What did you do this weekend? This weekend these Service Jammers went from an idea to concept in only 48 hours. There were crazy fast challenges, inspiring talks, group brainstorms, a shitty prototyping marathon and in the end they pitched their final prototype in front of a jury.
After the Jammers finished their pizza it was time to get started. We asked all the participant to write down some funny facts about them and a positive and negative characteristics. We called this rubber
chicken cards, and used these cards to break the ice and divide them into 5 teams.
After the teams were divided we presented the “secret theme”. The teams had to look twice to understand what they were seeing. This year’s theme was a yellow background with the word “BLUE” written in
black. We didn’t waste any time because this weekend was all about “DOING” not discussing, as we learned last year.. The teams did a brainstorm exercise to come up with a topic.
After this it was time to bring out our first speaker, Elizabeth from Twisted studios - also known as “the challenge queen” :). She introduced the “how might we…” exercise and showed examples on how to get started with this technique. At the end of the exercise everyone had their unique topic and “How-Might-We Question” they wanted to work on during this weekend.
We celebrated the end of the first workshop with snacks and drinks. Our exemplary Jammers went home on time, so they could stay fresh for the entire weekend!
“How about a double diamond dance to start the morning off?” Marie proposed to us in the morning. After a delicious breakfast the Jammers were in a great mood, and started the double dance without hesitation.
We kicked off the second day with a challenge, who can go out and test their biasses and assumptions on real people the fastest? We needed the Jammers to go out and test, as soon as possible! After they did their user interviews they finished their life-sized persona to define their main user. This year we had two twin-jams, and so we connected with Leeds & Glasgow during the day to report our findings to eachother.
Time for some ideation! Time to create the first concepts! Question and reinforce each-other’s first concepts with the questions: “Yes, but…” and “Yes, and…”. We didn’t waste any time and let the talented Stefanos (the prototyping guru) talk about prototypes. When we presented the “Shitty Prototypes Marathon” we were under prepared for the amount of energy and enthusiasm from the Jammers. As enthusiasm raised we started hearing animal sounds, enthusiastic cheers and wild clapping noises. In total they managed to create more than 150 shitty prototypes in 30min!
At the end of the second day, all of the last energy went to the prototyping marathon, and it was clear everyone was in need of a well deserved good nights rest.
Because it was daylight saving time, everybody had to wake up an hour early, on a Sunday!! So Iva decided to start the day with an “emotional fruit salad”, people were awkwardly looking at each-other at first but it didn’t take long before everyone was acting a full range of (fake) emotions with the other Jammers.
We had a few hours left for building, testing and learning. The Jammers finished their last prototypes, and tested them out in the field. After the testing, they adjusted their prototype. After everybody finalized their concept and prototypes we got to the next step, the pitch! Our pitching master Sofie showed them the building blocks of a great pitch and shared some of her own tips and tricks. It was time to put their learnings to the test and show off their final concept and prototype.
The Jammers were very proud and excited to show off their concept after a weekend building up to this moment. The jury was very impressed with the quality of the concepts the Jammers were able to create on such a short amount of time. They helped give more insight and gave interesting tips. After a great pitch, it was time to celebrate! We had a last drink on our successful weekend.
We would like to thank our enthusiastic Jammers for making this such a fantastic edition! And we’d like to thank our experts who were so kind to share their knowledge, time, advice and for being a source of inspiration.
Our experts:
Marie Cheung | Service & UX Designer
Elizabeth Verhetsel | Twisted Studio
Stefanos Monastiridis | Namahn
Iva Pérez | Boondoggle
Ward Vancoppenolle | Achilles Design
Sofie Vandenhende | Leap Forward
Marie Denys | Knight Moves
Kathelijne Put | Knight Moves
We had a blast organizing another edition of the Ghent Service Jam!
See you next year?
In case you missed the Service Design Global Conference 2024, you can purchase Replay access to all recordings and view them at your leisure until October 4, 2025.
In this issue of Touchpoint, we focus on interdisciplinarity itself. What does success look like, and what are the tried and tested methods to achieve it?
Join us for the Service Design Global Conference (SDGC24) this October! Our in-person tickets are sold out, but you can still register for the full virtual experience and be part of this inspiring event. See you there!
As the practice of service design continues to gain recognition and traction, a notable trend has emerged: organisations are choosing to build and utilise in-house service design teams rather than relying on external agencies. This shift brings with it a host of considerations, both positive and negative, that merit in-depth exploration and critical reflection.
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