UX and service design appear to be two distinct fields of practice, yet these terms seem to be used interchangeably in all that relates to user experience.

To do this, the design team must know all about the different users and their context.

This link becomes clear in the context of interactive products and services with multiple points of contact, i.e. offering a multi / omni channel experience. In an omni channel context, the design team conceives of the respective experience at every touch point. The sum of these interactions is experienced holistically as sustained, personalized and fluid. To do this, the design team must know all about the different users and their context.

The UX team is responsible for informing the design team of the breadth of the experience. They also ensure that all the contact points offer strong experiences in line with the needs and motivations of the users. UX will help synthesize the “3-voices” from users’ observations  (the voice of the consumer), the voices of business, and market. This team also works with the design team and stakeholders to create the UX Vision that will be applied to both the digital and real-world offerings.

Thirty-five years and a lot of information later, this practice is now divided into (UX) research and (service) design.

Gone are the days when a good interface design (UI design) was all that was needed! In the days of early user interfaces (1979 to 1985, approximately) the single practice of ergonomic design integrated two fields of knowledge (design and cognitive ergonomics). Thirty-five years and a lot of information later, this practice is now divided into (UX) research and (service) design. The complexity of the relationship between a company and its customers, each contact point being an ecosystem, requires the involvement of several disciplines.
Typically, agencies focused on the experience do both research and design. At Yu Centrik, our designers are also researchers, and ours researchers graduated from design school; these teams understand and complement each other. In the training we offer, we teach both viewpoints. UX and service design are like the right and left hands of one entity.