A Service Perspective on Resourceful Children – Service Design as a Catalyst for Innovation in a Research and Development Project in Early Childhood Education and Care and Child Protection
Wiik, Jenny Katarina (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202301121218
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202301121218
Tiivistelmä
Resourceful Children (Resursstarka barn) was a research and development project at Novia UAS. Within the Resourceful Children project, a method and set of materials for improving social and emotional skills in children aged 0-6, were developed during 2020-2022. The aim of the thesis was to show how the project’s materials and work method can be viewed as a service. Service design methods and tools were used to create a blueprint for a service to be used by early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals, with the aim to support socially vulnerable children.
The research question of the thesis was: how can applying a service design perspective on the Resourceful Children materials and method improve the success and impact of the project? The aim was to use service design methods and tools to identify the needs of stakeholders, organize the products of the project into a coherent user experience, and create a plan for the continuation and dissemination of the project.
The theoretical framework of the thesis consisted of ECEC and child protection research, and service design and design thinking. The research methods used in the thesis were observation, focus group interviews, questionnaire, and text, narrative, and visual analysis. The service design methods used were co-creation and visualisation, while the main tools were persona, customer journey, service design blueprint, ecosystem map and business model canvas.
The results of the thesis focus on four main areas: improved structure for the project as a service, innovations concerning customer experience and involvement in the project, highlighting problem areas like a lack of future support processes, and the inclusion of the service perspective into a ECEC and child protection project.
The research question of the thesis was: how can applying a service design perspective on the Resourceful Children materials and method improve the success and impact of the project? The aim was to use service design methods and tools to identify the needs of stakeholders, organize the products of the project into a coherent user experience, and create a plan for the continuation and dissemination of the project.
The theoretical framework of the thesis consisted of ECEC and child protection research, and service design and design thinking. The research methods used in the thesis were observation, focus group interviews, questionnaire, and text, narrative, and visual analysis. The service design methods used were co-creation and visualisation, while the main tools were persona, customer journey, service design blueprint, ecosystem map and business model canvas.
The results of the thesis focus on four main areas: improved structure for the project as a service, innovations concerning customer experience and involvement in the project, highlighting problem areas like a lack of future support processes, and the inclusion of the service perspective into a ECEC and child protection project.