service design journey

Skip navigation

World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience

Service Design 101

July 9, 2017 2017-07-09

• Email article
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Twitter

In This Article:

What is a service, definition of service design , components of ‘service design’, service design vs. designing a service , benefits of service design, history of service design  , references .

Traditional economics draws a clear distinction between goods and services. Goods are tangible and consumable — pens, sunglasses, or shoes. Services are instantaneous exchanges that are intangible and do not result in ownership—medical treatment, the postal service, or public transportation. 

Today, there is no longer a clear distinction between goods and services. A continuum of goods–services exists with a plethora of combined products and services in the middle. For example, a song (an mp3 file) is a product that can be accessed via a service like Spotify or Apple Music. To the user, the difference between a product and service—owning the sound file versus streaming the song—can be close to identical while behind the scenes they are quite different.

As services grow in sophistication, so does the need to support them. Complex user experiences often break due to an internal organizational shortcoming — a weak link in the ecosystem. For example, when was the last time you called a support hotline, gave your personal information, only to be transferred to another agent asking you to repeat the exact information you had already provided? This pain point stems from an internal process flaw that was produced by a lack of service design. 

Most organizations are centered around products and delivery channels. Many of the organizations’ resources (time, budget, logistics) are spent on customer-facing outputs, and the internal processes (including the experience of the organization’s employees) are overlooked; service design focuses on these internal processes. 

Service design: The activity of planning and organizing a business’s resources (people, props, and processes) in order to (1) directly improve the employee’s experience, and (2) indirectly, the customer’s experience. 

Imagine a restaurant where there are a range of employees: hosts, servers, busboys, and chefs. Service design focuses on how the restaurant operates and delivers the food it promises—from sourcing and receiving ingredients, to on-boarding new chefs, to server-chef communication regarding a diner’s allergies. Each moving part plays a role in the food that arrives on the diner’s plate, even though it is not directly part of their experience. Service design can be mapped using a  service blueprint .  

In user experience design multiple components must be designed: visuals, features and commands, copywriting, information architecture, and more. Not only must each component be designed correctly, but they also must be integrated to create a total user experience. Service design follows the same basic idea. There are several components, each one should be designed correctly, and all of them should be integrated.

The three main components of service design are people, props, and processes.

This component includes anyone who creates or uses the service, as well as individuals who may be indirectly affected by the service. 

Examples include: 

• Fellow customers encountered throughout the service

This component refers to the physical or digital artifacts (including products) that are needed to perform the service successfully. 

• Physical space:  storefront, teller window, conference room
• Social Media
• Digital files
• Physical products

These are any workflows, procedures, or rituals performed by either the employee or the user throughout a service. 

• Withdrawing money from an ATM
• Getting an issue resolved over support
• Interviewing a new employee 
• Sharing a file

Returning to the restaurant example, people would be farmers growing the produce, restaurant managers, chefs, hosts, and servers. Props would include (amongst others): the kitchen, ingredients, POS software, and uniforms. Processes would include: employees clocking in, servers entering orders, cleaning dishes, and storing food.  

Frontstage vs. Backstage 

Service components are broken down into frontstage and backstage, depending on whether the customers see them or not. Think of a theater performance. The audience sees everything in front of the curtain: the actors, costumes, orchestra, and set. However, behind the curtain there is a whole ecosystem: the director, stage hands, lighting coordinators, and set designers. 

Though not ever seen by the audience, the backstage plays a critical part in shaping the audience’s experience. In a restaurant, what happens in the kitchen dictates what appears on your table. 

Frontstage components include: 

• Touchpoints 

Backstage components includes:

• Technology 
• Infrastructures 

Service design is not simply designing a service.

• Service design addresses how an organization gets something done— think “experience of the employee.”
• Designing a service addresses the touchpoints that create a customer’s journey — think “experience of the user.”

As a parallel, every software application has a user interface, no matter how rudimentary. However, writing code that creates an interface as a bi-product would not be called a ‘user interface design process’. Similarly, even if the user interface were created from a deliberate design process, it would not be a product of ‘user experience design’ unless the experience of the user is taken into account.

Why do we need to care about service design and the “experience of the employee” as UX Designers? An organization’s backstage processes (how we do things internally) have as much, if not more, impact on the overall user experience as the visible points of interaction that users encounter. If a server does not successfully communicate allergies to the chef, a diner could consume food with severe consequences. If a restaurant is overcrowded, but has a systematic process for clearing tables and assigning seating, customers never have to wait or know its overcrowded in the first place.

Most organizations’ resources (time, budget, logistics) are spent on customer-facing outputs, while internal processes (including the experience of the organization’s employees) are overlooked. This disconnect triggers a common, widespread sentiment that one hand does not know what the other is doing.

Service design bridges such organizational gaps by: 

• Surfacing conflicts:  Business models and service-design models are often in conflict because business models do not always align with the service that the organization delivers. Service design triggers thought and provides context around systems that need to be in place in order to adequately provide a service throughout the entire product’s life cycle (and in some cases, beyond).
• Fostering hard conversations:  Focused discussion on procedures and policies exposes weak links and misalignment and enables organizations to devise collaborative and crossfunctional solutions.
• Reducing redundancies with a bird’s-eye view:  Mapping out the whole cycle of internal service processes gives companies a bird’s-eye view of their service ecosystem, whether within one large offering, or across multiple subofferings. This process helps pinpoint where duplicate efforts occur, likely causing employee frustration and wasted resources. Eliminating redundancies conserves energy, improves employees’ efficiency, and reduces costs.
• Forming relationships:  Service design helps align internal service provisions like roles, backstage actors, processes, and workflows to the equivalent frontstage personnel. To come back to our initial example, with service design, information provided to one agent should be available to all other agents who interact with the same customer. 

The term “service design” was coined by Lynn Shostack in 1982. Shostack proposed that organizations develop an understanding of how behind-the-scenes processes interact with each other because “leaving services to individual talent and managing the pieces rather than the whole make a company more vulnerable and creates a service that reacts slowly to market needs and opportunities.” 

This is still true today, but the responsibility does not fall on only operations and management, as it did twenty years ago. Practicing service design is the responsibility of the organization as a whole.

Kalbach, Jim. “Mapping Experiences.” O’Reilly Media, Inc, 2016.

Shostack, Lynn. “Designing Services that Deliver.” Harvard Business Review, 1984.

Related Courses

Service blueprinting.

Orchestrate people, props, and processes that are core to your digital experience

Lean UX and Agile

Applying Lean UX approaches for Agile environments

Journey Mapping to Understand Customer Needs

Capture and communicate UX insights across complex interactions

Related Topics

• Managing UX Teams Managing UX Teams
• Customer Journeys

Learn More:

Please accept marketing cookies to view the embedded video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojqN3tZqcew

The User Experience of Unmanned Restaurants in China

Leeloo Tang · 5 min

Overcoming Service-Blueprinting Frustrations

Alita Joyce · 4 min

21st Century Design

Don Norman · 6 min

Related Articles:

Building Interactive UX Maps

Megan Brown · 6 min

Service Blueprinting: Fails and Fixes

Alita Joyce and Sarah Gibbons · 8 min

User Journeys vs. User Flows

Kate Kaplan · 4 min

UX Mapping Methods: Study Guide

Kate Kaplan · 5 min

Asset Mapping for Experience Consistency

Anna Kaley · 8 min

Exploring the Boundaries of Unmanned Restaurant Services: Irreplaceable Human Services Are Still Needed

Leeloo Tang and Feifei Liu · 10 min

Emergent Paths

Exploring emergent forms of organisation, technology and consciousness

A Practical Guide to Service Design

Why am I writing this?

When I started out on my journey with Service Design, I found it difficult getting my head around what it really meant.

I came across lots of new terminology and frameworks. It was hard getting an end-to-end view of the Service Design process. Articles often covered a specific part of the overall lifecycle, such as Service Blueprinting.

So, I’m writing the guide I wished I’d had when first starting out.

It’s a consolidation of my research and experience in the field so far. Aiming to provide a simple end-to-end guide, of how you can apply Service Design in your next project. Naturally, I won’t go into too much detail in this article, but I reference further readings and resources throughout.

Why Service Design Matters

From a managerial perspective, it makes sense to break down functions in an organisation into silos to benefit from specialisation and economies of scale. Yet, this leaves the customer to navigate through different channels and teams. This can lead to a fragmented experience.

Service Design addresses this issue by putting users at the centre. It aims to create a great user experience across the entire service journey, by adjusting processes, teams and systems.

In this way, Service Design differs to UX design as it’s more holistic in nature. It spans the entire Service journey and often many teams and systems. This invites more complexity, and Sevice Design provides useful tools and methods to navigate that.

If you would like to dive deeper into the “Why” of Service Design, I have a dedicated article on that here .

The Service Design Journey in a Nutshell

In this section I summarise the key phases of Service Design. It is the same structure I will elaborate on for the rest of the article.

I created the diagram below as a visual illustration, with examples exercises in each stage:

📌 Research & Synthesis

You start by gathering as much information as possible to understand the customer journey, making notes of any pain points or opportunities identified along the way.

Then, develop a Service Blueprint to synthesise and visualise this information. This invites further feedback, refinement, and developes a common understanding across stakeholders. This provides a foundation for prioritising key areas of the service that you will work on.

📌 Ideation & Prototyping

The ideation stage involves brainstorming possible solutions to the focus areas identified in the Service Blueprint, before deciding on the most promising ones for the prototyping.

The most promising ideas are then prototyped for user feedback, and refined over time.

📌 Implementation

Once you’ve validated the prototypes, you’re ready to deliver this new service to real users and start the implementation. This would include change management, effective communication, and possibly involvement with software development folk.

Now that you have the overview, let’s dive into each phase in more detail.

Research & Synthesis

The goal at this early stage is to gain an understanding of the overall service, the elements that make it happen, and the experience of the users and staff involved.

Following the “double diamond” model, you first diverge as you collectively expand your knowledge of the situation, and then converge as you synthesise this into a Service Blueprint(s).

At this point it can be easy getting too bogged down into various processes, systems and departments, losing sight of the bigger picture. So when encountering new information, it helps to reflect on its impact on the user experience. This will help to you stay focused on gathering the most relevant information.

Here I will focus on 3 commons ways of gathering insights, drawing on the book “From Service Design to Implementation”:

As interviews can be time consuming, both for the interviewers and interviewees, you’ll need to adjust the approach based on the needs and constraints of your project.

A minimal amount might involve 1:1 interviews with 4-5 participants lasting around 45mins. The output would be an executive summary with the top 5 observations and quick wins based on the research.

A mid-level analysis would involve around 10 participants, allowing deeper insights. This is especially useful when seeking long term value beyond the specific project, or for sharing across the company.

• Try to involve a diverse set of stakeholders to gain a bigger picture of what’s going on. For example, include interviews with customers, but also those involved in delivering the service.
• Leave space for silence, and avoid interjecting with your own opinions or emotions – this is all about them.
• You should find you’re asking “why” more than any other type of question, as this can help get to root causes. Yet you should still encourage specific details where appropriate. You can achieve this with questions like “describe a time when…”.

Observation

Sometimes it can be difficult for users to explain their experience or pain points. For example, when they have already figured out hacks or workarounds to cumbersome processes. These types of insights can be gleaned better through direct observation.

Another advantage of direct observation, is seeing the user engage with the service in their original context. This can bring out insights otherwise missed in an interview setting.

Lastly, it can be a great idea to experience the journey for yourself, taking note of your impressions. On top of the advantages mentioned with “direct observations” above, direct experience can be a powerful way of gaining empathy for users.

Naturally, any quantitative or written information you can get your hands on (e.g. Flow Charts) can also be a big help. But keep in mind those will better answer the “what” and “how” questions and not the “why”. The latter of which are much better gleaned using the qualitative methods above.

The Service Blueprint

A service blueprint builds a picture of the user journey and the elements that make it happen. This includes any service personnel, systems, and supporting teams/ processes.

A blueprint helps to construct a common picture of the service across different stakeholder groups. It bridges the traditional siloed mentality by looking at how each element or team contributes to the overall user journey.

By taking note of how users perceive each part of the service, you can identify areas of improvement. This will inform the later ideation and prototyping stages.

In this section, I draw a lot from the online course “ Introduction to Practical Service Blueprinting “, made by the team behind “Practical by Design”. I would highly recommend checking out their website for those wanting to dive deeper. They also have plenty of free resources on Service Blueprinting you can use for your planning and workshops.

There is no standard format for a Service Blueprint, but they tend to follow a grid-like layout and include:

• The user journey overlayed at the top – phase by phase, step by step 
• The touchpoints – channel by channel, touchpoint by touchpoint (sometimes I like to have them all in one/two row(s) to reduce the size of the diagram)
• The backstage processes – stakeholder by stakeholder, action by action
• The different phases of the service lifecycle e.g. Aware -> Join -> Use -> Leave

Here are some examples:

Steps to (Co)creating the Service Blueprint

Using the insights gained from your research, you can start drafting the Service Blueprint.

Start by identifying the key phases of the Service you’d like to map, such as the onboarding, usage, servicing flows. This might be based on key problem areas you identified in your research.

Then, outline the key steps of the user journey within each of these phases. For example, the user registers on the website, receives a confirmation e-mail, gets a call from sales staff etc. Make sure to keep track of where these touchpoints take place (Channels) as these are big contributors to the user experience.

Once you have the outline in place, map out the back stage processes, people and systems that enable each step of the user journey. This could be admin support, systems involved or even physical resources that are used.

To start off with, it can be only yourself and members of the core team creating this draft. Later, sharing it with the relevant stakeholders for feedback and enrichment. This can done on digital whiteboarding tools, like Mural or Miro, or even simple sticky notes.

In comparison to creating the blueprint from scratch with the entire stakeholder group, this approach takes up less of everybody’s time. It also allows you to ask more targeted questions during these follow up sessions which maximises your time together.

As you create the blueprint, be sure to include critical feedback you gathered about the user experience, such as any paints points or opportunities identified. Make these noticable by marking or colour coding them. This will be useful for the synthesis and prioritisation step later:

As this stage can take some time, one approach is to build it iteratively. Starting with a “Minimum Viable Blueprint” for initial feedback (perhaps with simple sticky notes), before building it in higher fidelity.

Once you have an initial draft, you can present it users and staff involved in the service and gather their feedback. Make sure to include stakeholders across the entire journey, both front and back end (front end meaning staff who customers directly interact with), who are well versed with the actual process.

Generally 6-8 people are viewed as the sweet spot for workshops. Allow 1.5 – 2 hours for the session(s).

