The School of Good Services
@theschoolofgood.bsky.social
We help organisations get better at designing and delivering services that work for their users
Run by Sarah Drummond and Lou Downe
good.services
Run by Sarah Drummond and Lou Downe
good.services
We've written about the 5 things that are needed in any scenario to create an organisation that can design and deliver services well
This is for all the people stepping into leading service design, whether it's in their title or not.
good.services/writing/comm...
This is for all the people stepping into leading service design, whether it's in their title or not.
good.services/writing/comm...
November 7, 2025 at 11:03 AM
We've written about the 5 things that are needed in any scenario to create an organisation that can design and deliver services well
This is for all the people stepping into leading service design, whether it's in their title or not.
good.services/writing/comm...
This is for all the people stepping into leading service design, whether it's in their title or not.
good.services/writing/comm...
Most bad services don't happen deliberately.
We've written more about what to do when bad service design is deliberate.
good.services/writing/what...
We've written more about what to do when bad service design is deliberate.
good.services/writing/what...
October 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Most bad services don't happen deliberately.
We've written more about what to do when bad service design is deliberate.
good.services/writing/what...
We've written more about what to do when bad service design is deliberate.
good.services/writing/what...
Leadership of service design can come in many different forms. We've written about service design leadership and our new course.
🗓️ good.services/writing/what...
🗓️ good.services/writing/what...
October 16, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Leadership of service design can come in many different forms. We've written about service design leadership and our new course.
🗓️ good.services/writing/what...
🗓️ good.services/writing/what...
What have bathrooms got to do with service design?
Author of Good Services Lou Downe, and our school director reflect on lessons in service design from bathrooms.
good.services/writing/lessons-about-service-design-from-bathrooms
Author of Good Services Lou Downe, and our school director reflect on lessons in service design from bathrooms.
good.services/writing/lessons-about-service-design-from-bathrooms
September 24, 2025 at 7:30 AM
What have bathrooms got to do with service design?
Author of Good Services Lou Downe, and our school director reflect on lessons in service design from bathrooms.
good.services/writing/lessons-about-service-design-from-bathrooms
Author of Good Services Lou Downe, and our school director reflect on lessons in service design from bathrooms.
good.services/writing/lessons-about-service-design-from-bathrooms
What makes a bad service?
In preparation for our new book, Bad Services, we started thinking about the key patterns in bad services
Beyond the user experience, much of the reasons for bad services sit with how the org runs them
What do you think?
good.services/writing/rwfx...
In preparation for our new book, Bad Services, we started thinking about the key patterns in bad services
Beyond the user experience, much of the reasons for bad services sit with how the org runs them
What do you think?
good.services/writing/rwfx...
September 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
What makes a bad service?
In preparation for our new book, Bad Services, we started thinking about the key patterns in bad services
Beyond the user experience, much of the reasons for bad services sit with how the org runs them
What do you think?
good.services/writing/rwfx...
In preparation for our new book, Bad Services, we started thinking about the key patterns in bad services
Beyond the user experience, much of the reasons for bad services sit with how the org runs them
What do you think?
good.services/writing/rwfx...
When you are designing a service, how do you develop your first concepts and come up with ideas for improving existing services?
We wanted to find a way to help teams work together to develop ideas on making their services work for people
good.services/writing/deve...
We wanted to find a way to help teams work together to develop ideas on making their services work for people
good.services/writing/deve...
September 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
When you are designing a service, how do you develop your first concepts and come up with ideas for improving existing services?
We wanted to find a way to help teams work together to develop ideas on making their services work for people
good.services/writing/deve...
We wanted to find a way to help teams work together to develop ideas on making their services work for people
good.services/writing/deve...
Most services don’t fail because they’re missing tech.
They fail because people can’t use them.
A good service doesn’t make you work hard to find it. It doesn’t leave you guessing, or feeling stupid for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2PT...
They fail because people can’t use them.
A good service doesn’t make you work hard to find it. It doesn’t leave you guessing, or feeling stupid for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2PT...
