| Author: | Dragicevic, Nikolina |
| Title: | Modelling and facilitating smart service innovation through the practice lens and design thinking |
| Advisors: | Lee, W. B. (ISE) Tsui, Eric (ISE) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Subject: | Human-computer interaction Customer services -- Technological innovations Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering |
| Pages: | 395 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Advances in digital technologies are driving developments in the service business, enabling the emergence of smart service and smart service innovation across different industries. Smart service relies on the employment of smart objects (e.g., smart meters, smart machines or smartphones and tablets) - objects of the material world equipped with machine learning algorithms capable of sensing contextual data, interpreting data, and interacting with other smart objects and humans. Smart service ecosystems are characterized by novel modes of man-machine interaction due to the application of smart objects affecting value co-creating practices. Understanding of customer needs increasingly relies on customer consumption and behaviour data collected by sensors embedded in smart objects. Smart ecosystem architecture also provides more opportunities for human engagement that enables creation of personalised service that reflects their unique and variable needs. However, the new dynamics within smart service ecosystems were not sufficiently accounted for through the analytical perspective of a practice orientation of the service-dominant logic literature, key to studying service innovation in contemporary service research. Recent service-dominant logic studies that incorporate practice theories conceptualise service as consisting of value co-creating practices guided by institutions – rules, norms and meanings specific to some service context, and reliant on technology. However, these studies have not sufficiently addressed the question of both the role of human actors (such as customers and providers) and technical actors (smart objects) in value co-creation and practice-based nature of their knowledge and interactions. Moreover, the theoretical propositions of service-dominant logic have not been investigated empirically in a comprehensive way. There is a disconnection between theoretical advances and managerial usefulness in contemporary service research. In the effort to address the above-identified shortcomings, this thesis aims to understand, represent, and enhance smart service innovation through the analytical perspective of the practice lens. To achieve this objective, the thesis follows design-based research methodology, which is particularly valuable for studying phenomena in close collaboration with practitioners during the development, testing, iteration, and validation phases of solution designs that address problems within the real-world contexts. The main research objective can be separated into three partial objectives: i) to develop the ontology and a model of practice-based smart service innovation; ii) to propose a model-based service design method called FRAME, which utilises the design practice of framing to enhance smart service innovation; iii) to implement and evaluate the FRAME method in case studies involving participants from different service contexts and research settings. The first contribution of the thesis is an ontology and a model of smart service innovation through the practice lens which conceptualises smart service innovation as socio-material, situated and performed in practice, grounded in learning and sensemaking of engaging human actors and learning algorithms and affordances (cues that prompt interaction) of smart objects (non-human actors). Based on the model, two interlocking theoretical propositions are put forward, and these propositions create an explicit link between smart service, service-dominant logic and practice theories – smart service innovation-as-practice and innovating smart services-in-practice. Whereas in the first proposition smart service innovation is considered an empirical object which is inherently practice that can be studied, in the second one, the focus is on the nature of the knowledge that is mobilised by actors in this practice and the emergent outcomes of practice. Secondly, the thesis contributes with the FRAME method, the main aim of which is to support actors (customers and service providers) to co-create smart service concepts. The FRAME method utilises a common design thinking practice of framing and frame creation to identify the common patterns of value co-creation scenarios in the specific service context which have limitations due to their "working principle" and to suggest a new way of considering the situation (a new frame) and a set of activities that would enable better value co-creating interaction of actors. Practical steps for empirical investigation and implementation are proposed in line with the theoretical propositions of the previously developed model of practice-based smart service innovation. Before the development of the method, an exploratory, interview-based study in Hong Kong companies was conducted to elicit practitioners' views on the value of using design thinking practices for service innovation and to identify the challenges of adopting and institutionalising such practices. This study aided in understanding how to develop the FRAME method for enhancing smart service innovation by accounting for the specifics of the Hong Kong socio-cultural context. Lastly, the thesis contributes with two case studies in which the FRAME method was applied. The two designs and associated frames were created according to the iterative