When it comes to planning the actual blueprinting workshop(s), as mentioned, “ Practical by Design ” have some great free resources which go into a lot more detail than I cover here.

• Try to stay at the same level of abstration through each step, and avoid diving into rabbit holes that don’t contribute meaningfully to understanding the overall user experience/ journey.
• Try to get enough data to generalise 80-90% of cases, you’re not trying to capture all possible scenarios.
• During workshops, it helps to have a dedicated scribe to support the facilitator in updating the whiteboarding tool or capturing notes.
• For remote sessions, live whiteboarding tools like Miro or Mural can be great for presenting the blueprints and capturing stakeholder feedback in real-time.

Synthesis and Prioritisation

Now you’ve constructed the Service Blueprint, you can begin collating the key problem/ opportunity areas you’ve identified. This will be easier if you’ve already distinguished these e.g. through a colored sticky note. This can involve only the core project team, or with a wider set of stakeholders, depending on the needs of the project.

As you group similar notes, themes will start to emerge. For example, customers needing to re-enter information, or lack of internal training leading to an inconsistent customer experience.

You can then share these findings with the relevant stakeholders for prioritisation, ideally involving end users. Consider highlighting these within the relevant parts of the service blueprint so it’s tied to the overall context.

Make use of prioritisation/ decision matrices such as value vs. effort to identify the best areas to focus on. For larger groups, you can also utilise dot voting exercises or polls to identify the best opportunity areas.

I won’t delve much into ideation strategies in this article, as it’s been done better elsewhere. But the general principle is to follow the Double Diamond approach: diverge then converge. This means you’ll focus first on fostering the quantity over quality of ideas. For these exercises, try to involve a broad representation of different stakeholders and encourage lateral thinking. You can find a great free library of methods at This is Service Design Doing .

To ground the ideation in the insights gathered during the research phase, highlight the key pain points in the Blueprint and invite participants to think of how to resolve these and deliver value.

Once you’ve captured these ideas, you can make use of the same decision matrices and voting methods to gain consensus across the group. The free library I mention above has tools and methods to help with this under the “Ideation” section.

Prototyping

Now for the fun part. Drawing on the list of prioritised ideas you want to focus on, you can start prototyping – testing ideas with users and other stakeholders.

Prototyping allows you to get feedback early, with little upfront effort, allowing you to adjust and improve the idea before launching it. Unlike products, service prototypes usually require participants to interact with multiple touchpoints and key stages across the entire service. Doing this ensures the improvements make sense across the service as a whole, and reduces the risk of optimising a “part” within an ultimately fragmented service.

Deciding on Scope & Fidelity

The time and effort required for prototyping can vary a lot based on the goal. So it’s important to gauge the resource and time constraints of your project to guide its scope.

It’s also important to consider what you’re looking to understand, assumptions you’d like to validate, and how this can be achieved with the minimal amount of time and effort. You should focus on prototyping the areas where the research found to be critical, and require significant re-work.

The diagram below illustrates some possible prototyping options, based on the above criteria. For the “Cost” section, keep in mind the book where this was taken from was targeted at Design companies/ Consultancies doing projects for clients:

The authors of the book elaborate on 4 different prototyping methods, which I’ve summarised below:

1. Discussion Prototype:

This is the cheapest and simplest option. It involves bringing mockups or storyboards of various touchpoints, and sharing it with a set of customers in a 1-hour interview.

These customers are asked to act as themselves, and respond to different parts of the user journey as if they were experiencing them for real. Through this simple exercise you can already get a sense of what works and what might need revising.

2. Participation Prototype:

This is like the discussion prototype, but takes place where the service would be delivered, thus involving more of the local context. You might, for example, invite a few representatives to a store to try out a new purchasing flow. This would involve mockups of the new ideas whether digital or physical.

The benefit of this approach is that you can simulate more aspects of how the service unfolds over time, taking into account things which you would miss in a standard discussion. Usually for this you would involve 2-6 customers, as well as any key service reps.

3. Simulation Prototype:

This involves a combination of the above two prototyping methods, but in more detail. It would also take place where the service would be delivered, and include more realistic prototypes and mockups, better representing how the actual service would be. Given the upfront investment required, you might want to have a longer testing period with users, to gain richer insights across more aspects of the journey.

Aim for 2-6 customers, though 2-3 customers is typically more realistic due to time and budget constraints.

Lastly, if the project conditions allow, you can run a pilot which involves delivering a near-finished service to actual users. This goes beyond a prototype as mockups are no longer used at this stage and users might not even know that they are experiencing this beta service. Given it’s a beta, you’ll need to bake in an iterative feedback and improvement cycle to refine the service over time before the actual full scale implementation.

On top of generating the richest insights in real-world situations, this approach can be useful for services where effects on users have a certain lead time or the service itself is prolonged and complex, such as with certain public services.

• These prototyping approaches don’t have to be an either/ or decision. For example, it might make sense to start with a simple discussion prototype, leading to a more detailed simulation, before doing a small-scale pilot. It is common practice to start rough and build the prototypes in higher and higher fidelity as you gather more feedback.

Preparing for Service Prototyping

The Service Blueprint can act as a basis for building your prototypes, as you can overlay your proposed changes in a separate version. This is useful for keeping the team aligned, and can act as a direct input to any storyboards or mockups you create.

Additionally, the format of the Service Blueprint will help you think holistically in your prototyping. For example any physical props, backend processes or systems involved in each proposal.

After Service Prototyping

After completing the prototyping stage, you’ll want to communicate the findings and possibly build an investment case.

The Service Blueprint can once again be a huge asset, as it acts as a platform to illustrate the proposed changes in an end-to-end, front to back way. But, as the Blueprint is more geared towards the technicalities of the service, you will might want to produce a slimmed down version for communication purposes.

Additionally, as outlined in the book “Service Design: From Insight to Implementation” you can even transform the Blueprint itself into a visual business case. Here, instead of describing the design, you outline the expected impacts on costs and revenue of each proposed change in the service:

Implementation

I won’t go into implementation in too much detail, as it depends a lot on the type of service you are designing for. It may not even be within the scope of the design project itself.

However, the principles of change management should be considered here, as this will influence how effective the new proposition is. It is important that employees are aware of the changes, have been involved in the design, and understand how it will value add for customers.

As Service Design projects involve many dimensions of an organisation, it’s important to take a similarly holistic view during implementation. Luckily the Service Blueprint already helps with this, as many of the key stakeholders will have been identified and even involved in the process. On top of this, Frameworks like the POPIT model can also be useful for evaluating the different aspects of a new proposition:

Here are some questions you might ask, based on the 4 dimensions above:

• Organisation:  Do we need to reorganise, or create any teams to support this new service? Should we tie any metrics to people’s performance targets?
• People:  What training do we needed? How will we make customers aware of the new/ improved service?
• Process:  Do we need to document any changes to the process? How might this affect the way teams collaborate in future?
• IT:  Do we need to develop any new technical capabilities? Have we defined and prioritised these developments to ensure a smooth service delivery?

If the proposal requires any new IT capabilities, you can feed the insights already gained into agile software development approaches, such as creating personas, and writing user stories. Partner closely with the Product Owner/ Manager (or equivalent), as they are responsible for the backlog prioritisation. Make sure they understand how these technical deliveries tie into the overall service proposition.

So there we have it, an end-to-end overview of a typical Service Design journey. Of course this is just a birds-eye view, so I’ve referenced additional sources throughout for further reading (see also the list I compiled at the bottom of the article).

That said, one takeaway from speaking with other Service Designers and my own experience, is the importance of being adaptable. You may well need to skim over or adjust parts of this journey based on the needs of your project. It’s also not a linear process, so you may need to revisit earlier stages to check assumptions or gain further insights.

Despite having its roots in design thinking methodologies, and drawing parallels with the likes of UX Design and Interaction Design, Service Design complements these by taking a more holistic approach and evaluating the entire service journey. This helps to ensure that we don’t end up with a situation where we have beautiful interfaces lying within a fragmented, unsatisfactory overall service.

As Management Guru and Systems Thinker Russell L. Ackoff once said:

“It’s far better to do the right thing wrong than to do the wrong thing right”

Thanks for taking the time to read this. What did you make of it? Was there anything you felt was unclear or missing? Would love to see your comments below!

—————————-

List of sources and suggests for further reading:

• Service Design: From Insight to Implementation – Polaine, A., Løvlie, L., & Reason, B. (2013)
• This is Service Design Doing – Stickdorn, M., et al. (2018)
• Human centred Service Design – IDEOU
• Intro to Practical Service Blueprinting – Practical by Design
• What is Service Design – Swiss Innovation Academy
• Practical Service Design (Great materials on Service Blueprinting, including free resources for planning your workshops)
• “This is Service Design Doing” Method Library (Large collection of different activities you can do throughout the different stages)

Tags: Design Thinking Service Design

A curious soul and systems thinker, seeking to discover what's meaningful in life, and share my findings with the world.

• Previous Why Services Need Designing

You may also like...

Why Services Need Designing

Why The World Needs Systems Thinking

A Roadmap Towards a Sustainable Future

Yes, we use cookies.

Cookies are small files on your computer that contain anonymous information about your visit on our website. We store no personal details.

We won’t ever use this information for anything else than analytics.

A practitioner’s handbook

This is service design doing, applying service design thinking  in the real world.

The book is also available at  Barnes&Noble and IndieBound .

Service Design (Thinking), applied

A comprehensive resource set, clearly presented in one book.

Whether you work in a corporation, a government, an SME or a start-up, this book contains everything you need to improve – or revolutionize – the products and services you offer.

Learn how to facilitate workshops and run projects, embed service design thinking in your organization, and change the way your teams work as they adopt a more hands-on and human-centered approach – building success for your organization.

Numbers, at a glance

A truly co-created book, 96 co-authors + 205 contributors, a diverse topic, explored by diverse people..

This book is based on the work of more than 300 people from the global service design community. A total of 96 co-authors contributed cases studies, expert comments and tips; while more than 200 volunteers helped edit the manuscript from an early stage.

We believe that this ever-evolving field cannot be defined by a small team of authors, so we are very happy about this broad support from the community.

We’Re so proud of these reactions …

“As a marketer, I found this book invaluable in its exposition of journey maps, stakeholder maps, service blueprints and service prototypes. Just making a product or service isn’t enough: figure out what jobs your offering performs for the user and all the touchpoints along the journey that will help determine success or failure.”

“Excellent! A very clear and engaging introduction to Service Design, combining in fine balance the Why, the What and the How, and always integrating the practitioners perspective. This book fills a gap – it is a must read for those who want to design services that create value!”

“A wonderful book! Since all experiences are built atop services, in This Is Service Design Doing you will learn ways to make experiences more engaging, more memorable, and more personal. So read, do, and repeat!”

Curious? Jump into it right now.

Free content, a free online library of 54 method descriptions.

The book is mostly about organizing and orchestrating your activities in effective service design projects and workshops. You’ll also find short text descriptions of many essential  service design methods.

If you’re actually compiling your workshop tool set, you can make use of our full-length method descriptions, organized in an extensive library of 54 methods. Read the texts online, or download your own pdf.

With best wishes from your editors

Stay informed. We’ll only mail you occasionally.

The network around this This is Service Design Doing is very active. We’d be happy to let you know when anything relevant happens out there. No spam, we promise.

Stickdorn Service Design GmbH

Burgstall 42b 6162 Mutters, Austria VAT ID: ATU78590614

[email protected]

• Reviews / Why join our community?
• For companies
• Frequently asked questions

The Principles of Service Design Thinking - Building Better Services

Service design is all about taking a service and making it meet the user’s and customer’s needs for that service. It can be used to improve an existing service or to create a new service from scratch. In order to adapt to service design, a UX designer will need to understand the basic principles of service design thinking and be able to focus on them when creating services.

The principles here are drawn from the design ethos of Design4Services, the organization that is committed to developing service design and promoting business transformation. These are widely accepted in the commercial sector. There are other ways of approaching service design, which are not as widely used but which may add value to the service designer’s toolkit; we have listed some of these approaches in the resources section at the end of this piece.

When it comes to service design - it can help to remember that “A design isn’t finished until somebody is using it.” Brenda Laurel, designer at MIT.

Service design feeds into creating great customer experiences. This a customer experience map for a utility service.

General Principles of Service Design

The general principles of service design are to focus the designer’s attention on generic requirements of all services. They are complemented by principles that relate to process design, organizational design, information design and technology design – we will come to these complementary principles in a few moments.

The general principles of service design are:

Services should be designed based on a genuine comprehension of the purpose of the service, the demand for the service and the ability of the service provider to deliver that service.

Services should be designed based on customer needs rather than the internal needs of the business.

Services should be designed to deliver a unified and efficient system rather than component-by-component which can lead to poor overall service performance.

Services should be designed based on creating value for users and customers and to be as efficient as possible.

Services should be designed on the understanding that special events (those that cause variation in general processes) will be treated as common events (and processes designed to accommodate them)

Services should always be designed with input from the users of the service

Services can and should be prototyped before being developed in full

Services must be designed in conjunction with a clear business case and model

Services should be developed as a minimum viable service (MVS) and then deployed. They can then be iterated and improved to add additional value based on user/customer feedback.

Services should be designed and delivered in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders (both external and internal)

One of service design’s eventual outputs is the service blueprint which details all interactions with a customer. The service design principles ensure that this blueprint adds customer value when complete.

Process Design Principles for Service Design

Much of service design is found in the design of processes, both internal and external, and these principles underpin this:

Any activity that fails to add value for the customer should be eliminated or minimized

Work is always structured around processes and not around internal constructs such as functions, geography, product, etc.

Work shall not be fragmented unless absolutely necessary. This enables accountability and responsibility from a single individual and reduces delays, rework, etc. It encourages creativity , innovation and ownership of work.

Processes should be as simple as possible. Focus on reducing process steps, hand overs, rules and controls. Wherever possible the owner of the process should have control over how it is delivered.

Processes should reflect customer needs and many versions of a process are acceptable if customers have different needs.

Process variation should be kept to a minimum.

Process dependencies should be kept to a minimum. (I.e. process in parallel)

Processes should be internalized rather than overly decomposed (e.g. training is better than work instructions)

Process breaks and delays must be kept to a minimum

Reconciliation, controls and inspection of process must be kept to a minimum

KPIs for processes will only measure things that matter

Organizational Design Principles for Service Design

People are the key to service delivery and some basic principles for organizations can help them realize their full potential:

Work groups are to be organized so that they match the processes and the competencies required

Individual workers will be given sufficient autonomy to make useful decisions

Work will take place in a location where it is done with the most efficiency

Organizational design is a field all of its own and can become incredibly complex. It’s normally a process managed by HR, but there’s no reason that UX and service designers cannot be involved.

