A4Q Foundation Certificate in Business Service Design

The need for organizations to continuously innovate and adapt their services to meet the ever-changing, and increasingly demanding, expectations of their customers is more of a challenge today than ever! A seamless service experience for the customer can have a significant impact on an organization’s reputation, customer acquisition and retention and indeed the company’s overall growth. Business Service Design has an in depth focus on business systems, processes, and services behind the customer journey, focusing on their impact on customer satisfaction.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between Business Service Design & business strategy.
• Explain and apply the key principles of:
  • Systems Thinking
  • Service Thinking
  • Design Thinking
  • Lean Thinking
• Develop customer journey & empathy maps.
• Develop service blueprints.
• Explain the relationship between organisational culture & agility.

There are typically no formal prerequisites to take the A4Q Business Service Design certification; however, a basic understanding of service design principles and business practices is recommended for optimal learning.

Target Audience

This course is designed for:

• Business analysts
• Customer journey managers
• Business service designers (including business designers and service designers)
• Product managers
• User researchers

Introduction to Business Service Design (10%)

• Define the rationale for Business Service Design
• Identify the core components of the Business Service Design approach.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the link between Business Service Design and strategy execution.

Systems Thinking Fundamentals (20%)

• Identify and define a system, systems thinking and reductionist thinking.
• Describe the characteristics of systems.
• Identify natural systems, designed physical systems, designed abstract systems, man activity systems, adaptive systems.
• Describe and distinguish between; Fishbone diagrams and the 6 P’s framework, POPIT, Business System Diamond, Business Model Canvas

Service Thinking Fundamentals (20%)

• Define the core concepts.
• Identify and define the principles and characteristics of a Service Thinking approach.
• Describe and distinguish between; value stream analysis, value proposition attributes, the service design gaps model.
• Identify and distinguish between the Five Dimensions of Service

Design Thinking Practices Fundamentals (20%)

• Demonstrate an understanding of core Design Thinking definitions.
• Identify the quadrants of the Design Thinking Double Diamond
• Identify Design Thinking techniques.

Lean Thinking Fundamentals (20%)

• Define the rationale for Lean Thinking
• Describe and distinguish between Lean Thinking principles.
• Describe and distinguish between the following Lean Thinking concepts.
• Identify and distinguish between the approaches for identification of waste.
• Identify and distinguish between the following Lean Thinking improvement lifecycles.

Organisational Agility (10%)

• Define the term ‘organisational agility.’
• Identify and distinguish between the domains of organisational agility.
• Describe the elements of organisational agility.
• Define organisational culture.

Exams and Assessments

The examination leading to the Foundation Certificate in Business Service Design:

• Consists of 40 multiple choice questions, each of which has a value of one mark. Candidates must gain 26 marks out of the available 40 marks (65%) in order to pass the examination and be awarded the certification.
• Has a duration of 60 minutes. If a candidate’s first language is not the examination language, the candidate is allowed an additional 25% (15 minutes) of examination time.
• Is a closed book examination and no reference materials may be used while sitting the examination.
• Assesses competence at levels 1,2 and 3 of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domains. These levels assess competence as follows:
  • K1: Remember.
  • K2: Understand.
  • K3: Apply.

Hands-On Learning

This course includes:

• Instructor-led scenarios, helping develop business service design skills.
• A detailed insight into Business Service Design concepts
• Being able to apply useful Service Design techniques to drive business innovation