design-based research protocol and instantiated in the two research settings within the same Hong Kong energy company, a well-known public utility provider (the Company). In the first case study, game-based service design and a "Contractor game" frame were developed (Design solution 1) and implemented with the focus on internal smart service innovation. In particular, the research site used was the Company's Training Academy, while the FRAME method facilitated the actors' to co-create innovative smart training concepts, augmented with technological, smart components. Design solution 1 focused on instilling into the participants a more fluid, dynamic notion of training in which learning is seen as a way of innovating in daily practice, augmented with smart gadgets and digital platforms. The evaluation of Design solution 1 showed that the method provided an enabling place for participants' – training providers' and trainees'– engagement and development of smart training concepts that reflected their needs in a better way. However, some of the drawbacks were identified, such as optimisation for internal service innovation and too excessive reliance on expert knowledge to include relevant smart technological components into the proposed concepts. In the second case study, scenario-based service design and a "Smarter service" frame were developed (Design solution 2) and implemented with the focus on smart service innovation as an enabler of a smart city. In particular, the research site was a business unit within the Company focusing on smart business development and service innovation revolving around smart metering and smart grid technology. The FRAME method facilitated the customers' and service providers' co-creation of smart service concepts that would support Hong Kong in becoming a smart city. Design solution 2 focused on challenging the prevailing technology-driven approach to smart city development and stimulating participants to develop concepts that would involve both smart technologies and smart – empowered and engaged – humans (both service providers and customers). In Design solution 2, the drawbacks of the aspects of Design solution 1 were addressed by various means. The improved flow and templates changed the dynamic of the activities and allowed participants to engage more and create concepts that take into account both the relevant smart technologies and the human actors' needs. A higher level of the actors' participation in deciding which smart technologies to include in proposed concepts was enabled by including scenario-based elements. These case studies were evaluated with a mix-method approach, including the researchers' observation of the participants' behaviour during the implementation; a survey to understand the participants' experience using the method; a mental model mapping tool to assess the impact of the proposed frames on the actors' sensemaking, subsequent ideation, and the development of service concepts; the participants' and the experts' assessment of an overall utility of the method and service concepts. The evaluation findings showed that the method supported the actors' value determination and engagement towards interpreting the elements embedded in the proposed frames and consequently co-creation of innovative smart service concepts. The developed smart service concepts proved to be helpful for the subsequent implementation and were found to be satisfying by the stakeholders. The particular value of this thesis lies in explicating the theoretical assumptions underlying the nature of smart service innovation as practice-based and meaning-leaden phenomena and examining the consequences of these assumptions on the choice of the methodology that guided the theoretical and empirical investigation and creation of research outputs. The thesis highlights that, despite the significant reliance on smart technologies, smart service innovation necessitates an understanding of the needs and behaviours of humans who interact with them: human sensemaking, learning, and engagement are required for value determination and value creation. Since service ecosystems are sociotechnical systems, the technical subsystems have to be balanced concurrently and designed to facilitate human participation and meet human needs in social subsystems to be able to design and innovate smart service. As the research outputs of this thesis are produced in congruence to the theoretical foundations of practice turn in service-dominant logic, the thesis contributes to the recent efforts of this analytical framework to become more beneficial to managerial practices. The thesis includes three empirical studies – an interview-based study on using service design practices for service innovation and two case studies in which the FRAME method was implemented, tested and evaluated. Whereas the contribution of service design practices has already been appreciated both in academic literature and practice in the West, this thesis focuses on Hong Kong, a context which has not been comprehensively covered so far in this sense. The particular significance of these empirical studies is that they were conducted in this specific socio-cultural context. The thesis exemplifies some specifics of this context that create conditions which pose challenges and offer opportunities to service innovation aspirations. Furthermore, this thesis is significant because during the reflection and refinement of the design solutions of the FRAME method, the design principles and steps on how to implement the method were also created. These can inform future studies with similar objectives. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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