Information Design Principles for Service Design

Information flow is key to delivering high quality services; if people don’t know what they’re supposed to and when they’re supposed to know it – service suffers. These are simple principles for information design in service design:

Data shall be normalized between the organization and its customers and within the organization itself

Data shall be easy to transfer and be reusable within the organization and within the partner network

Wherever possible data entry shall be avoided and be replaced by data lookup, selection and confirmation utilities instead

Data design will normally be carried out by DBAs (Database Administrators) however; UX and service designers should have a large amount of input in ensuring guiding principles are adhered to.

Technology Design Principles for Service Design

Technology design principles are used to support the delivery of service. They include:

Technology should always be used to enable a service; it should not be the driver of a service.

Technology should be pulled into a service design rather than pushed into it.

Technology design is to be flexible enough and agile enough to allow fast modification in the face of changing customer requirements

The Take Away

Service design principles support the development of services which deliver high quality experiences to users and customers. Many of these principles are similar to principles already employed in UX design and it should be relatively easy for an experienced UX designer in products to transition to UX design for services.

See the design4services website for a free resource with large amounts of resources for service designers.

Examine 6 simple service design principles with Moz.

Read 10 service design principles for web services from the Service Design Program.

Hero Image: (c)_dChris, Fair Use

Visual Design: The Ultimate Guide

Get Weekly Design Insights

Topics in this article, what you should read next, apple’s product development process – inside the world’s greatest design organization.

• 1.4k shares

How to Change Your Career from Graphic Design to UX Design

What is Interaction Design?

Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules Will Help You Design Better Interfaces

• 1.3k shares

A Simple Introduction to Lean UX

• 3 years ago

Dieter Rams: 10 Timeless Commandments for Good Design

The 7 Factors that Influence User Experience

• 1.2k shares

Adaptive vs. Responsive Design

The Grid System: Building a Solid Design Layout

Principle of Consistency and Standards in User Interface Design

Open Access—Link to us!

We believe in Open Access and the  democratization of knowledge . Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.

If you want this to change , cite this article , link to us, or join us to help us democratize design knowledge !

Privacy Settings

Our digital services use necessary tracking technologies, including third-party cookies, for security, functionality, and to uphold user rights. Optional cookies offer enhanced features, and analytics.

Experience the full potential of our site that remembers your preferences and supports secure sign-in.

Governs the storage of data necessary for maintaining website security, user authentication, and fraud prevention mechanisms.

Enhanced Functionality

Saves your settings and preferences, like your location, for a more personalized experience.

Referral Program

We use cookies to enable our referral program, giving you and your friends discounts.

Error Reporting

We share user ID with Bugsnag and NewRelic to help us track errors and fix issues.

Optimize your experience by allowing us to monitor site usage. You’ll enjoy a smoother, more personalized journey without compromising your privacy.

Analytics Storage

Collects anonymous data on how you navigate and interact, helping us make informed improvements.

Differentiates real visitors from automated bots, ensuring accurate usage data and improving your website experience.

Lets us tailor your digital ads to match your interests, making them more relevant and useful to you.

Advertising Storage

Stores information for better-targeted advertising, enhancing your online ad experience.

Personalization Storage

Permits storing data to personalize content and ads across Google services based on user behavior, enhancing overall user experience.

Advertising Personalization

Allows for content and ad personalization across Google services based on user behavior. This consent enhances user experiences.

Enables personalizing ads based on user data and interactions, allowing for more relevant advertising experiences across Google services.

Receive more relevant advertisements by sharing your interests and behavior with our trusted advertising partners.

Enables better ad targeting and measurement on Meta platforms, making ads you see more relevant.

Allows for improved ad effectiveness and measurement through Meta’s Conversions API, ensuring privacy-compliant data sharing.

LinkedIn Insights

Tracks conversions, retargeting, and web analytics for LinkedIn ad campaigns, enhancing ad relevance and performance.

LinkedIn CAPI

Enhances LinkedIn advertising through server-side event tracking, offering more accurate measurement and personalization.

Google Ads Tag

Tracks ad performance and user engagement, helping deliver ads that are most useful to you.

Share Knowledge, Get Respect!

or copy link

Cite according to academic standards

Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this article.

New to UX Design? We’re giving you a free ebook!

Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Design to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

New to UX Design? We’re Giving You a Free ebook!

Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones [Examples + Template]

Updated: April 17, 2024

Published: May 04, 2023

Did you know 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2022? Why would someone spend time adding products to their cart just to fall off the customer journey map at the last second?

The thing is — understanding your customer base can be very challenging. Even when you think you’ve got a good read on them, the journey from awareness to purchase for each customer will always be unpredictable, at least to some level.

While it isn’t possible to predict every experience with 100% accuracy, customer journey mapping is a convenient tool for keeping track of critical milestones that every customer hits. In this post, I’ll explain everything you need to know about customer journey mapping — what it is, how to create one, and best practices.

Table of Contents

What is the customer journey?

What is a customer journey map, benefits of customer journey mapping, customer journey stages.

• What’s included in a customer journey map?

The Customer Journey Mapping Process

Steps for creating a customer journey map.

• Types of Customer Journey Maps

Customer Journey Mapping Best Practices

• Customer Journey Design
• Customer Journey Map Examples

Free Customer Journey Map Templates

Free Customer Journey Template

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free templates.

• Buyer's Journey Template
• Future State Template
• Day-in-the-Life Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand, product, or business as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer's purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

Customer Journey vs. Buyer Journey

Many businesses that I’ve worked with were confused about the differences between the customer’s journey and the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is the entire buying experience from pre-purchase to post-purchase. It covers the path from customer awareness to becoming a product or service user.

In other words, buyers don’t wake up and decide to buy on a whim. They go through a process of considering, evaluating, and purchasing a new product or service.

The customer journey refers to your brand’s place within the buyer’s journey. These are the customer touchpoints where you will meet your customers as they go through the stages of the buyer’s journey. When you create a customer journey map, you’re taking control of every touchpoint at every stage of the journey instead of leaving it up to chance.

For example, at HubSpot, our customer’s journey is divided into three stages — pre-purchase/sales, onboarding/migration, and normal use/renewal.

1. Use customer journey map templates.

Why make a customer journey map from scratch when you can use a template? Save yourself some time by downloading HubSpot’s free customer journey map templates .

This has templates that map out a buyer’s journey, a day in your customer’s life, lead nurturing, and more.

These templates can help sales, marketing, and customer support teams learn more about your company’s buyer persona. This will improve your product and customer experience.

2. Set clear objectives for the map.

Before you dive into your customer journey map, you need to ask yourself why you’re creating one in the first place.

What goals are you directing this map towards? Who is it for? What experience is it based upon?

If you don’t have one, I recommend creating a buyer persona . This persona is a fictitious customer with all the demographics and psychographics of your average customer. This persona reminds you to direct every aspect of your customer journey map toward the right audience.

3. Profile your personas and define their goals.

Next, you should conduct research. This is where it helps to have customer journey analytics ready.

Don’t have them? No worries. You can check out HubSpot’s Customer Journey Analytics tool to get started.

Questionnaires and user testing are great ways to obtain valuable customer feedback. The important thing is to only contact actual customers or prospects.

You want feedback from people interested in purchasing your products and services who have either interacted with your company or plan to do so.

Some examples of good questions to ask are:

• How did you hear about our company?
• What first attracted you to our website?
• What are the goals you want to achieve with our company? In other words, what problems are you trying to solve?
• How long have you/do you typically spend on our website?
• Have you ever made a purchase with us? If so, what was your deciding factor?
• Have you ever interacted with our website to make a purchase but decided not to? If so, what led you to this decision?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how easily can you navigate our website?
• Did you ever require customer support? If so, how helpful was it, on a scale of 1 to 10?
• Can we further support you to make your process easier?

You can use this buyer persona tool to fill in the details you procure from customer feedback.

4. Highlight your target customer personas.

Once you’ve learned about the customer personas that interact with your business, I recommend narrowing your focus to one or two.

Remember, a customer journey map tracks the experience of a customer taking a particular path with your company. If you group too many personas into one journey, your map won’t accurately reflect that experience.

When creating your first map, it’s best to pick your most common customer persona and consider the route they would typically take when engaging with your business for the first time.

You can use a marketing dashboard to compare each and determine the best fit for your journey map. Don’t worry about the ones you leave out, as you can always go back and create a new map specific to those customer types.

5. List out all touchpoints.

Begin by listing the touchpoints on your website.

What is a touchpoint in a customer journey map?

A touchpoint in a customer journey map is an instance where your customer can form an opinion of your business. You can find touchpoints in places where your business comes in direct contact with a potential or existing customer.

For example, if I were to view a display ad, interact with an employee, reach a 404 error, or leave a Google review, all of those interactions would be considered a customer touchpoint.

Your brand exists beyond your website and marketing materials, so you must consider the different types of touchpoints in your customer journey map. These touchpoints can help uncover opportunities for improvement in the buying journey.

Based on your research, you should have a list of all the touchpoints your customers are currently using and the ones you believe they should be using if there’s no overlap.

This is essential in creating a customer journey map because it provides insight into your customers’ actions.

For instance, if they use fewer touchpoints than expected, does this mean they’re quickly getting turned away and leaving your site early? If they are using more than expected, does this mean your website is complicated and requires several steps to reach an end goal?

Whatever the case, understanding touchpoints help you understand the ease or difficulties of the customer journey.

Aside from your website, you must also look at how your customers might find you online. These channels might include:

• Social channels.
• Email marketing.
• Third-party review sites or mentions.

Run a quick Google search of your brand to see all the pages that mention you. Verify these by checking your Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from. Whittle your list down to those touchpoints that are the most common and will be most likely to see an action associated with it.

At HubSpot, we hosted workshops where employees from all over the company highlighted instances where our product, service, or brand impacted a customer. Those moments were recorded and logged as touchpoints. This showed us multiple areas of our customer journey where our communication was inconsistent.

The proof is in the pudding — you can see us literally mapping these touch points out with sticky notes in the image below.

Leverage color coding.

Color is a powerful design element that can help you group like ideas. You can assign different hues to the stages of your customer journey or to certain touchpoints. This helps you organize information visually and draw attention to the most important parts of your map.

Avoid clutter to create balance.

To reiterate, everyone skims. And just like you want to avoid too much text, you want to avoid a page filled with color, icons, words, and other elements. Adequate whitespace will help keep your document organized.

Maintain consistency.

Your customer journey map should be consistent throughout. Pick a font family, color palette, and font sizes. Then, make sure you follow these guidelines throughout your journey map. Bonus points if your elements align with your company branding.

Customer Journey Mapping Examples

To help guide your business in its direction, here are examples to draw inspiration from for building your customer journey map.

1. HubSpot’s Customer Journey Map Templates

HubSpot’s free Customer Journey Map Templates provide an outline for companies to understand their customers’ experiences.

The offer includes the following:

• Buyer’s Journey Template.
• Current State Template.
• Lead Nurturing Mapping Template.
• Future State Template.
• A Day in the Customer’s Life Template.
• Customer Churn Mapping Template.
• Customer Support Blueprint Template.

Each of these templates helps organizations gain new insights into their customer base and help make improvements to product, marketing, and customer support processes.

Download them today to start working on your customer journey map.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How AI Image Misuse Made a World of Miscommunication [Willy's Chocolate Experience]

7 Ways to Delight Your Customers This Holiday Season

14 Customer Experience Fails that Companies Can Learn From

How Customer Experience Has Evolved Over the Last Decade [+ 2024 Trends]

Memorable Examples of AR in Customer Experience [+Tips for Implementing the Technology]

Digital Customer Experience: The Ultimate Guide for 2023

How to Implement a Hybrid Customer Service Strategy That Works [Expert Tips]

User Flows: 8 Tips For Creating A Super Smooth User Experience

11 Best Practices for B2B Customer Experience

Customer Experience vs. User Experience: What’s the Difference? [+ Examples]

Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates.

Service Hub provides everything you need to delight and retain customers while supporting the success of your whole front office

Sign up today  for O*Academy’s Design Research Mastery Course

• UX Research & UX Design
• UX Staff Augmentation
• Service Design
• Design Workshops
• Case Studies
• Why Outwitly?
• Outwitly Team
• Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

Customer Journey Maps vs. Service Blueprints: What’s the difference?

When it comes to design research tools, two of the most frequently used are Customer Journey Maps and Service Blueprints . Both are incredibly valuable communication tools that show the end-to-end processes and experiences of your staff and customers. BUT, what’s the difference, and how do you know which one is right for your project?

Whenever we meet with a new client or read a project brief, we’re faced with some of the same questions. Today we’re answering those tricky questions and breaking it down for you:

What is a Customer Journey Map?

What is a Service Blueprint?

What is the purpose of each tool and why are they helpful?

What are the key differences between each tool?

How to choose the right tool for your next project?

Core Concepts of Service Design

Before we can really dive into the differences between the mapping tools used in service design, we need to explain the core concepts of service design — and we’ll use the analogy of a theatre or play.

One of the biggest differences between journey maps and service blueprints is the actors or people that are considered in each one. In service design, actors are anyone involved in customer interactions and supporting business activities and processes that directly impact the customer’s experience. For example, store clerks, customer service/support, warehouse staff, and customers themselves.

Service design also uses a theatre analogy to explain the different parts of the service, all that goes into making it work, and which parts of the service are customer facing versus operational.

Front-Stage : The front-stage includes everything the customer sees and experiences. These are activities conducted by the people involved directly with your customers. Using the analogy of a theatre, they could be the play actors, ticket sales people, snack kiosk workers, ushers… and more!

Back-Stage : Back-stage activities are behind the line of visibility and involve the people and activities that your customer’s don’t see. Back to the analogy of a play, back-stage activities can include lighting, sound, rehearsal, costumes, and a lot of people reading lines getting ready to take their turn on the front-stage. Without these activities, the show would not go on and it certainly wouldn’t be a great experience for the audience. Applying the back-stage theatre analogy to business, these jobs are often customer support representatives, warehouse workers, managers, etc.

Behind-the-Scenes: These are all of the activities that customers don’t see, but they ensure that the production goes off without a hitch. It’s all of the support processes, administrative work, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and organizational tasks that need to happen to ensure the organization is running smoothly.

Customer Journey Maps

What is a customer journey map.

