INSIGHT

In-House Success Metrics

In-house service design necessitates understanding the entire business ecosystem.
Success involves building relationships across functions and influencing organizational thinking.

ADVICE

Storytelling Best Practices

For impactful storytelling, practice with prompts, refine narratives, and keep it concise.
Emphasize authenticity, focus on truths, and avoid unnecessary embellishments or lies.

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Who are they...

I know there are many out there and you could very well be one of them.

I'm talking about the unsung heroes who do the hard work of making the services around us a little bit better each and every day.

It might sound a little bit silly, but I feel that we don't know enough what it's like to do service design on a day to day basis.

Sure, we often hear about inspiring theories, useful frameworks and great case studies.

But somehow we rarely get to see the honest, unpolished and messy side of our work.

Well, that's about to change!

We're starting an new series here on the Show. A series where we dive deep into the actual practice of service design. About time, right? ;)

You'll hear two guests, both experienced in-house service design professionals, talk about their hard-won lessons, how they measure success, the indispensable skills to do their work well and much more.

In this first episode, I'm joined by Shelby Bower and Nicole Bennett who both, as you'll quickly hear, bring a wealth of experience and practical wisdom to the conversation.

So if you want compare if you're doing service design in a way that aligns with your fellow practitioners, and maybe learn a thing or two from their approach, this series is for you.

Which question would you ask a fellow service design professional? Let me know and maybe I'll be able to weave it in into the next episode.

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to this episode

01:30 Introducing Shelby

05:00 Introducing Nicole

11:00 Nicole Definition of Success

13:30 Shelby's Success Metrics

17:30 Tracking Progress

21:45 Nicole's Dinner Table Session

23:30 Topic Choice (Nicole)

24:30 Shelby's Session Topic

26:00 Topic Choice (Shelby)

27:45 Nicole's Key Takeaways

30:45 Shelby's Key Moments

34:45 Shelby's Written Takeaway

36:00 Nicole's Post-Session Impact

38:30 In-House Design Misconceptions

43:30 Nicole's In-House Design Truth

46:30 In-House vs. Agency

50:30 Becoming Indispensable In-House

54:30 Shelby's Motivation (Burnout)

57:30 Nicole's Motivation

59:30 Nicole's Advice

59:45 Shelby's Advice

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

Shelby's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelbybower/
Nicole's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerosebennett/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

Navigating Change and Building Impact / Inside Service Design / Ep. #01​

Defining In-House Success

In-House Success Metrics

Storytelling Best Practices

Navigating Change and Building Impact / Inside Service Design / Ep. #01