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Thinking in Diagrams

Service blueprint

Processes & experienceField guide · Processes & experience · 5 of 6

How does what the customer sees connect to the work behind it?

On a service blueprint, the customer’s actions run left to right in time along the top, and the work behind each sits beneath it in rows divided by three ruled lines: where the customer meets staff, what the customer can see, and where staff meet the support processes.

Marks

Section titled “Marks”
MarkDrawn asStands forSource
physical evidencewords in a box above each customer actionwhat the customer sees and handles at that step, the props of a service: Bitner, Ostrom and Morgan’s term, not the evidence behind an effectBitner, pp. 72–73
Physical evidence on a service blueprint: words in a box above a customer action Two rows, each named at its left. Physical evidence, in a box: barber's pole, shop window. Beneath it, customer actions, in a box: walk in. physicalevidence barber's pole,shop window customeractions walk in
customer actiona box in the top rowwhat the customer doesBitner, p. 72
A customer action on a service blueprint: a box A row named customer actions at its left, holding a box: walk in. customeractions walk in
onstage actiona box below the line of interactionwhat contact staff do in the customer’s sightBitner, p. 72
An onstage action on a service blueprint: a box below the line of interaction Two rows, each named at its left: customer actions, in a box, walk in; then a ruled line across, line of interaction; then onstage, in a box, greet and take a name. customeractions walk in line of interaction onstage greet andtake a name
backstage actiona box below the line of visibilitywhat contact staff do out of sightBitner, p. 72
A backstage action on a service blueprint: a box below the line of visibility A ruled line across: line of visibility. Beneath it, a row named backstage at its left, holding a box: sweep the floor, clean the clippers. line of visibility backstage sweep thefloor, cleanthe clippers
support processa box below the line of internal interactionwork by others that contact staff rely onBitner, p. 72
A support process on a service blueprint: a box below the line of internal interaction A ruled line across: line of internal interaction. Beneath it, a row named support processes at its left, holding a box: card payment system. line of internal interaction supportprocesses card paymentsystem
line of interaction, of visibility, of internal interactiona ruled line across the rows; Gibbons dashes two, drawn solid here, as Bitner draws themwhere the customer meets staff; above it, all the customer sees; where staff meet supportBitner, pp. 72–73; Gibbons
The three lines of a service blueprint: ruled lines across the rows Three ruled lines across, one above another, each named above its left end: line of interaction, line of visibility, line of internal interaction. line of interaction line of visibility line of internal interaction
dependencya line with an arrowhead between rows, one-headed or two-headedone action relying on another; two heads, agreement both waysBitner, pp. 72, 74; Gibbons
Dependencies on a service blueprint: lines with arrowheads between rows, one-headed or two-headed Two rows, each named at its left, with a ruled line across between them: line of interaction. Customer actions, in boxes: walk in; pay and leave. Onstage, in boxes: greet and take a name, under walk in; take payment, under pay and leave. Lines with arrowheads: from walk in down to greet and take a name; between pay and leave and take payment, with an arrowhead at each end. customeractions walk in pay andleave line of interaction onstage greet andtake a name takepayment
failure pointa symbol of the drawer’s choosingwhere the service can fail; not in the figureBitner, p. 80
A service blueprint's failure point A box, ask what cut, cut the hair, with a small circle lettered F at its top left corner: a failure point. ask what cut;cut the hair F
grey; staff’s emotionsrow names and boxes filled grey; green and red facesnot in the figure, drawn in one color with no fillBitner, Fig. 2; Gibbons

A line with an arrowhead

Section titled “A line with an arrowhead”

A line with an arrowhead means depends on: the action at one end relies on the one at the other, across the rows. Order in time is position, left to right, with no line from one customer action to the next. Whereas an effect produces a change in the variable at its head, this line shows only a dependence.

A haircut at a barber’s

Section titled “A haircut at a barber’s”
A haircut at a barber's, as a service blueprint Four columns, left to right in time, and five rows, each named at its left. Physical evidence, in boxes: barber's pole, shop window; waiting chairs; mirror, cape and clippers; card reader. Customer actions, in boxes: walk in; wait for a chair; describe the cut and sit; pay and leave. Then a ruled line across: line of interaction. Onstage, in boxes: greet and take a name, under walk in; ask what cut, cut the hair, under describe the cut; take payment, under pay and leave. Then a ruled line across: line of visibility. Backstage, in a box under wait for a chair: sweep the floor, clean the clippers. Then a ruled line across: line of internal interaction. Support processes, in a box under pay and leave: card payment system. Lines with arrowheads: from walk in down to greet and take a name; between describe the cut and ask what cut, with an arrowhead at each end; between pay and leave and take payment, with an arrowhead at each end; from take payment down to the card payment system; and from sweep the floor, clean the clippers, right and up to ask what cut, cut the hair. physicalevidence barber's pole,shop window waitingchairs mirror, capeand clippers card reader customeractions walk in wait fora chair describe thecut and sit pay andleave line of interaction onstage greet andtake a name ask what cut;cut the hair takepayment line of visibility backstage sweep thefloor, cleanthe clippers line of internal interaction supportprocesses card paymentsystem

Above the line of visibility the customer sees the greeting, the cut and the payment; beneath it are the sweeping and cleaning the cut relies on, and the payment’s card system. The two lines with an arrowhead at each end, at the cut and at paying, are dependencies both ways, each action relying on the other’s agreement.

When to draw one

Section titled “When to draw one”

Draw one for a service the customer meets at several touchpoints, or whose delivery takes several departments’ work (Gibbons), where a description in words risks “oversimplification and incompleteness” (Bitner, Ostrom and Morgan).

When not to draw one

Section titled “When not to draw one”

The detail inside one support process is a process map’s, or BPMN’s where it has to be exact enough to run. The customer’s side alone, with what they think and feel at each stage, is a customer journey map’s.

Reasoning and polish

Section titled “Reasoning and polish”
  • Reasoning5 of 5
  • Polish5 of 5concept blueprint → comprehensive blueprint
  1. Customer actions in time order, onstage actions, and the line of interaction
  2. Backstage actions, support processes, the lines of visibility and internal interaction, and physical evidence
  3. Failure points, time per step, staff emotions, measures, and the redesigned blueprint
Section titled “Related types”
  • On a service blueprint, a customer journey map’s steps run along the top, with the work behind each one drawn beneath.
  • A service blueprint is a flowchart, as a process map is, with the customer’s actions laid out first, along the top, and the work that supports them beneath.
  • Diagrams of the work behind a service blueprint can be drawn in BPMN, a more internally focused notation, and referred to from the blueprint.

Sources

Section titled “Sources”
  • Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom and Felicia N. Morgan, “Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation”, California Management Review 50, no. 3 (2008): 66–94, on the five components, the three lines, the lines joining actions across rows, the concept and comprehensive blueprints, failure points, and services described in words; cited as Bitner.
  • Sarah Gibbons, Service Blueprints: Definition (Nielsen Norman Group, 27 August 2017), on lines with one and two arrowheads as dependencies, the lines between rows, staff’s emotions, and when to draw one.