A customer journey map is a visual representation of the end-to-end experience your customers have when they interact with your service or try to accomplish a goal through something you offer (e.g. trying to renew their driver’s license). We always recommend that journey maps are created using in-depth research (such as interviews and observations ) with your company’s real customers and users. The “actor” in customer journey mapping is the customer or end-user themselves. It’s an artifact that is created from the perspective of your customer or end-user. Typically, a journey map will also consider the front-stage experience, but won’t dive deep into the activities of other actors (or staff).

A journey map will include all of the tasks and activities of a user or customer, their pain points and challenges, and the brand touchpoints they encounter (e.g. your website, an app, a customer support person, and more). It also includes the thoughts and feelings they experience as they go along their journey. These among other attributes of the map help to tell a story of what that person’s experience was, and all of the steps and miss-steps they took along the way.

Why is it useful?

Customer journey maps are useful for highlighting key areas in the customer’s journey that provide a poor experience and highlighting opportunities for improvement within your product or service. Customer journey maps can also show major inefficiencies in the customer experience. Take for example someone who is trying to use an online system to remedy a billing issue and update their payment information — If for some reason the online service doesn’t work or provide the information they need, your customer resorts to calling the support team. Here, they wait on hold before having to explain themselves to a few different people and their goal of fixing their credit card information be accomplished. As you can imagine, and have probably experienced in your own lifetime, this is a bad experience. By outlining this arduous journey, we discover key areas of improvement and places where processes could be streamlined.

The ultimate goal of customer journey mapping is to:

Identify areas for improvement and places to reduce friction – ultimately making things easier for the customer.

Identify new product, service, or feature opportunities!

Prioritize which areas of the experience should be fixed first – (journey maps are great at showing the relative importance of one issue over another, since they are all in one map together)

Bridge the gap between siloed teams. Not every department is focused on customer experience, but surely the customer’s experience throughout different parts of the journey will impact your organization’s various departments (such as marketing, IT, and customer service).

Build empathy for your customers by stepping into their shoes. You’ll find out what their experience is really like, what’s motivating them, and most importantly, what’s bugging them! So you can fix it and design a better experience.

Service Blueprints

Okay, so now you know what a customer journey map is and why they are helpful tools. Let’s dive into service blueprints.

What is a service blueprint?

Service Blueprints focus on how an organization supports the customer journey, keeping customers, staff, and other key players at the forefront. Blueprints depict the business’s processes and operations that occur within the front-stage (customer facing), backstage (internal) and behind-the-scenes!  Ultimately, a service blueprint is a business process mapping tool. The main differentiator between service blueprints and other mapping tools? Instead of “swimming lanes” used in traditional workflow diagrams to depict different task owners, we approach service blueprints from a human-centered lens . Similar to customer journey maps, service blueprints should be created through research with the actors (in this case, staff) involved. This might mean shadowing employees as they interact with customers and go about their day-to-day work, or conducting several interviews over a few days or weeks with employees. By doing this, we can understand what the back-end processes are and where your employees think things are going wrong/could be improved.

Service blueprints also tend to be a bit more specific – zooming in on a single business process vs. looking at an end-to-end journey with an entire service.

Service blueprints usually focus on actions and physical evidence (aka tools and technology needed by the actors to do their work). To summarize, the anatomy of a service blueprint includes:

Physical Evidence (tools, technology, websites, resources, etc.)

Customer Journey (actions/steps taken by customers)

Front-Stage (actions taken by employees who directly interact with customers, as well as the technology they’re using)

Back-Stage (actions taken by employees who help front-stage staff behind the line of visibility, or front-stage staff who complete an activity outside of the view of customers)

Behind-the-Scenes (actions taken by employees who support the business internally)

Pain Points (issues or challenges that staff might experience when completing certain tasks)

Time (the length of time it takes to complete certain tasks or a series of tasks)

Why are service blueprints useful?

Service blueprints are an amazing tool to outline the inner workings of your business. They look at all of the activities (good, bad, and useless) that your employees are doing and highlight the reasons why parts of the customer experience are failing. In particular, service blueprints help to:

Pinpoint weaknesses in the current business processes.

Find opportunities to optimize business and support processes – with a detailed breakdown of all the steps involved.

Tie the customer journey together with the inner workings of the company.

Understand complications and inefficiencies within your organization

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Outwitly | UX & Service Design (@outwitly)

Journey Maps vs. Service Blueprints over on Outwitly’s Instagram account!

Key Differences Between Journey Maps and Service Blueprints

Now that we understand both of these mapping tools, let’s call out their key differences:

Customer Journey Map:

Depict an end-to-end experience as a narrative

Focus on customer/users

Focus on the customer’s experience, thoughts and feelings, and pain points when trying to accomplish their goal

Focus on the customer actions and some front-stage (customer facing) tasks, tools, and touchpoints

Service Blueprint:

Depict the business processes and operations

Focus on customers and mostly on staff (and any other actors involved)

Focus on how the organization supports the customer journey (what activities, tasks, and physical evidence are needed)

Focus less on the actual visceral experience – but will usually show pain points

Focus on the front-stage, backstage, and behind-the-scenes tasks (using the customer journey as a foundation)

How to Choose the Right Tool?

Ultimately, these tools are complementary to one another. The customer journey map provides the step-by-step tasks that form the foundation for a service blueprint. To be specific, the activities completed by customers are the first row of tasks in a service blueprint. Journey maps can help you understand where to focus and which business areas may need further investigation using a service blueprint and service blueprints will breakdown all of the processes involved in making that experience a reality.

When to choose a Customer Journey Map

Start with a journey map when:

You want a broader understanding of your end-to-end customer experience

You need to learn about how your customer is experiencing your offerings (services, products, user interfaces, customer support, online touch points)

You don’t have a lot of clarity about where things are going wrong or why your customers are unhappy

Then once, you have a deeper understanding of the areas which need improvement — launch a service blueprinting activity to find out what is happening behind-the-scenes in the company.

When to choose a Service Blueprint

Create a service blueprint when:

You feel confident in your understanding of the customer’s all-encompassing experience, but need to alleviate friction with a specific pain point

You want to take a more detailed look into a specific process and find efficiencies!

Getting Started

If you want to know more about how to create a journey map, dive into our three-part blog series all about customer journey mapping!

The Power of Customer Journey Mapping: 101

How to Research and Build a Customer Journey Map: 201

How to Make your Journey Map Actionable and Creating Change: 301

Resources we like…

The Difference Between a Journey Map and a Service Blueprint by Practical Service Design

Defining Service Blueprints by Nielson Norman Group

Similar blog posts you might like...

Making your Journey Map Actionable and Creating Change: 301

Service Design, UX, & HCD: What’s the difference?

7 Steps to Better Customer Experience (CX)

Subscribe to the weekly wit, what you’ll get.

• Hot remote industry jobs
• Blogs, podcasts, and worthwhile resources
• Free ebooks, webinars, and mini-courses
• Tips from the brightest minds in design

Ready to conduct user interviews like a pro?

Download our free user interview workbook.

Service design: What is it and how does it improve customer experience?

Reading time: about 8 min

• Strategic planning

Imagine this scenario: Two restaurants serve the same menu, at the same price, right across the street from each other. What is it that makes you want to return to one over the other? For many of you, the distinguishing factor here is the service. The word “service” doesn’t just apply to restaurants, though. Services are all around us, whether we’re buying tickets at a kiosk, shopping online, or calling customer support for help.  

In fact, most of us are involved in designing services in one way or another, even if we don’t realize this. What often sets delightful customer experiences apart from average or even poor customer experiences are whether these services were designed intentionally with the customer in mind. This is where service design comes in.

What is service design?

To better understand service design, our team spoke with Marc Stickdorn , co-founder and CEO of More than Metrics , a start-up creating software for service design, such as Smaply . In a webinar with Lucid, Stickdorn walks through how service design can be used to improve customer experience.

Check out the on-demand webinar on service design thinking and doing to hear more from Stickdorn.

When customer experiences are built using the service design approach, both the customer and the internal teams experience benefits, including:

• Connected silos across an organization
• A seamless customer experience
• Visual documentation of processes for continuous iteration

What organizations use service design?

Traditionally, there was a distinction between organizations that offered goods and those that offered services—tangible vs. intangible. Today, however, the line isn’t so clear. Instead, most companies fall somewhere in between, with a combination of both goods and services (think, for example, software as a service).  

This means that nearly all organizations could benefit from service design. Whether you’re building a product or selling tickets, you are creating a customer experience. With service design, you can work on improving this customer experience by thoughtfully orchestrating the behind-the-scenes people, processes, and tools involved.  

The four core activities of service design 

Service design is an incredibly iterative process. For that reason, we refer to the different processes that go into service design thinking as “activities” rather than “steps.” You can start the process at any of these four activities:

Prototyping

Implementation.

This activity consists of understanding the customer’s needs, pains, and goals. This can, and should, happen with a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research.

Quantitative research focuses on numbers and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) over time to identify areas of improvement or problem spaces. Examples of quantitative research include customer surveys, heatmaps, A/B testing, and conversion analysis.

While quantitative research is useful for highlighting areas of the user experience that are and are not working well, it will never tell you why.

Qualitative research completes the picture by providing context for why users behave in certain ways. Examples include contextual interviews, participant observation, mobile ethnography, and workalongs. In this type of research, you can make direct observations and ask participants questions.

When performing research, it’s important to look at both the customer and employee experience to understand where the experience may break down on either side. 

Once you’ve gathered data, it’s time to interpret the data. This is where the magic really happens. To get there, you can try different ways to visualize your data, such as journey maps, personas, and system maps.

Journey mapping is one of the most powerful ways to make sense of your data in service design. Essentially, journey mapping helps you aggregate the quantitative and qualitative data you gathered to visualize the customer experience in its current state.

If you do your research right, you should already have loads of ideas to improve the customer experience. During this activity, collaboration is key—be sure to involve your customers directly in this activity. 

This is your chance to test your ideas before spending the resources to fully bring them to life. It allows you to identify potential snags in your ideas and iterate over a series of drafts. Journey maps are a useful tool for prototyping. These journey maps show the future state of the customer experience and can be contrasted with the journey maps you created of your current state.

When beginning to prototype, don't stress too much over the quality. Again, service design is all about iterating quickly. As Stickdorn explains, “The lousy first draft frees you from perfection.”  With this in mind, you can start with lower-fidelity prototypes and then move on to higher-quality prototypes later on. 

Once you’ve tested, iterated, and refined your prototypes, you’re ready to bring these ideas to life with implementation. This requires the participation of many different teams across an organization, from marketing and sales to IT and development and so on. However, all of these teams are responsible for different parts of the customer experience and, therefore, have different goals, objectives, and KPIs.

This is why many customer experiences fall apart. If these teams are not on the same page, it’s incredibly difficult to build a seamless customer experience. However, it’s not the organizational silos that are the problem. Instead, it’s the lack of collaboration across silos.

Service design can address this by establishing a common language. The focus is not on breaking down silos, but to connect silos. Stickdorn suggests, “Service design is not a separate department, but instead offers a common language to officially innovate together.”

How to use journey maps to understand your customers 

As discussed above, journey maps are one of the most visually powerful tools you can use to better understand your customer’s pain points and satisfaction levels with your service.  

To fully gauge customer satisfaction, try mapping out both the customer’s expectations and their actual experience. For example, if the experience meets customer expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the experience does not meet expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If the experience exceeds customer expectations, the customer is delighted. Using this technique, you can identify where the experience went well and where it broke down.  

Before you start the process of journey mapping, identify which persona you are mapping the experience for. A persona is a fictional representation of a segment of your customers. Most organizations have multiple personas they serve, and due to unique needs and backgrounds, their experiences with your service can vary greatly.

Try repeating this process for different customer personas, and you’ll likely find some patterns—and key differences. 

Pro tip: If you haven’t yet defined your user personas, get started with this user persona template .

Visual components of a customer journey map

When thinking of the customer journey, be sure to map out the whole story, from when a customer has a need for a product or service to choosing a solution and then engaging with the solution. There are a few standard visual elements of a customer journey map, including: 

• Stages . These are the big picture, high-level components of the customer journey.
• Steps . Each stage can be broken down into multiple steps. It may help to think of these as scenes in a movie. 
• Text lane . This section allows you to add more detail to critical moments of the journey. 
• Storyboards . To bring the story to life and add more context, use visuals like photos or screenshots in the storyboarding section.
• Emotional journey . This is key to understanding when the customer experience turns negative and positive.  

How to use Lucidspark to facilitate service design 

In order to truly use service design to improve customer experience, the process should be transparent and collaborative. That’s where visual collaboration tools like Lucidspark come into play. 

Lucidspark helps teams hold effective and dynamic brainstorming sessions, collaborate and align on new ideas in real time, and organize ideas into actionable next steps to propel the business forward.

It’s quick and easy to get started—check out the Smaply customer journey map template in Lucidspark to begin. From here, you can quickly create journey maps to highlight pain points and begin ideating solutions. The templates are flexible and customizable so you can map customer journeys of different personas.

Best yet, Lucidspark lends to natural collaboration and teamwork, making it easy to connect silos across your organization—whether remote or in-person! Export the journey map for teams across the business or share out a Lucidspark board for cross-functional collaboration and ideation.

Remember, the goal of service design is to put the customer first and continuously work on improving the customer experience. With that in mind, be sure to repeat the above steps frequently, collaborate across the organization, and use visualization tools like journey maps to ensure a consistent customer experience. 

Ready to improve your customers’ experience? Try out the customer journey map template created by Smaply and Lucid to get started.

About Lucidspark

Lucidspark, a cloud-based virtual whiteboard, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This cutting-edge digital canvas brings teams together to brainstorm, collaborate, and consolidate collective thinking into actionable next steps—all in real time. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidspark.com.

Bring your bright ideas to life.

or continue with

Impact Journey

Analyse the impact of a specific service experience, and generate ideas to make it more sustainable., applied for.

Implementation

Stakeholders

inspired by

User journeys

related content

Ecosystem Loops

System scenario

The goal of the Impact Journey is to combine the step-by-step representation of the user experience with the evaluation of the service impact for each phase of the journey. The impact could be analysed looking at different aspects (such as Environment , Society , Economy , …), that could be influenced in positive or negative ways throughout the development of the experience, based on the types of touchpoints, actions and activities involved. This analysis could lead to new ideas and more informed decisions during the design or implementation phase, that potentially improve the positive outcomes generated by the service delivery.

Think about possible impacts of your service earlier on in the process.

remember to

Consider all the possible areas impacted by the service, that are somehow related to the human well-being, and could contribute to a better (or worse) humanity.

step by step guidelines

Start by outlining the service experience into a journey map, and briefly describe each step.

