Performing Service Design Experiments Using Ethnomethodology and Theatre-Based Reenactment: A Swiss Ski Resort Case Study

Emmanuel Fragnière (), Benjamin Nanchen () and Marshall Sitten ()
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Emmanuel Fragnière: University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom; and Haute École de Gestion de Genève, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, CH-1227 Carouge, Switzerland
Benjamin Nanchen: Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale, CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland; and Haute École de Gestion, University of Geneva, CH-1227 Carouge, Switzerland
Marshall Sitten: Haute École de Gestion de Genève, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, and Flashing12 Communications, CH-1227 Carouge, Switzerland

Service Science, 2012, vol. 4, issue 2, 89-100

Abstract: A service experience corresponds to a social process whose "production" involves both a provider and a client. This production process that leads to a problem resolution does not follow a linear sequence, as in the case of industrialized organizations. Through ethnomethodology, we are able to "tangibilize" the social codes and systems of beliefs that drive the service experience. Then, through scriptwriting and role plays, we redesign, safeguard (risk management), price, and test the new service. After three years of applying this approach in our service lab, hundreds of students have been introduced to the process of ethnomethodology and have designed their own services. To illustrate the approach, we present in this paper a service design that we have implemented for the tourist information service of Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Keywords: artisanship; ethnomethodology; operating modes; role play; service experience; tacit knowledge; service design; theatre-based design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orserv:v:4:y:2012:i:2:p:89-100

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