How can we adapt Service Blueprint for future crises? Lessons learned from government services under COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 crisis highlighted some wicked challenges in designing government services. While no standardized solution was found, government workers responded flexibly to uncertain situations. Service Blueprint (SB) is one of the useful design tools to understand, analyze, plan, and implement government services. However, it does not flexibly adapt to unsystematized information and unconventional services. Although SB needs adaptability for such uncertainty issues, there have been few studies on SB in governments under COVID-19. Therefore, this study explores how to adapt SB to government issues for future crises. A qualitative study of COVID-19 vaccination services in Hino Town, Japan found five flexible actions to deal with uncertainty. Based on them, we proposed three issues and the future direction of SB. This study extends the possibilities of service design tools that design disciplines can provide for governments and promote strategies for future crises.