Define what are the most significant areas that could be interesting to consider in terms of service impact (eg. Environment, Society, Economy, …). List them below the journey (on the vertical axis), to obtain a sort of matrix.

Explore the matrix, asking yourself for each step of the experience what could be positive or negative outcomes affecting those important aspects of human life and the planet.

Use the filled Impact Journey to raise warnings around sustainability and long-term impact the service could have. This could lead towards more conscious decisions, trying to anticipate and prevent negative consequences.

Discover more about the enhanced service design tools

An enhanced set of tools to design meaningful services for the new complexity.

This website uses cookies to collect anonymized usage statistics so that we can improve the overall user experience. If you want to know more or change your preferences, read our Cookie Policy . By clicking Accept you are giving consent to the use of cookies.

No, thank you.

Introduction to service design

Last updated

13 April 2023

Reviewed by

Miroslav Damyanov

With products and services ever-evolving, businesses must innovate to keep up with trends. Service design simplifies this process. 

Do you want to create a better experience for your team and customers? Keep reading.

All your service design research in one place

Surface patterns and tie themes together across all your service design research when you analyze it with Dovetail

• What is service design?

Service design involves planning business resources and internal operations to improve customer experience. 

It aims to achieve a cohesive experience flow between the organization and end users. In addition, service design ensures services suit the needs of users and customers better. 

This process considers all the touch points of the user journey map. Whether it’s a new or existing product, service design focuses on what customers need at each stage of service delivery. 

Service design does the following for an organization:

Improves efficiency and effectiveness of existing services

Identifies new value to add to a service

Creates unique user experiences

Provides direction for achieving goals

• UX vs. service design

Service designers analyze the tangible and intangible components to understand how an organization works. This creates a holistic experience for users and customers.

Another significant difference is that the critical components of UX design are usability and ease of navigation. Service design elements are infrastructure and operational model design. 

• A brief history of service design

Lynn Shostack first introduced service design in 1982. She proposed that companies should understand how internal processes interact with each other. Initially, service design was considered a marketing topic and mostly referred to customer support. 

Over the years, scholars began building on Shostack’s idea that companies need to design services like products. 

In 2002, Prof. Dr. Michael Erhoff initiated a department at Koln International School of Design, which provided service design education. 

Due to technological changes, service design has evolved alongside other disciplines. In today's world, almost every company offers a form of service design. 

• Benefits of service design

Service design is a holistic approach with endless benefits to service providers and customers. Here are some of the benefits: 

Foster departmental collaborations

Service design optimizes internal processes by fostering collaboration. 

Traditionally, most companies have departments that don’t communicate. Service design breaks down these organizational silos by visualizing information flows and ensuring collaboration is a key company value. 

This encourages employees to work in alignment to improve service delivery.

Exposes misalignment in organizations

Service design enables organizations to devise working solutions. It focuses on uncovering procedures within internal processes that could be detrimental to the organization’s productivity. 

Eliminates redundant processes

Service design pinpoints duplicate processes and unearths ways to mitigate wasted efforts by identifying ideas that drain resources or don’t work. Eliminating redundancies reduces operational costs and improves efficiency. 

Ensures the delivery of value to the customer

Service design considers the customer's experience and pain points during the early stages of service development. This helps organizations prioritize initiatives in a user-centric manner, creating a seamless customer experience. 

• Components of service design

The components of service design are:

People: This encompasses anyone who creates or uses the services, including customers, employees, or partners.

Processes: These are the procedures relevant to workflows, such as making a transaction or hiring employees.

Props: These supportive elements help you provide the service, and they can be physical or digital:

Physical artifacts can be a storefront or conference room.

Digital artifacts include social media, websites, and blogs.

• The five principles of service design

Incorporating an effective service design into an organization's system can be challenging, but these principles can help:

1. User-centric

For a business to be successful, it must design its services around its users. 

To understand what your users want, ask them about their thoughts, feelings, and goals when using your service. This can help your company improve an existing service or generate ideas for a new one. 

2. Co-creative

While developing service design, involve stakeholders in the process. Co-creation allows you to share different perspectives on the services you’re developing. 

3. Sequencing

Visualize services as sequences in a customer's journey . Every customer follows three distinct sequences: Pre-service, during service, and after service. Sequencing determines the lead time of a project. 

4. Evidencing

Evidencing involves helping team members understand what stage the customer is in, so they can get the best service. 

When dealing with a large or complicated project, it can be challenging for team members to focus on all the details. Visual aids such as images and graphs can improve the service design, and customers will be satisfied with the end product. 

5. Holistic

A holistic service considers every aspect of the user journey. Therefore, your company should design services to address stakeholder needs. A service designer should consider all the experiences and journeys of different users. 

• How to do service design best

Here are some of the best approaches to service design: 

Step 1: Clarify the brand's vision 

First, clearly understand the brand's vision and decide how the service fits the company's strategy. Next, consider a service design that supports your vision or end goals. 

Step 2: Fully understand customer needs

Before launching a new service or improving an existing one, thoroughly analyze your customer's needs. 

Customer-oriented organizations tend to be more productive. Therefore, a customer's needs should be a top priority when approaching service design. Create a customer feedback system to get insights and stay updated on customer needs. 

Some of the questions you can ask yourselves are:

What are their challenges?

What are their hopes and dreams?

Does your service reflect their needs, such as affordability, convenience, or quality?

Step 3: Invite new ideas

Generating new ideas is a vital part of service design. Brainstorming is an effective tool during design ideation, allowing team members to get ideas out in the open. Conduct workshops and let the participants discuss service design ideas. 

Here are some brainstorming tips to ensure a successful workshop:

Allocate equal time to each participant and allow them to pitch their ideas. 

Write down all the service design ideas and discuss them.  

Step 4: Prototype and test service ideas

Prototyping creates a vision of a service concept. Co-create with stakeholders to incorporate all the factors relevant to service delivery. 

To prototype: 

Create mockups of a service design that closely resembles what you want to offer.

Eliminate service design ideas that do not add value to the users and customers.

Determine the processes and steps users must follow when interacting with the service.

Test the service idea. 

Step 5: Implement and gather feedback

Once you’ve decided on the best service design prototype, roll out your service design.

Service design is a cyclic process that requires regular feedback and service improvements. Evaluate customers' experiences by conducting surveys that examine the ease of use.

From here, you should develop performance metrics to gauge the success of service delivery. It’s also vital to use agile development methodology to stay on top of trends to consistently deliver what your customers need.

This approach focuses on adaptability, flexibility, collaboration, and efficient workflows.

What are four examples of service design?

Here are four examples of service design: 

Customer service systems

Patient care systems

Airport check-ins

Online shopping processes

What disciplines comprise service design?

Ethnography

Interaction design

Process design

Information and management sciences design

What is the role of a service designer?

A service designer is responsible for improving user experience by observing various touchpoints and identifying challenges in the system.

What is good service design?

A good service design is holistic, user-centric, collaborative, and properly sequenced. It should meet customer needs while remaining sustainable for the service provider.

What is CX versus service design?

Customer experience (CX) aims to increase overall customer satisfaction, while service design aims to improve service quality and the interaction between employees and customers.

Get started today

Go from raw data to valuable insights with a flexible research platform

Editor’s picks

Last updated: 26 January 2023

Last updated: 25 June 2023

Last updated: 31 January 2023

Last updated: 18 April 2023

Last updated: 27 February 2023

Last updated: 24 June 2023

Last updated: 29 May 2023

Last updated: 22 May 2023

Last updated: 19 May 2023

Last updated: 13 April 2023

Last updated: 27 March 2023

Last updated: 7 July 2023

Last updated: 3 June 2023

Last updated: 6 April 2023

Last updated: 11 May 2023

Latest articles

Related topics, log in or sign up.

Get started for free

Ohio State nav bar

Ohio state navigation bar.

• BuckeyeLink
• Search Ohio State

A Grand Finale: The Estrella Experiential Design Journey in Collaborative Studio

Yvette Shen Associate Professor | Visual Communication Design Coordinator [email protected]

As the curtains close on an unforgettable chapter of innovation and collaboration, we celebrate the achievements of six interdisciplinary student teams from the Department of Design. Guided by the guest instructor, Norman Ai, student teams composed of individuals from interior design, industrial design, and visual communication design have elevated creativity to new heights. Each team, after receiving invaluable feedback through multiple rounds from professional jurors—including stakeholders, architects, interior designers, and marketing experts—presented two innovative design concepts during the last week of class. Their work impressively encompasses spatial design from the exterior to the interior, complete with wayfinding systems that narrate the journey through the space.

Dive into the groundbreaking designs from these talented students

News Filters:

• Home  
•  / Our doctrine
•  / Principles of National Restoration
•  / Holy Russia
• / Vladimir Soloviev, prophet of Russia's conversion

VLADIMIR SOLOVIEV prophet of Russia’s conversion

T HE conversion of Russia will not be the work of man, no matter how gifted he may be, but that of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, the Mediatrix of all graces, because this is God’s wish, which he revealed to the world in 1917. The life and works of Vladimir Soloviev are a perfect illustration of this truth of Fatima. He whom our Father regards as « the greatest Russian genius of the 19th century », was in his own way a prophet of the “ conversion ” of his beloved Country, announcing the necessity of her returning to the bosom of the Roman Church. «  Rome or chaos  », such was his catchphrase, Rome whose anagram is not a matter of chance, but a providential sign, a definition: ROMA , AMOR . Led by this incomparable guide, we would like « to anticipate in our thoughts, our hearts and our prayers this consecration, this long-awaited conversion, which must mark the beginning of a time of sacred peace throughout the world, the beginning of the universal reign of the Most Blessed and Immaculate Heart of Mary, and through Her, of God’s Kingdom » (English CRC, December 1982, p. 23).

A PERSONAL CONVERSION

Through the example of his life, Soloviev recalls the indispensable means of this immense work: self-renunciation, personal and collective sacrifice, in Russian the podwig , the only way in which the Church, nations, saints and heroes can become the instruments of God’s designs. If he managed to surpass his master Dostoyevsky by his « truly universal Catholicism and far superior mystical vision », this was not without without a conversion of mind and heart on his part.

Our Father summarises the principal stages of his life as follows: « Born of an honourable Muscovite family, of part Kievian ancestry, Vladimir Soloviev began, in a world where only Germany counted, by being a victim of all the poisons of the West. He himself relates how he was a zealous materialist at the age of thirteen, had read Renan’s Life of Jesus at fifteen, and had become an evolutionist and therefore (!) an atheist and a nihilist at eighteen, in « It was Spinoza and then Schopenhauer who pulled him out of this bottomless void. Whereupon in 1872 a mysterious encounter with “  Wisdom  ” suddenly shook him out of the scientific naturalism in which he had been vegetating and made him aware, as he says, of invisible Beauty, the “  Sophia tou théou  ”, the daughter of God. He thus became the fervent witness of Wisdom’s indwelling in the world and of Her desire for total incarnation and universal queenship. His quest for wisdom, scientific, aesthetic and mystical, had commenced. He was nineteen years old. The quest would never end for this new style Russian pilgrim ; it would be of an unparalleled fruitfulness despite its touching brevity. He died of exhaustion in 1900, at the age ! » (English CRC, December 1982, p. 35)

We will limit ourselves in this article to his prophetic insights on the Union of the Churches. In his Lessons on Theandry (1878) – he was then twenty-five ! – our philosopher applies himself to contemplating the Wisdom of God at work in history, perfectly incarnated in Jesus and His virginal Mother, as well as in the Church as she awaits her eschatological transfiguration. The most serious sin, throughout this history, has been that of schism. Who is responsible for this vast Vladimir Soloviev began by throwing all responsibility for it on the Catholic Church, so much so that he provided the inspiration for Dostoyevsky’s famous “ myth of the Grand Inquisitor ” in The Brothers Karamazov . But, at the beginning of the 1880’s, through studying the question more closely, he understood that the sin of schism was in fact that of the East. This was a stroke of genius on his part for which our Father commends him greatly:

« I must beg pardon of my master Msgr. Jean Rupp, of Solzhenitsyn, Volkoff and so many others, but it seems obvious to to me, as it did to Soloviev in the end, that the schism of Moscow in setting itself up as the third Rome was the beginning of all the ills suffered by these admirable Christian peoples of European Russia . And I must say so because this rupture still weighs heavily on the world of today and because it is precisely of this rupture that Our Lady of Fatima speaks when She foretells “  the conversion of Russia  ”. (English CRC, December 1982, p. 24)

Let us follow Soloviev in his commendable mystical conversion which has opened up a path of light for his people, allowing a spring of grace and mercy to gush forth.

AN EVANGELICAL DISCOURSE

In 1881, Soloviev published a long article, still very antipapist, entitled Spiritual power in Russia . There the pope was presented as Antichrist institutionalised ! Our theorist placed all his hope in the regenerative mission of Holy Russia and in the Tsar who was to be her « divine figure, religious guide and animating wisdom ». But were the Russian people still capable of accomplishing such One particular event was to shake Soloviev’s patriotic faith. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was assassinated by revolutionaries. A few days later, Soloviev gave a Discourse in which he recommended that his successor, Alexander III, show mercy to the regicides. Certainly not as a matter of weakness or abdication before the Revolution, even less out of the spirit of non-violence that a certain Tolstoy was already preaching, but « as an example of Russian piety », that famous podwig « which lies at the heart of the Russian people’s evangelical soul, of which the tsar is the living icon ». Alas, Soloviev was not understood... This was a painful stage in his life, the first step he had taken beyond his master Dostoyevsky.

The following year, he published another article entitled “  Schism in the Russian people and society  ”. Delving deep into the past, he accused Metropolitan Nikon of having broken, at the time of Peter the Great, the communion, the Sobornost , so beloved of the Russian people, by excommunicating Raskol, the fierce guardian of traditional popular religion... Ever since then, the Orthodox hierarchy, enslaved to the imperial power, had proved powerless to govern and sanctify Orthodoxy. It was nothing now but a shrunken, secularized “ local Church ” which, if it were to be restored and revived, would need to open itself up to “ the universal Church ”.

In the spring of 1882, Soloviev was powerfully affected by an unusual dream. In his dream he met a high-ranking Catholic ecclesiastic and entreated him to give him his blessing. The priest refused, so Soloviev insisted, declaring, « The separation of the Churches is the most disastrous thing possible. » Finally, the ecclesiastic agreed to give him his blessing.