Lessons from service design with author Lou Downe
Are you speaking a totally different language to your customers? Lou Downe, author of the best selling book Good Services and former Design Director of the UK Government, joins Neil to talk about…
www.youtube.com
September 3, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Most services don’t fail because they’re missing tech.
They fail because people can’t use them.
A good service doesn’t make you work hard to find it. It doesn’t leave you guessing, or feeling stupid for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2PT...
They fail because people can’t use them.
A good service doesn’t make you work hard to find it. It doesn’t leave you guessing, or feeling stupid for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2PT...
Good Services need designed.
Our intro level course on Good Services takes place on the 17th September
If you were wondering if this course is for you, here's Lou, author of Good Services to talk you through the course
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuxV...
Our intro level course on Good Services takes place on the 17th September
If you were wondering if this course is for you, here's Lou, author of Good Services to talk you through the course
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuxV...
Designing Good Services Course Overview
Demystify what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
Designing Good Services is a live 1 day course that…
www.youtube.com
September 1, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Good Services need designed.
Our intro level course on Good Services takes place on the 17th September
If you were wondering if this course is for you, here's Lou, author of Good Services to talk you through the course
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuxV...
Our intro level course on Good Services takes place on the 17th September
If you were wondering if this course is for you, here's Lou, author of Good Services to talk you through the course
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuxV...
Service literacy is a term we come back to often
We think it's important organisations see their services, then recognise what outcomes they are helping them to achieve, whether purpose, policy or financial.
It's an old post but something we come back to daily
good.services/writing/why-...
We think it's important organisations see their services, then recognise what outcomes they are helping them to achieve, whether purpose, policy or financial.
It's an old post but something we come back to daily
good.services/writing/why-...
August 29, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Service literacy is a term we come back to often
We think it's important organisations see their services, then recognise what outcomes they are helping them to achieve, whether purpose, policy or financial.
It's an old post but something we come back to daily
good.services/writing/why-...
We think it's important organisations see their services, then recognise what outcomes they are helping them to achieve, whether purpose, policy or financial.
It's an old post but something we come back to daily
good.services/writing/why-...
Designing Sustainable Services is back!
Two half days, 11th and 12th November.
Learn how to reduce the impact of your work on the planet and design sustainable and climate resilient services
good.services/designingsus...
Two half days, 11th and 12th November.
Learn how to reduce the impact of your work on the planet and design sustainable and climate resilient services
good.services/designingsus...
August 28, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Designing Sustainable Services is back!
Two half days, 11th and 12th November.
Learn how to reduce the impact of your work on the planet and design sustainable and climate resilient services
good.services/designingsus...
Two half days, 11th and 12th November.
Learn how to reduce the impact of your work on the planet and design sustainable and climate resilient services
good.services/designingsus...
Why do Services fail?
When services work, we rarely notice the design. Good service design should lead to a frictionless joined up user experience, no matter what ‘front door’ you come at it from
Enjoy this talk from the archives, thanks to brilliant Camp Digital
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wve...
When services work, we rarely notice the design. Good service design should lead to a frictionless joined up user experience, no matter what ‘front door’ you come at it from
Enjoy this talk from the archives, thanks to brilliant Camp Digital
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wve...
Sarah Drummond - Designing for Service Failure (Camp Digital 2019)
When services work, we rarely notice the design. Good service design should lead to a frictionless joined up user experience, no matter what ‘front door’ you come at it from, that helps someone do…
www.youtube.com
August 21, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Why do Services fail?
When services work, we rarely notice the design. Good service design should lead to a frictionless joined up user experience, no matter what ‘front door’ you come at it from
Enjoy this talk from the archives, thanks to brilliant Camp Digital
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wve...
When services work, we rarely notice the design. Good service design should lead to a frictionless joined up user experience, no matter what ‘front door’ you come at it from
Enjoy this talk from the archives, thanks to brilliant Camp Digital
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wve...
Want to know if your service is actually delivering a good service?
The Good Services Scale helps teams reflect on how well their service works for real people—based on the 15 principles of good service design.
👉 good.services/the-good-services-scale
The Good Services Scale helps teams reflect on how well their service works for real people—based on the 15 principles of good service design.
👉 good.services/the-good-services-scale
August 20, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Want to know if your service is actually delivering a good service?
