Service blueprint

A service blueprint extends a journey map downward into the organisation. The top row follows the customer through the stages of using a service. Beneath it, in horizontal bands, are the things the organisation does to make each step happen: what staff do in view of the customer, what they do out of view, and which systems and partners support them.

The technique is usually credited to G. Lynn Shostack, who described it in the early 1980s.

The lines

What makes it a blueprint is the horizontal dividers. The line of interaction separates what the customer does from what the organisation does in direct contact. The line of visibility separates what the customer can see from what happens behind the scenes. Anything below that line is invisible to them, yet it decides whether the service works.

What it is for

Finding the cause of an experience problem that is not in the interface. A late delivery notice looks like a messaging problem until the blueprint shows that the warehouse system updates twice a day. Blueprints make it obvious which team owns which step, and which handovers have no owner.

Common mistake

Drawing it as a flattering description of the intended service. The useful version is built from interviews with the people who deliver it, including the ones who invent workarounds. Add failure points and wait times. A blueprint with no red marks has not been checked against reality.

For the wider discipline, see service design.