Leading the Change and Finding the Right Way through Service Design : case: Personal Best Athletics

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unexpected change to the sports and fitness industry. This outbreak resulted in the closure and restricted use of gyms, pools, dance and fitness studios, physiotherapy centers, and parks, forcing organizations working in the field to change their short-term strategies rapidly. Not only organizations, but the pandemic has also had a significant effect on individuals’ lives through an increased amount of remote work and change in the context where habitual behavior is carried, resulting in changing behavior.

This thesis aims to create an in-depth understanding of the future customer profiles in the sports and fitness industry in Finland by understanding customer behavior and motivations that influence their decision-making and developing insights and new customer personas. This was done by examining customers’ problems and changing needs and translating these into value propositions by using design thinking methodology. With this customer understanding, the goal was to co-create together with the case company, Personal Best Athletics Oy, a base for a new business model that creates value for their customers through a human-centered approach. Furthermore, this thesis aims to build a basis for the case company to create a new offering that responds to the demand during post-pandemic times. Thus, the thesis focuses on examining the target customer groups, new value propositions, and interdependencies between them, developing ground for the more detailed business model design.

The theoretical part of the thesis concentrates on the change process and change management, business model innovation, design thinking, and service design. These frameworks and approaches created a ground and offered tools for the customer-centric business model innovation process. The empirical part was done using the Double Diamon model’s first three phases: discover, define and develop. These phases are helpful to empathize with customers and find their actual needs, extract the key insights from the research and find the right problem to be solved, and lastly, ideate new value propositions.

The research results show that as the increase of remote work impacts exercising and people's overall routines, there is a necessity for more personalized services that stretch outside of training appointments. Also, increased demand for well-functioning online and hybrid exercising offerings is evident. Furthermore, the research shows that business model innovation creates value for both the company and its customers. With a customer-centric business model, the company may create value for its customers by clarifying existing or integrating new business offerings in their customers' everyday lives. It also allows companies to reach new customer segments and create new value propositions, thus allowing them to thrive in a changing world.

Therefore, to lead this industry change and to thrive during post-pandemic times, it is essential that companies concentrate on their long-term visions and start to create a proper change environment that focuses on opportunities and positive feelings that stimulate the overall thrive response in the company.