This premonitory dream was to awaken in Vladimir Soloviev a burning desire for reconciliation with Catholicism, and to stimulate him to write a series of articles to be published every month in his friend Aksakov’s slavophile newspaper Rouss and then to be collected together in a work with the resonant title: The Great Controversy and Christian Politics . One particular maxim constantly reappeared under the Russian writer’s pen:

«  FIRST AND FOREMOST WE MUST WORK TO RESTORE THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH, AND TO MAKE THE FIRE OF LOVE BURN IN THE HEART OF CHRIST’S SPOUSE . »

By an irony of fate, the term “ Controversy ”, which for Soloviev referred to the conflict between Rome and the East, was going to give place to a bitter controversy between himself and his Orthodox and slavophile friends.

A MARVELLOUS AND ADORABLE WISDOM

T HE world’s beauty appeared to Soloviev as a living figure, a real existence, changing and yet immortal. He saw her and held her as the queen of his spiritual universe under her venerable name of Sancta Sophia . At the end of his life, in 1898, he celebrated the Three Encounters he had had with this Beauty which for him was Wisdom.

“ Three times in his life he had been overwhelmed by the radiant visit of Wisdom who appeared to him in the form of an absolutely heavenly female being, dazzling him and enlightening him profoundly. Not without reason certain authors think that all his religious and even philosophical works derive from this illumination. ”

And let us immediately point out, in order to acclimatize the Western reader who is highly likely to be disconcerted by these accounts, that trustworthy interpreters of Soloviev have attributed a marian character to these visions. For them, the whole of the Philosopher’s work derives from the AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA . “ It is a marvellous perspective ”, adds Msgr. Rupp. “ Wisdom is closely allied to the Immaculate who is its seat. ” ( Le message ecclésial de Soloviev , p. 340)...

What I am going to say next will perhaps surprise my reader. Nothing is more biblical than this vision, and I am astonished at the astonishment of theologians and their impatient criticisms. This Sophia was already well known, hymned and even boldly adored by the scribes of the Old Testament under this very name of Wisdom. Far from being “ pantheist ”, this idea, this vision touches the essence of created beings, and is clearly poles apart from the Platonic idea and far more profound than Aristotle’s substance; it lies at the very heart of being, there where nothing exists except relationship to God, the term of a will and a wisdom that are infinite, there where exists a pure reflection, a fragment of the image of God’s beauty.

George de Nantes , A mysticism for our time , French CRC no. 133, p. 7.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

In January 1883, he fired the opening shots with an open letter to Aksakov: « As I reflected on the means of curing this interior disease (of Christianity), I became convinced that the origin of all these evils lies in the general weakening of the earthly organisation of the visible Church, following her division into two disunited parts. » He demonstrated that, in order to establish herself on earth and to endure throughout history, the Christian religion had need of a higher authority, and he explained that it was therefore essential to restore « the union of all Christian and ecclesiastical forces under the standard and under the power of one central ecclesiastical authority ».

On February 19, Soloviev gave a talk in homage to his master Dostoyevsky. It was almost a panegyric of the Roman Church ! He declared his ardent hope for the reconciliation of the two Churches, for the two parts of the universal Church which should never have been separated and whose centre lay in... Rome . As a result of this speech, he saw himself banned from speaking in public. The newspapers made no mention of his speech. For the first time, and it would not be the last, Soloviev was the victim of the censure of Constantin Petrowitch Pobiedonostev, Russia’s Grand Inquisitor and the Tsar’s adviser on religious matters. Pobiedonostev championed a sacral conception of political power, akin to that of the French legitimists of the time, but he was fiercely Orthodox, and any opening towards the Catholic religion was pitilessly censured.

Soloviev responded to this censure with a smile. So his speech had been described as « infantile chattering » ? « If we are not converted », he said to his friends, « and become like little children again, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. » He went on: « When I was a pretentious little boy [teaching German philosophy: Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche], people listened with great respect to my “ truly infantile ” prattling. And now it is fitting that the only way I can attain the perfection of humility is by everyone ! »

At the same time, he wrote to Aksakov: « It is necessary to defend Catholicism against the false accusations being brought against it... Consequently, in advocating a reconciliation with Catholicism, I assume that Catholicism is not in principle erroneous, for one cannot be reconciled with error . » Now there we have a true ecumenism ! The life of Soloviev, writes our Father, « was ».

To the charge of “ papism ” levelled against him, Soloviev responded in March 1883 with an admirable profession of faith, already Catholic:

« It seems to to me that you concentrate only on “ papism ” whereas I focus first and foremost on the great, holy and eternal Rome, a fundamental and integral part of the universal Church. I believe in this Rome, I bow before it, I love it with all my heart, and with all the strength of my soul I desire its rehabilitation for the unity and integrality of the universal Church. And may I be accursed as a parricide should I ever utter one word of condemnation against the Holy Church of Rome . »

THE REALISATION OF THE DREAM

In May 1883, on the occasion of the coronation of the Emperor Alexander III, the Moscow press complained that too many concessions were being made to restore diplomatic relations with the Vatican broken in 1866, but Soloviev protested: such an agreement was necessary, were it only to improve relations with the Catholics of Poland. The Pope was represented at the ceremony by his special envoy Msgr. Vincenzo Vanutelli. Had not Alexander III written to Leo XIII shortly beforehand: « Never has unity between all Churches and all States been so necessary, in order to realise the wish expressed by Your Holiness of seeing the peoples abandoning the disastrous errors responsible for the social malaise and returning to the holy laws of the Gospel... »

A few days after the ceremony, Soloviev was crossing Moscow in a hired car. Suddenly, he recognized the route he had followed in his dream the previous year. Soon he came to a stop in front of a house from which a Catholic prelate was just leaving: it was Msgr. Vanutelli in person... There was the same hesitation of this latter to give his blessing to a schismatic, and the same entreaties of Soloviev, who finally !

In the summer of 1883, our author wrote two articles on The Catholic Question . According to Soloviev, it was for Russia to take the first step towards the Catholic Church. Imagine !

His articles were not of the sort to leave his readers indifferent. On the Orthodox side, there was an increasing irritation, while on the Catholic side, surprise soon gave way to enthusiasm. The news crossed the borders, spreading to Poland and even to Croatia, where Msgr. Strossmayer was finally seeing his desires realised. The jurisdiction of his diocese of Djakovo extended into Bosnia and Serbia, that is into Orthodox territory. Endowed with a superior intelligence and animated by great apostolic zeal, this Croatian bishop keenly felt the need for a true, intelligent and benevolent ecumenism. He wrote in 1883 to one of his friends, Father Martynov:

« In my opinion, the principal task of the Catholic Church and of the Holy See this century is to draw as closely as possible to the Slav nation, principally the Russian nation . By winning it over to the divine unity of the Catholic Church, we would at the same time win over everyone in the world who still possess a positive faith. »

IN THE RADIANCE OF THE IMMACULATE

In the summer of 1883, Soloviev wrote five long letters to a Russian Uniate priest on the subject of The Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary . At the same time he translated Petrarch’s “ Praise and prayer to the Most Blessed Virgin ”, wherein he contemplated Her “ clothed in the Sun, crowned with stars... Her glance radiating infinity ! ” It is highly significant that Soloviev was simultaneously attracted by the mystery of the Catholic Church and the mystery of the Immaculate Virgin. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was the first Catholic dogma which he embraced, and his favourite painting was the Immaculate Conception by Murillo.

In The Foundations of the Spiritual Life (1884), he exalted the « All Holy and Immaculate » Virgin Mary. In Russia and the Church Universal (1889), he would praise Pope Pius IX for having quoted, in support of his dogmatic definition, the Old Testament texts referring to Wisdom, the “  Sophia  ” of his personal intuitions:

« If, by the substantial Wisdom of God, we were exclusively meant to understand the Person of Jesus Christ, how could we apply to the Blessed Virgin all those texts in the Wisdom books which speak of this Wisdom ? However, this application, which has existed from the very earliest times in the offices of both the Latin and Greek Churches, has today received doctrinal confirmation in the bull of Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin. » (quoted by Msgr. Rupp, Le message ecclésial de Soloviev, p. 338)

In September 1883, when the sixth chapter of The Great Controversy was published, a rumour spread through Moscow that Soloviev had “ passed over ” to Catholicism, but there was no truth in it. Moreover, curious though this may seem to us, he was not looking “ to pass over to Catholicism ”, but only to open Orthodoxy up to the universality of the Roman Church.

His seventh and final chapter aroused a lively debate, one that is ever topical. The question turned on the attitude of the Byzantine Greeks in conflict with the Crusaders of the West. Soloviev wrote: « On the day that Constantinople fell, seeing the Turkish armies poised to attack, the final spontaneously expressed cry of the Greeks was, “ Better Islamic slavery than any agreement with the Latins. ” I do not mention this as a reproach to the unfortunate Greeks. If, in this cry of implacable hatred, there was nothing Christian, then neither has there been anything especially Christian in all the formal and artificial attempts to reunite the Churches… »

Aksakov, his Orthodox pride deeply irritated by this remark, retorted: « What does he mean, nothing Christian ? May the Greeks be blessed a hundred times over for having preferred a foreign yoke and bodily torture to the abandonment of the purity of their faith in Christ and for having thus preserved us from the distortions of papism at the precise moment [ the beginning of the 13th century ! ] when it had reached the height of its deformity. May they win eternal glory for this ! »

Nonetheless, Soloviev continued his search for truth, surmounting every obstacle. His article “  Nine Questions to Father Ivantsov-Platonov  ” published in December 1883, created a deep stir even in the West. Here he put nine questions to his former master in Orthodoxy on those points of controversy which set the Church of the East against the Church of Rome. Here is the setting:

« How is it that the countries of the East are separated from the Roman Church ? Did the latter proclaim an heretical proposition ? One would be hard pushed to maintain this, for the addition of the Filioque to the Creed, which is put forward to justify the separation, does not have the character of a heresy. Furthermore, it is absurd to say that the Roman Church is in a state of schism with regard to the Eastern Churches. Thus, the latter’s separation from the former has no basis. Let us acknowledge this and, putting aside all human viewpoints, let us work towards Unity or rather let us work so that Unity, which already has a virtual existence, may become a reality. »

THE THREAD OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION

During 1884, the Russian philosopher studied Catholic dogmatics. He read the works of Perrone, the theologian of Gregory XVI and Pius IX, as well as the texts of the Councils. He was particularly interested in Popes Gregory VII and Innocent III, whom he read in the original text.

At the same time he had a great enthusiasm for the Croatian priest George Krijanich who « had come from Zagreb to Moscow in the 17th century to spread the ideal of the Holy Kingdom of God, Roman Catholic and panslavic, gathering together under the sceptre of the tsars and the crook of the Pope all the Slav peoples who would thereby be freed and protected from the twofold burden pressing them on both sides like a vice, the Germanic powers and the Turks. Thus the Croats would work to free themselves from Austrian control and at the same time they would assist the Serbs, their Orthodox brothers, to shake off Moslem domination.

« To realise this grand design, capable at one blow of powerfully advancing the Kingdom of God on earth, Krijanich came to Moscow and preached on the subject of Russia’s reconciliation with Rome . This should not be difficult, he said, because the Russians had only fallen into schism through ignorance and not through heresy or malice. He himself was already preaching that everyone should recognise their own individual faults, be they unconscious or involuntary, and the need for expiation. God’s blessings would follow as a result, immense and eternal blessings. Sergius Mikhailovich Soloviev, our great man’s father, a historian and the author of a monumental history of Russia, admired Krijanich as “ the first of the Slavophiles ” and also, in his eyes, “ the most paradoxical ”, so alien did Catholicism then appear to the Russian consciousness. » (English CRC, December 1982, p. 32)

Soloviev intended to prove the contrary. And it was just at this time that he entered into friendly relations with the Croatian Bishop Strossmayer, thereby resuming the thread of an ancient tradition, one which was apparently marginal but which in reality was pregnant with a splendid future. Early in December 1885, Soloviev for the first time received a letter from the Croatian bishop. He replied to him on December 8, “  the blessed Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin  ”:

« On the reunion of the Churches », he wrote, « depends the fate of Russia, the Slavs and the whole world. We Russian Orthodox, and indeed the whole of the East, are incapable of achieving anything before we have expiated the ecclesiastical sin of schism and rendered papal authority its due . » And he ended with these words: « My heart burns with joy at the thought that I have a guide like you. May God long preserve your precious leadership for the good of the Church and the Slav people. » In his pastoral letter of January 1886, the bishop of Djakovo quoted large extracts from this letter.

Encouraged by such support, in 1886 Soloviev undertook a study on Dogmatic development and the question of the reunion of the Churches , which provoked the fury of Orthodoxy. However, at a conference given at the ecclesiastical Academy of Saint Petersburg, Soloviev attempted to justify himself: « I can assure you that I will never pass over to Latinism. » He thereby sought to register his attachment to the Eastern rite. No question for him of adopting the Latin rite ! After that, he set out on a journey to Europe.

FIRST STAY IN ZAGREB (1886)

At the beginning of July, he was the guest of the honourable Canon Racki, President of the Yugoslav Academy of Zagreb, founded by Msgr. Strossmayer, and a personal friend of the latter. Every morning the Orthodox Soloviev assisted at the Catholic Mass with great enthusiasm. He made the sign of the cross in the Catholic manner, but prayed in the Greek manner, crossing his arms on his chest. He willingly admitted to his host – and this was not due to any desire to please on his part – that Croatian Catholics, like the Ukrainians, were more religious than his Orthodox compatriots !

Following an article published in the Croatian journal Katolicki List , Soloviev for the first time encountered opposition from a Catholic priest.

During his stay in Zagreb, he also published a letter in the Russian newspaper Novoie Vremia , wherein he refuted the widespread opinion in Russia that the Croats were the instruments of the Austro-Hungarian government’s attempt to Latinize the Eastern Slavs.

In August, he joined Msgr. Strossmayer in the Styrian Alps, and spent ten marvellous days with him. These two minds were truly made to get along. The mutual admiration they felt for one another reinforced their spiritual friendship. But Soloviev continued to receive Holy Communion at the hands of the Orthodox priest of the Serb parish of Zagreb... Rising above the inevitable criticisms, he then wrote a letter to Msgr. Strossmayer, summarising their initial conversations:

«  The reunion of the Churches would be advantageous to both sides . Rome would gain a devout people enthusiastic for the religious idea, she would gain a faithful and powerful defender. Russia for her part, she who through the will of God holds in her hands the destinies of the East, would not only rid herself of the involuntary sin of schism but, what is more, she would thereby become free to fulfil her great universal mission of uniting around herself all the Slav nations and of founding a new and truly Christian civilisation, a civilisation uniting the characteristics of the one truth and of religious liberty in the supreme principle of charity, encompassing everything in its unity and distributing to everyone the plenitude of the one unique good. »

Such was his transcription of the well known Catholic principle: «  In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas : unity in essentials, liberty in matters of doubt, and in all things charity . Such must be the Charter of Catholic ecumenism under the crook of the one Shepherd. From the start of this crisis, such has been the invitation we have made to our bishops and to our brothers. Today, it is also the will of the Holy Father », wrote our Father in his editorial for September 1978, dedicated to John Paul I, another Saint Pius X without knowing it (English CRC no. 102, p. 6).

