A service design workshop starts at $3,500. A full project costs more because it covers more of the business, and I put a number on it before any work starts.
How much does a service design project cost?
It depends on how much of the business you want looked at. Here are the sizes I sell:
- Second opinion, one hour, $150. You describe the problem, I tell you whether it is a service design problem at all, and what the smallest fix would be.
- Service design workshop, one day, from $3,500. Your team in a room. The customer's path goes on the wall, front stage and back stage, and we rank what to fix.
- Workshop plus maps and a plan, two days, $6,500. The day above, plus I come back with clean maps of the key processes, the hand-offs, and a plan by department.
- Full project, quoted up front. I interview customers and staff, build the blueprint, and stay through the first round of fixes. The price depends on how many journeys and teams are in it, and you get it in writing before any work starts.
Anything over $3,000 can be paid by the month while the work runs, with no interest. Nonprofits, co-ops, arts groups, and startups before revenue can ask about the sliding scale.
What changes the price?
Three things, mostly.
- How many journeys. One customer path (say, a new patient booking a first visit) is a day of work. Five paths across three locations is a project.
- Whether customers get interviewed. Talking to real customers takes recruiting, scheduling, and listening time. It is worth it when nobody inside the building agrees on what customers want.
- Who builds the fix. If your team builds it, the price stops at the plan. If you want me to stay and manage the change, that is part of the project quote.
What do I get at the end?
A map of how the service works today, the places it leaks time or customers, and a ranked list of fixes with an owner on each one. On the bigger jobs you also get the blueprint, which is the map everybody on staff can point at when they argue about who does what.
You do not get a 90-page deck. If you want to know what the method itself is, what service design is and whether you need it covers that in plain English.
When should I not pay for a full project?
When the problem lives in one team. If the trouble is how orders move from sales to the warehouse, that is one process, and a day of workflow mapping will find it. Save the full project for problems that cross three or more teams, or for something new you are about to launch.
Also skip it if nobody has the authority to change anything afterward. A blueprint without an owner is wallpaper.
How do I start?
Pick the size on the service design page, or tell me the situation on the start form and I will tell you which size fits. If a smaller job turns into a bigger one within 90 days, what you paid comes off the bigger one.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.