Service blueprint

The service blueprint is a technique originally used for service design and innovation, but has also found applications in diagnosing problems with operational efficiency. The technique was first described by G. Lynn Shostack, a bank executive, in the Harvard Business Review in 1984. The service blueprint is an applied process chart which shows the service delivery process from the customer's perspective. The service blueprint has become one of the most widely used tools to manage service operations, service design and service positioning.

A simple way to think about blueprints is as a process chart which consists of inputs, process and outputs.

A Service Blueprint for the organization of a Conference The service blueprint identifies:

Optional inclusions - depending on intended application

The service blueprint has become one of the most useful tools in the services marketer's repertoire. Since its original development, a number of scholars have sought to increase its usefulness by adding various modifications that provide additional information and more demarcations. Zeithmal and Bitner recommend adding four lines to the map. (1) the Line of Visibility (as in the original); (2) the Line of Interaction which separates customer actions from service provider actions (3) the Line of Internal Interaction which separates the front office and the back office and (4) the Line of Implementation which separates management zone from the support zone. The addition of these lines helps to separate the functions of planning and controlling from support activities including preparation. Yet other scholars and practitioners have recommended adding different lines including (5) the Line of Order Penetration which separates customer-induced activities from customer-independent activities.

Lovelock, Patterson, and Walker (2001) suggest that the service blueprint may also be useful for specifying the level of variation from standards that would be tolerated at each step of the process without impacting on customer’s perceptions of quality and timeliness. Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler (2006) also recommended adding bottlenecks and fail points to the map. A bottleneck is a point in the system at which consumers waiting time is likely to exceed average or minimum tolerable expectations. A fail point is any point within the encounter that has potential to affect customer satisfaction or quality. These additions increase the diagnostic value of the service blueprint.

Service blueprinting has three main applications: simple representation; diagnosing operational deficiencies and service design (planning for structural change or new service development).

The original service blueprint is a highly visual, graphical map that delineates the key contact points in the service process and the nature of the contact – whether with physical evidence, personnel or procedures. It can be seen as a two dimensional map in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the basic steps in the process. A line of visibility is included to separate actions visible to the customer from actions out of sight. Employee latitude, which refers to the amount of discretion given to employees to vary the service process, is shown on the map a call-out sign attached to the step. Process complexity is shown simply by the number of steps in the process.

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