Service Design for Dark Sky Tourism I: Identify your customer

Service design helps create better tourism products

Natural darkness offers added value to tourism offerings. But how to utilise the possibilities, and who are the customers for Dark Sky tourism products? Service design can help you. 
If you are just starting your journey to Dark Sky tourism, please be sure to study our module Embracing the Night II first before entering this study module.

Service design is a creative and practical approach to designing and developing new and existing services. The goal is to design and develop services that meet customers' needs and desires as efficiently as possible. It combines an understanding of business, technology, and customer experience to create holistic, functional, and sustainable services. At its core is human-centeredness, which means that services are always designed with the needs, desires, and experiences of customers and other stakeholders in mind. Service design does not focus solely on the end result of the service but on the entire service experience – all the touchpoints where the customer interacts with the service provider.

In the tourism industry, this means, for example, booking accommodation, navigating the airport, staying at a hotel, participating in excursions, and providing feedback. Service design aims to make these experiences smooth, pleasant, and valuable for all parties involved.

Service design focuses on the overall service process, i.e., how the service operates behind the scenes within the organization and how different parties (customers, employees, systems) collaborate.

Applying service design in the tourism industry can bring many significant benefits:

• Improved customer experience: By deeply understanding customers' needs, it is possible to create services that meet and exceed their expectations, leading to more satisfied customers.
• Increased customer loyalty: Positive and memorable service experiences foster customer commitment, making them more likely to return.
• More efficient processes: Service design helps identify bottlenecks and poorly functioning practices in service processes, enabling their optimization and more efficient use of resources.
• Innovation and differentiation: Developing new service concepts and innovative solutions helps companies stand out from competitors and create unique customer experiences.
• Better employee experience: Well-designed services also make employees' work easier, improve their motivation, and reduce stress.
• More sustainable solutions: Service design can help develop sustainable tourism services that consider the needs of the environment and local communities.
• Increased profitability: More satisfied customers, more efficient processes, and innovative services can ultimately lead to better financial results for the company.

Tuning into your customers' experience

Before you begin your own Dark Sky -oriented service design process, let's tune into the customer's perspective. Watch the following video and answer these questions:

- How did the video make you feel? Did it evoke the desire to experience the things you just saw, or did it make you feel indifferent or even intimidated?

- This video is focused on presenting themes of Dark Sky Tourism in Finland, where snow and below freezing temperatures define the darkest traveling season. What kind of imagery would you use in your region to promote the experiences one can enjoy in the dark? What are the activities that you would bring up? What is the scenery you would show to your customer, that you believe to be attractive to them?