When he informed his friends of Soloviev’s letter, Msgr. Strossmayer presented its author as « a candid and truly holy soul ».

Msgr. Strossmayer and Soloviev had agreed to meet again in Rome for the jubilee pilgrimage of 1888. The Croatian bishop decided to pave the way in Rome by writing to Leo XIII’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Rampolla. He presented his Russian friend as «  toto corde et animo catholicus  ». The Pope at first took a personal interest in the affair: « Here is a sheep », he said, « who will soon be clearing the gate of the sheepfold. » But curiously, there was to be no follow-up. It seems that Leo XIII failed to appreciate Soloviev’s genius... However, things were different in France, where an unassuming and ardent rural parish priest latched on to everything that his apostolic zeal could extract from the lightning advances made by the Russian thinker ( see inset , p. 19).

Soloviev returned to Russia at the beginning of October 1886, rather discouraged by the criticisms directed against him on all sides: there were the Orthodox, some of whom had accused him of bringing Orthodoxy into disrepute abroad... and certain Catholics, like Fr. Guettée in France, a modernist priest with little to commend him, whom he had met in Paris in 1876 and who had recently published an article of rare violence against him !

THE “ RETURN OF THE DISSIDENTS ”

June 18, 1887: a young Capuchin, Leopold Mandic, from Herzeg Novi in Bosnia, under the jurisdiction of Msgr. Strossmayer, and studying at the friary in Padua, heard the voice of God inviting him to pray for and promote the return of the Orthodox to the bosom of the one Church of Christ. «  The goal of my life , he would later say, must be the return of the Eastern dissidents to Catholic unity; I must therefore employ all my energies, as far as my littleness allows, to co-operate in such a task through the sacrifice of my life . » Fifty years later, he would still remember this grace: «  June 18, for the record: 1887-1937. Today, I offered the Holy Sacrifice for the Eastern dissidents, for their return to Catholic unity . » Thus the Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate united, in this one same “ ecumenical ” work, the ardent heart of a young Capuchin destined for the altars, the apostolic wisdom of a bishop and the brilliant intuitions of a great thinker.

In January 1887, from the Monastery of Saint Sergius where he had celebrated Christmas, Soloviev wrote an article in which he provided philosophic justification for the three Catholic dogmas which the Orthodox reject, namely the Filioque, the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility . Here is a « basis for working towards the reunion of the Churches », he explained. A few months later, he published in Zagreb (on account of the censure directed against him in Russia) his book The History and Future of Theocracy .

There he retraced the vast movement of history towards the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Universal Theocracy, the successor of Jewish Theocracy, cannot be conceived, he explained, without an integrally Christian politics, and he concluded with a splendid anthem to Christ Pantocrator receiving from His Father all power on earth and in Heaven and acting through His emissaries, the Apostles and their successors. Soloviev always believed in the privileged vocation of Russia within the Catholic community of Christian nations, even if he stigmatized what he called “ the sin of Russia ”, which was to oppress and hate all those it dominated, in particular Polish Catholics, Greek Uniates, Ruthenians and Jews !

Like a true prophet, he was vigorous in preaching repentance to his people . In order that they might be faithful to their vocation within the great Slav family, Soloviev asked them to give up their inordinate ambitions, to return to a truer and more Christian conception of their destiny, and to accomplish this within the only international organization which could direct its course, Catholicism, that is to say Roman universalism.

«  One of my theses is that the cause of the Reunion of the Churches in Russia demands a podwig (sacrifice) even heavier to bear than that which, already demanding great self-denial, was needed to ensure Russia’s receptivity to Western culture, an event truly disagreeable to the national sentiment of our ancestors .

«  Well ! this sacrifice consists in drawing closer to Rome and it must be attained at all costs. In this lies the remedy for the Russian sin . »

It goes without saying that Soloviev earned himself new enemies with his book. It cost him great personal suffering, but he could not fail the Truth, which he contemplated with ever greater clarity... What greatness of soul this universal genius possessed !

SAINT VLADIMIR AND THE CHRISTIAN STATE

1888 marked the ninth centenary of the baptism of Saint Vladimir, the first prince of Kiev, whose kingdom after his conversion became « the model of Christian States, with evangelical morals », writes our Father (English CRC, December 1982, p. 23). Soloviev used the occasion to give a conference in Moscow, where he reaffirmed that Russia’s destiny was to turn towards Rome, as King Vladimir had ! However, having hardened itself in its schism, the Muscovite hierarchy was no longer animated by the spirit of St. Vladimir. Hence the fury of the Orthodox hierarchs !

At the same time, Msgr. Strossmayer had gone to Rome for the Jubilee. In vain did he wait for Soloviev there. The latter, fearing perhaps that he had made a definitive break with the Orthodox world which he dreamed on the contrary of winning for the Union, had given up the idea of making this journey. It must also be said that Vatican diplomacy hardly inspired more confidence in him. Leo XIII was revealing himself less and less slavophile, reserving his favours for the Germany of old Bismarck and the young William II ! Msgr. Strossmayer lamented this in a letter to Fr. Martynov: «  The Pope is acting against the Slavs. The Roman prelates are like people insane and think only of temporal power !  »

What a difference between Leo XIII and his successor, St. Pius X, who was, in the words of Msgr. Rupp and our Father, the greatest slavophile pope of our times !

Early in May 1888, Soloviev was on a visit to Paris. To explain his thinking to the French public, he gave a conference on the Russian Idea , « the true national idea eternally fixed in the design of God », who longs to spread His light over the whole world. However, Soloviev remained lucid about his own Church: « If the unity of the universal Church founded by Christ only exists among us in a latent state, it is because the official institution represented by our ecclesiastical government and our theological school is not a living part of the universal Church. »

In passing, he described the destruction of the Greek-Uniate Church by the Orthodox as a «  veritable national sin weighing on Russia and paralysing her moral strength  ». That is still the case today...

In July, Kiev celebrated the feast of the baptism of St. Vladimir. From Zagreb Msgr. Strossmayer sent a telegram in which he exalted Russia’s future role in the manner of his friend Soloviev. Scandal ! His remarks were universally reported by the press. Cardinal Rampolla informed the Croatian bishop that Leo XIII was seriously displeased ! The bishop of Djakovo also earned himself the bitter reproaches of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, which is more understandable given the rivalry existing between the two Empires.

In the summer of 1887, Soloviev published in the Universe , the newspaper of Louis Veuillot, three articles on St. Vladimir and the Christian State which caused a great stir. Then he journeyed to Croatia where he remained for one whole month with Msgr. Strossmayer. This meeting was rather sad, for the two friends were increasingly aware that their attempt to reunite the Churches would not succeed, at least in their lifetime.

It was in Djakovo that Soloviev finished the immense prologue to his magisterial book, Russia and the Church Universal , in which one can already glimpse signs of the discouragement that would overwhelm the thinker in the latter part of his life. We know from Fatima that the work of the conversion of Russia, something humanly impossible, has been entrusted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary who has a particular love for this Nation such as to inspire jealousy in others. But this only makes it all the more extraordinary that our prophet should have traced out the course of this conversion, like a true Precursor !

« RUSSIA AND THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL »

Soloviev does not hesitate to delve deep, extremely deep, into the past. To realise its designs in the world, divine Wisdom wished to become incarnate, and the Verb to take flesh like our own. As that was not enough, He also wished to unite to Himself a social and historical body, one that could reach the universality of mankind and communicate to all men His own divine Life. In this magnificent perspective, Soloviev compares the formation of that Body through which God wishes to be united with humanity to that effected in the womb of the Virgin Mary at the time of the Incarnation, and to that which operates every day in the Eucharistic mystery... What was needed for this work was a solid foundation, a Rock:

« This bedrock has been found », he writes, « it is Rome. It is only on the Rock [of Peter and his successors] that the Church is founded. This is not an opinion, it is an imposing historical reality . »

It is also an evangelical truth: «  You are Peter, and on this Rock I will build my Church . » Here Soloviev addresses the Protestants who seek to outbid each other in their attacks against the Primacy of Peter by quoting Jesus’ own words to His Apostle when he was obstructing the Master’s path: «  Get behind me, Satan !  » Soloviev’s response once again shows the clarity of his intelligence and his perfect knowledge of Catholic dogma:

«  There is only one way of harmonising these texts which the inspired Evangelist did not juxtapose without reason. Simon Peter, as supreme pastor and doctor of the universal Church , assisted by God and speaking for all, is, in this capacity, the unshakeable foundation of the House of God and the holder of the keys of the heavenly Kingdom. The same Simon Peter, as a private person, speaking and acting through his own natural forces and an understanding that is purely human , can say and do things that are unworthy, scandalous and even satanic. But personal defects and sins are passing, whereas the social function of the ecclesiastical monarch is permanent. “ Satan ” and the scandal have disappeared, but Peter has remained.  »

Soloviev’s doctrine agrees with that of Vatican Council I and with that of our Father who, at the same time as he makes us venerate Peter’s magisterium, magnificently illustrated by Blessed Pius IX, St. Pius X and John Paul I, accuses John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II of being instruments of “ Satan ” for the ruin of the Church.

However, Christ wished that it should be around Peter that the unity of faith and charity should be formed: «  Since the unity of the faith does not presently exist in the totality of believers, seeing that not all of them are unanimous in matters of religion, it must lie in the legal authority of a single head, an authority assured by divine assistance and the trust of all the faithful . This is the ROCK on which Christ founded His Church and against which the gates of hell will never prevail.  »

Why did this ROCK settle in Rome, and not in Jerusalem, Constantinople or Moscow ? Here we have a further brilliant response from Soloviev: historically Rome represented the order, civilization and terrestrial Empire that would best allow the Church to become the universal spiritual Empire desired by Christ. In a mystical view of the history of Salvation – we would say divine “ orthodromy ” – Soloviev shows how God, wishing to extend salvation to the whole world,  decided one day that His Kingdom should leave Israel for Rome, so that the capital of the pagan Empire should become “ the conjoint instrument ” of His designs:

« The universal monarchy was to stay put; the centre of unity was not to move. But central power itself, its character, its source and its sanction were to be renewed... Instead of an Empire of Might, there was to be a Church of Love. » One thinks of Constantine’s conversion and his imposition throughout the Roman Empire of laws favouring Christianity, and of Theodosius declaring the Christian religion the religion of State. What decisive support for the Gospel ! The remarkable Roman civilization, already the heir of Greece, was put at the service of the Cross of Christ !

Soloviev had some wonderful expressions to describe this, as for example the following: «  Jesus unthroned Caesar... By unthroning the false and impious absolutism of the pagan Caesars, Jesus confirmed and immortalised the universal monarchy of Rome and gave it its true theocratic foundation . »

« Let us not think », comments our Father, « that our theosophist loses his way in a contemplation of evangelical love and freedom. Fully aware of the frailty and shortcomings of humanity, he declares that it is essential, for its effective salvation, that supreme divine power be joined to the firmest social structure, to the virile principle , and not as formerly to the female principle of a virginal flesh for the Incarnation. This firm principle is the imperial monarchical institution which is Rome and Caesar. Converted, elevated and unabolished, the Power of Rome continues in the Pope for the service of the universal community.

« It is only this divino-human pontifical paternity that is capable of forming the basis of the universal fraternity of the peoples, not only through its spiritual influence but also through its authority and its supranational organization. In this monarchy, sacred but popular, the Pope, the Universal Emperor, clearly remains the servant of the servants of God and is, for that very reason, the sovereign Head of the Nations. Opposed to any kind of papolatry, antagonistic to all the encroachments of papism, and quite capable of denouncing such a Pope as Satan, Soloviev raised an imperishable monument to the glory of Rome and pointed out – him, a member of the Orthodox Church – the path of the world’s salvation, which lay in one place only, in the universal Christian order of a restored Roman Catholic Church ... » (French CRC no. 131, July 1978, p. 6)

In his lifetime, Soloviev ran up against a wall of hostility and incomprehension: « I am not so naive », he said, « to seek to convince minds whose private interests are greater than their desire for religious truth. In presenting the general evidence for the permanent primacy of Peter as the basis of the universal Church, I have simply wanted to assist those who are opposed to this truth, not because of their interests and passions, but merely because of their unwitting errors and hereditary prejudices. »

The final period of his life might seem to some like a decline and a renunciation of his prophetic insights, but our Father writes: « Soloviev was too great a mind to be discouraged or to modify his ideas in accordance with the fluctuations of his worldly success. What is certainly true is that his bitter experiences gave him a better knowledge of the Evil that was at work in the world, throwing up formidable obstacles to God’s designs and going so far as to erect a kind of caricature of them. This he denounced as the power of the Antichrist, the Prince of this world, announced in the Scriptures. » (French CRC no. 132, August 1978, p. 12)

At the beginning of the 1890’s, relations between Soloviev and the Orthodox Church deteriorated. «  Given the papaphobia reigning among us , he wrote to a friend, sometimes revealing its underhand character and at other times its stupidity, and always in any event unchristian, I considered and I continue to consider that it is necessary to draw people’s attention to the Rock of the Church laid by Christ Himself and to its positive significance . »

As he persisted in his criticisms, even going so far as to compare the Greco-Russian Church with « the Synagogue », the Orthodox hierarchy, in the person of Pobiedonostev, the Holy Synod’s prosecutor, employed the ultimate weapon at its disposal: it deprived him of the sacraments. One day in 1894, being seriously ill, Soloviev asked to receive the sacraments. His Orthodox confessor refused to give him absolution unless he renounced his Catholic views. Soloviev refused to yield, preferring to forego confession and Holy Communion.

AN AUTHENTIC CONVERSION

The moment had come. On February 18, 1896, he went to see Fr. Nicholas Alexeyevich Tolstoy, a Catholic priest of the Eastern rite exercising his ministry in Moscow. This priest, a former officer, owed him his vocation, his formation (Soloviev having been his teacher) and his conversion to Catholicism. That February 18 was the feast day of Pope St. Leo so dear to Soloviev. Before Mass, he read on his knees the Tridentine symbol of the faith containing the Filioque and a formula declaring that the Church of Rome must be regarded as the head of all the particular Churches. Then he received the Body of Christ at the hands of the Catholic priest.