The Good Services Scale helps teams reflect on how well their service works for real people—based on the 15 principles of good service design.
👉 good.services/the-good-services-scale
The Good Services Scale helps teams reflect on how well their service works for real people—based on the 15 principles of good service design.
👉 good.services/the-good-services-scale
Full Stack Service Design is a model to help people break services down into the parts that make them and understand how all of these parts impact the user experience.
Services are made up of thousands of tiny, often accidental design decisions.
Read more on sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-s...
Services are made up of thousands of tiny, often accidental design decisions.
Read more on sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-s...
August 18, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Full Stack Service Design is a model to help people break services down into the parts that make them and understand how all of these parts impact the user experience.
Services are made up of thousands of tiny, often accidental design decisions.
Read more on sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-s...
Services are made up of thousands of tiny, often accidental design decisions.
Read more on sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-s...
The brilliant Kev Mears who joined our Agile Service Design Course this year, sent us these wonderful sketch notes from the course.
It's so great to see the course we run reflected back at us and see the takeaways.
It's so great to see the course we run reflected back at us and see the takeaways.
August 15, 2025 at 11:06 AM
The brilliant Kev Mears who joined our Agile Service Design Course this year, sent us these wonderful sketch notes from the course.
It's so great to see the course we run reflected back at us and see the takeaways.
It's so great to see the course we run reflected back at us and see the takeaways.
Sometimes services don’t work the way we hope — not because people aren’t trying, but because the service itself is hard to see
In this talk, Lou Downe shows how making services visible and designing them end-to-end can save everyone time and frustration.
🎥 Watch the talk: youtu.be/QoN9tYpbB-k
In this talk, Lou Downe shows how making services visible and designing them end-to-end can save everyone time and frustration.
🎥 Watch the talk: youtu.be/QoN9tYpbB-k
FBTB 2024: Lou Downe - Bad services: Why services fail and what we can do to make them work
Founder & Director of The School of Good Services
Lou Downe is the former Director of Design for the UK Government, where they founded the discipline of service design, growing a strong team of 2000…
youtu.be
August 11, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Sometimes services don’t work the way we hope — not because people aren’t trying, but because the service itself is hard to see
In this talk, Lou Downe shows how making services visible and designing them end-to-end can save everyone time and frustration.
🎥 Watch the talk: youtu.be/QoN9tYpbB-k
In this talk, Lou Downe shows how making services visible and designing them end-to-end can save everyone time and frustration.
🎥 Watch the talk: youtu.be/QoN9tYpbB-k
Reposted by The School of Good Services
For me, at the heart of this test and learn approach was always a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat.
Wrote about design for @theschoolofgood.bsky.social on test and learn for organisations this week, felt good to revisit old work
good.services/writing/test...
Wrote about design for @theschoolofgood.bsky.social on test and learn for organisations this week, felt good to revisit old work
good.services/writing/test...
How to ‘Test and Learn’ in service design — Good Services
Back in late 2024, Pat McFadden (the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations of the United Kingdom) outlined ambitions for the reform of the state in the UK by using a test and learn approach ...
good.services
August 8, 2025 at 1:04 PM
For me, at the heart of this test and learn approach was always a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat.
Wrote about design for @theschoolofgood.bsky.social on test and learn for organisations this week, felt good to revisit old work
good.services/writing/test...
Wrote about design for @theschoolofgood.bsky.social on test and learn for organisations this week, felt good to revisit old work
good.services/writing/test...
How to ‘Test and Learn’ in service design
At the heart of test and learn approaches is a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat. We're written about how we take a test and learn approach to whole services
good.services/writing/test-and-learn
At the heart of test and learn approaches is a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat. We're written about how we take a test and learn approach to whole services
good.services/writing/test-and-learn
August 6, 2025 at 7:15 AM
How to ‘Test and Learn’ in service design
At the heart of test and learn approaches is a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat. We're written about how we take a test and learn approach to whole services
good.services/writing/test-and-learn
At the heart of test and learn approaches is a readiness to observe, learn, adapt the design, and repeat. We're written about how we take a test and learn approach to whole services
good.services/writing/test-and-learn
Join us for Making the Case for Service Design:
Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for designing good services
🗓️ Next course on 7th October
Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for designing good services
🗓️ Next course on 7th October
August 4, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Join us for Making the Case for Service Design:
Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for designing good services
🗓️ Next course on 7th October
Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for designing good services
🗓️ Next course on 7th October
Recently I learned that my favourite bookmark service was closing, pocket.