On the following day, Fr. Tolstoy was denounced and arrested. He managed to escape and to reach Rome first, then France. It was only in 1910 that he would give an account in the Universe of the authentic conversion of Soloviev, and in 1917 that the two witnesses present at the scene would confirm the celebrated Russian’s profession of the Catholic faith. Nevertheless, this conversion was disputed not only by the Orthodox but also by Catholics imbued with a false ecumenism like Msgr. d’Herbigny of sinister memory. But in this matter the facts are indubitable. His entry into the Catholic Church did not, however, in Soloviev’s mind, exclude him from what he called « the true and authentic Eastern or Greco-Russian Church ». Never did he embrace the Latin rite. After the exile of Fr. Tolstoy, as there were no longer any Catholic priests in Moscow apart from those belonging to the Latin rite, Soloviev decided to refrain from receiving the sacraments...

In 1897, a census of the whole of Russia was carried out in which a question was asked about religion. «  I am both Catholic and Orthodox; let the police work that out !  » Soloviev answered.

« Self-important people from Rome and Moscow declared themselves scandalized », writes our Father. « The hour had not yet come for the podwig , for self-renunciation and reconciliation in truth and justice ( pravda ), and for the restoration of the wholly divine unity of communion in love ( sobornost ). Msgr. Rupp thinks that we achieved it with Vatican II. Alas, no ! I hope for and expect it to come with Vatican III... but only after the trial, after conversion and expiation... and after Our Lady’s humble requests have been met. » (English CRC, December 1982, p. 36)

UNDER THE SIGN OF MARY

«  This glow from Heaven emanates from Mary, And vain remains the attraction of the serpent’s venom.  »

On July 17, 1900, sensing death approaching, Soloviev sent for a priest. He was most insistent about this: « Will it be morning soon ? When will the priest come ? » The next day, he made his confession and received Holy Communion at the hands of an Orthodox priest. He died peacefully a few days later, on July 31, «  in the communion of Russian Orthodoxy to which he had ever been faithful, without however disowning the Catholicism of his heart, assured by the example of the Fathers of Russian Christianity, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Vladimir, and so many strastoterptsi , innocents who had suffered the passion , and startsi , slavophiles and romanophiles at the same time, without schism or constraint, in the love of Holy Church and Holy Russia, the Kingdom of God to come !  »

But all this is too beautiful for us not to revisit it, so our Father has decided that we will study in more depth the work of this great Russian thinker, in three parts to appear in subsequent editions of Resurrection , Deo volente:

The vocation of Russia in the designs of God and the concert of the Christian nations: up to and including Putin ?

The Immaculate Virgin Mary , throne of Wisdom, essential beauty of the created world, our ultimate recourse !

The Antichrist unmasked by Soloviev . This was the last service the “ inspired prophet ” rendered to his beloved Russia: that of putting her on her guard against the seductions of the Antichrist. In Rome, at the same time, St. Pius X was also announcing his advent in his encyclical E supremi Apostolatus of October 4, 1903: « The Antichrist is present among us. The Evil shaking the world should not affright us, it will only last a short while. What must fall will fall, and the Church will be reborn from the trial, assisted by her Saviour and ready for extraordinary developments. »

Brother Thomas of Our Lady of Perpetual Help He is risen ! n° 8, August 2001, pp. 13-22

Reference */?>

• Holy Russia
• Vladimir Soloviev, prophet of Russia's conversion
• The Immaculate Conception and the Divine Sophia
• Soloviev (Vladimir)
• Our founder
• The 150 Points of the Phalange
• Catholic Counter-Reformation Analyses
• Preparing the Catholic Renaissance
• Principles of National Restoration
• New publications on the CRC website
• Archives HE IS RISEN!
• Books of Accusation
• Make a donation
• CCR Glossary
• VOD website
• Nederlandstalige site
• Articoli in italiano
• Artículos en español
• Artigos em Português

• || /content/basf/www/kr/en.html || ">Home
• || /content/basf/www/kr/en.html || ">Investors
• || /content/basf/www/kr/en/media.html || ">Media
• || /content/basf/www/kr/en/media.html || ">News Releases
• || /content/basf/www/kr/en/media.html || ">Publications
• || /content/basf/www/kr/en/media.html || ">Media Contacts

Looking for products?

Go to Product Finder

CHINAPLAS 2024: BASF accelerates plastics journey with suite of recycled grades and circular solutions

• Presents polyamide with an attributed share of pyrolysis oil, originating from Asia-sourced post-consumer plastic waste
• Showcases sustainable plastic additive solutions
• Full portfolio of material solutions that enable customers’ sustainability journey and targets in Asia
• BASF at Chinaplas 2024: Hall 7.2 Booth C42, National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai)

Shanghai, China – April 23, 2024 – At CHINAPLAS 2024, BASF presents co-creations based on circular solutions, including its Ultramid ® Ccycled ® polyamide (PA) with an attributed share of pyrolysis oil which is originating from Asia-sourced post-consumer plastic waste, and based on the mass balance approach. BASF has earlier announced an innovative ‘Design-for-Recycling’ polyurethanes (PU) foam technology enabling simplified and scalable recycling of PU foam. BASF also moves ahead in its plastics journey towards a more sustainable future with the availability of a suite of recycled grades.

“With the roll-out of a broad spectrum of sustainable offerings at CHINAPLAS 2024, BASF is proudly presenting its commitment to offer a full portfolio that enables our customers’ sustainability journey and targets in Asia,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “In particular, the ‘Made in Asia for Asia’ mass-balanced Ultramid Ccyled with an attributed share of pyrolysis oil originating from Asia-sourced post-consumer plastic waste in Asia, demonstrates BASF’s strong focus on feedstock transformation in its integrated value chains.”

In addition, BASF presents its latest additive offerings, which significantly increase the sustainability of various plastic applications.

“CHINAPLAS 2024 will give us a great opportunity to connect with key industry players, share insights into the future of plastic additives technology, and identify new opportunities that will accelerate the shift to a circular economy,” said Hazel Sprafke, Vice President, Global Business Management, Plastic Additives, Asia Pacific, BASF.

Mechanical recycling together with chemical recycling is an essential component of the circular economy. It recovers plastic waste and gives it a second life. During this process, plastic additives play a vital role. IrgaCycle ® , a unique combination of additives, enables resin producers, compounders, and recyclers to achieve a higher recycled content, control the variation in the quality of recyclates, and improve the performance of their final products.

Car stereo frames made from 100% recycled pellets, T-shirts turned from old fishing nets, and storage containers made from upcycled plastic trays are prime examples of IrgaCycle used as an enabler for the recycling process. Recently launched Irgastab ® PUR 71 for car roof panels, Tinuvin ® 2730 for superior light stability in products such as pontoons and the NOR technology used in greenhouse films will also be showcased at CHINAPLAS 2024.

Our Plastics Journey is an ongoing commitment by BASF to drive the transformation of the plastics industry towards a more sustainable and circular future. It is a comprehensive initiative that encompasses the entire lifecycle of plastics, from production to disposal and beyond. In addition to material innovation, BASF is actively involved in advancing the circular economy for plastics. This includes designing products and packaging with recyclability in mind, optimizing manufacturing processes to reduce waste, and collaborating with partners to establish efficient collection and recycling systems. By closing the loop and reintroducing recycled plastics into the value chain, BASF aims to minimize resource depletion and the environmental impact of plastic waste.

With chemical recycling, post-consumer plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically for technical or economic reasons is converted into pyrolysis oil. The recycled feedstock is fed into BASF’s production process as a drop-in solution to enable customers’ requirements such as product carbon footprint reduction target and recycled content target*.  The share of recycled material is attributed to the certified products according to a third-party audited mass balance approach.

“With China's transition to a growth model focused on high-quality manufacturing and sustainability, we are well positioned at BASF to meet the growing market demand for innovative and sustainable chemical products. Through our participation in CHINAPLAS 2024 and other platforms, we connect with our customers and partners to jointly accelerate the plastics journey, as well as support the development of new  quality productive forces in China,” said Dr. Jeffrey Lou, President and Chairman of BASF Greater China.

For press photo and updates on BASF at CHINAPLAS 2024, click here .

* Conventional fossil raw materials required to manufacture BASF products are replaced with recycled feedstock from the chemical recycling of plastic waste or end-of-life tires along BASF’s integrated production chain. The corresponding share of recycled feedstock, e.g. pyrolysis oil, is attributed to the specific Ccycled product via a certified mass balance approach. BASF sites and Ccycled products are third-party certified according to internationally recognized certification schemes like REDcert2 and ISCC PLUS and meet the definitions by ISO 22095:2020. The recycled feedstock is not measurable in the BASF mass balance product. The cradle-to-gate PCF is calculated according to TfS Methodology using an Upstream System Expansion (USE) approach. USE accounts for a credit for the displaced waste treatment from the first life cycle (e.g. incineration), thereby reducing the product carbon footprint compared to the equivalent conventional fossil product.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com .

• PDF (152.3 kB)

• JPG (1.8 MB)

• JPG (1.1 MB)

Cisco Blogs / Cisco Services (CX) / Helping the health of our planet, one bottle at a time

Cisco Services (CX)

Helping the health of our planet, one bottle at a time, jason mclaurin, imagine our planet as a vast network — not of technology and devices, but of life..

Earth Month invites us, as stewards of this global network, to initiate impactful changes, both small and significant, in our daily lives. Over the last two years, I’ve committed to a personal challenge that aligns with our corporate ethos of sustainability. I’ve eliminated plastic water bottles and paper coffee cups from my routine, even while traveling.

Take a moment to visualize a reusable water bottle – a simple, yet powerful tool in our sustainability kit. This bottle has accompanied me across various landscapes and through numerous experiences, becoming a symbol of my commitment to the environment. Each refill represents a small victory: a plastic bottle saved from the fate of recycling or landfill.

Using a reusable water bottle every day instead of a single-use plastic one can impact your carbon footprint.

Based on the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable data, a 500-milliliter plastic water bottle contributes approximately 82.8 grams of carbon dioxide emissions. If you were to consume one such bottle daily for a year, the emissions would add up to over 30 kilograms (about 67 pounds) of carbon dioxide. By opting for a reusable bottle, you can avoid these emissions and take an active step towards reducing your individual environmental impact.

Our organization, Cisco, has set ambitious environmental goals: achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 2040 and 100% of new Cisco products and packaging to incorporate Circular Design Principles by fiscal year 2025. These initiatives mirror our company’s mission to power an inclusive future for all, one where environmental stewardship is paramount.  And in that future,  Mother Nature has a voice :

While these corporate goals are crucial, individual actions play an equally important role. My journey began with a simple water bottle, and I encourage each of you to consider how your choices can contribute to a greater collective impact.

What steps can you take, not only during Earth Month but year-round, to protect our planet?

Here are a few actionable ideas for you to consider:

• Organize or participate in a cleanup in your community
• Calculate your carbon footprint
• Educate yourself on plastics
• Take a plastic quiz
• Reject fast fashion

I invite you to reflect on these suggestions and consider integrating them into your daily routine. Your contributions, no matter how small they may seem, can lead to positive changes for our planet. Share your thoughts and additional ideas with our global community.

Together, we can help forge a path toward a more sustainable and inclusive future.

For Cisco employees, there are additional resources at your disposal (links for internal audiences only):

• Check out Cisco’s Earth Aware 2024 (SharePoint)
• Use Cisco’s Community Impact Portal to organize or participate in a cleanup.

Vice President, CX Americas

Global enterprise, leave a comment cancel reply.

We'd love to hear from you! Your comment(s) will appear instantly on the live site. Spam, promotional and derogatory comments will be removed and HTML formatting will not appear.

CONNECT WITH US

• Order Status
• Shipping & Delivery
• Order Cancellation
• Size Charts
• Promotions & Discounts
• Product Advice
• Send Us Feedback

Popular Search Terms

• Air Force 1

Top Suggestions

Members: Free Shipping on Orders $50+

Sale: Up to 50% Off

Look for Store Pickup at Checkout

CIRCULAR SOLUTIONS

We’re creating new ways to advance a circular vision and protect the future of sport. This means designing your favorite footwear, apparel and accessories to last longer and, when it’s time, give those products and their materials new life. We invite you to check out the sustainability services offered at your local Nike store. We can only get to zero by moving there together.

AVAILABLE AT SELECT NIKE STORES

Recycling + donation.

Help reduce waste by donating or recycling worn athletic shoes and apparel.

Refurbished

We source a mix of eligible returns and open box footwear to create an opportunity to purchase gently used shoes at a lower price.

HELPING PRODUCTS LIVE LONGER

Clean and care.

Extend the lifetime of your favorite products by maintaining and caring for them by hand.

Re-Creation

We collect local vintage and dead stock product, using its materials to create newly designed and manufactured pieces.

MAKE YOUR GEAR LAST

An easy way to reduce our impact is to extend the life of your shoes, accessories and apparel. Our Product Care guide shares our best tips to get the most out of your favorites.

More Ways to Move to Zero

MATERIALS WITH LESS IMPACT

Making up more than 70% of a product’s carbon footprint, materials matter. By reusing existing plastics, yarns and textiles, and inventing entirely new materials, we’re taking big strides forward on our journey to zero carbon and zero waste.

TAKING ACTION, TOGETHER

Did you know? The “Sunburst” symbol was created in the 1970s as a circular option where asymmetry of the Swoosh logo didn’t work. Since then, in the same nature of our circular design philosophy, we’ve repurposed the logo. Today, when you see this logo, you see one small step in our journey to Move to Zero. Get the latest Nike Sustainability news and discover new ways we can help protect the future of sport together.

Our Latest Stories

Nike Forward: A Little Care Goes a Long Way

Nike Forward is a special material that appreciates special care. Wash Nike Forward garments on cold before laying them flat to dry. Take care of any piling with an electric fabric shaver.

Move to Zero

Meet Nike Forward

The inaugural collection is made with an average of 75% less carbon compared to our traditional knit fleece. We call it Forward because that’s where we’re going.

Maximum Mileage: 12 Easy Ways to Extend the Life of Your Running Shoes

Runners share tips on getting started with simple, daily gear care. The best part? These hacks can help you reduce waste and be a more mindful runner.

How to Clean Your Running Shoes — and Tread More Lightly on the Planet

Want your running shoes to last longer? Simply cleaning them can go a long way. Watch as Nike apparel designer Raj Mistry shows how small, everyday actions can have a big impact.

Explore More Resources

Sustainability

More about Nike's Vision

Circular design guide.

By reusing existing plastics, yarns and textiles, and inventing entirely new materials, we’re making big strides forward on our journey to zero carbon and zero waste.