It got me thinking about the questions I think about when a decision is made to close a product or service down, what would you add?
good.services/writing/closing-a-service
It got me thinking about the questions I think about when a decision is made to close a product or service down, what would you add?
good.services/writing/closing-a-service
August 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Recently I learned that my favourite bookmark service was closing, pocket.
It got me thinking about the questions I think about when a decision is made to close a product or service down, what would you add?
good.services/writing/closing-a-service
It got me thinking about the questions I think about when a decision is made to close a product or service down, what would you add?
good.services/writing/closing-a-service
Good Services are only as strong as their weakest link
Services are impacted by everything our organisation does and how it operates. If something we're doing from a way we evaluate performance to how we fund services doesn't work, it will impact the end user
Get this poster on good.services/shop
Services are impacted by everything our organisation does and how it operates. If something we're doing from a way we evaluate performance to how we fund services doesn't work, it will impact the end user
Get this poster on good.services/shop
July 31, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Good Services are only as strong as their weakest link
Services are impacted by everything our organisation does and how it operates. If something we're doing from a way we evaluate performance to how we fund services doesn't work, it will impact the end user
Get this poster on good.services/shop
Services are impacted by everything our organisation does and how it operates. If something we're doing from a way we evaluate performance to how we fund services doesn't work, it will impact the end user
Get this poster on good.services/shop
Learn how to create effective relationships that enable good service design and delivery to happen in spite of organisational siloes or uneven power dynamics
Our next course is on 1st October on GMT time
good.services/stakeholder-...
Our next course is on 1st October on GMT time
good.services/stakeholder-...
Stakeholder Leadership — Good Services
Leading Stakeholders is a live 1 day course on how to negotiate change in complex, siloed environments by building relationships that enable good service design and delivery to happen.
good.services
July 30, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Learn how to create effective relationships that enable good service design and delivery to happen in spite of organisational siloes or uneven power dynamics
Our next course is on 1st October on GMT time
good.services/stakeholder-...
Our next course is on 1st October on GMT time
good.services/stakeholder-...
Designing Good Services covers the principles of what makes a Good Service.
Demystify what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
Next course coming up on the 17th September
good.services/designing-go...
Demystify what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
Next course coming up on the 17th September
good.services/designing-go...
Designing Good Services — Good Services
Designing Good Services is a live 1 day course that demystifies what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
good.services
July 28, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Designing Good Services covers the principles of what makes a Good Service.
Demystify what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
Next course coming up on the 17th September
good.services/designing-go...
Demystify what makes a good service, helping you to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them
Next course coming up on the 17th September
good.services/designing-go...
If we designed products and services to reduce online harm or support people when they experience it, what might this look like?
Recent work we did with @parentzone.org.uk looked at online financial harms in games and how parents make decisions on games for their children.
Recent work we did with @parentzone.org.uk looked at online financial harms in games and how parents make decisions on games for their children.
July 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM
If we designed products and services to reduce online harm or support people when they experience it, what might this look like?
Recent work we did with @parentzone.org.uk looked at online financial harms in games and how parents make decisions on games for their children.
Recent work we did with @parentzone.org.uk looked at online financial harms in games and how parents make decisions on games for their children.
July 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM
We're in summer recess taking a break and refreshing our courses. This means going through our feedback to make improvements and learning what really lands for people.
We think a surprise for people coming into the courses was how valuable spending time thinking about what services are
We think a surprise for people coming into the courses was how valuable spending time thinking about what services are
July 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
We're in summer recess taking a break and refreshing our courses. This means going through our feedback to make improvements and learning what really lands for people.
We think a surprise for people coming into the courses was how valuable spending time thinking about what services are
We think a surprise for people coming into the courses was how valuable spending time thinking about what services are