A4Q Foundation Certificate in Service Design Consultancy

The A4Q Service Design Consultancy certification covers the key skills required to deliver effective business design consultancy, including the consultancy lifecycle and service portfolio, the consultancy mind set, stakeholder engagement, investigation and negotiation techniques, and situation diagnosis.

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

• Understand the purpose and role of the Service Design Consultant and the principles and ethics of Service Design
• Initiate a consulting assignment including how to qualify opportunities and establish credibility with stakeholders
• Understand service value propositions and conduct a situation analysis and diagnosis
• Appraise options and conduct principled negotiation leading to solution implementation

Participants should have completed the following before attending this course:

• A4Q Design Thinking Certification
• A4Q Business Service Design Certification
• A4Q Customer Experience Analysis (CX) Certification

Target Audience

This course is designed for:

• Service designers
• Business analysts
• Project managers
• Business change practitioners

and anyone who provides consultancy guidance to business customers

Introduction to Service Design Consultancy (15%)

• Demonstrate an understanding of Service Design Consultancy
• Demonstrate an understanding of the Service Design Consultant role
• Describe a Service Design Consultancy Service Portfolio

Service Design Principles and Ethics (10%)

• Identify the 3 principles of Ethical Design Solutions
• Demonstrate an understanding of Inclusivity and Accessibility in Service Design
• Explain the importance of Security and Privacy in Service Design
• Demonstrate an understanding of Sustainability in Service Design
• Identify the components of professional standards and codes of ethical conduct for a Service Design Consultant

Initiating a Consulting Assignment (20%)

• Explain the elements of the MANDACT model for qualifying consulting opportunities
• Demonstrate an understanding of a Terms of Reference (ToR) document
• Demonstrate an understanding of gaining trust and establishing credibility with stakeholders
• Demonstrate an understanding of approaches used to build rapport
• Demonstrate an understanding of influencing
• Demonstrate an understanding of techniques for and analysing and engaging stakeholders
• Demonstrate an understanding of Emotional Intelligence

Investigating the Situation (15%)

• Describe the 5 components of the VMOST model
• Explain the approaches to setting and measuring goals for organisational performance
• Demonstrate an understanding of Service Value Propositions
• Demonstrate an understanding of Organisational Culture and Climate

Appraising & Diagnosing the Situation (10%)

• Describe the types of data used to appraise a situation
• Demonstrate an understanding of situation appraisal techniques
• Demonstrate an understanding of diagnosing techniques

Generating Options and Identifying a Solution (15%)

• Demonstrate an understanding of how options are generated
• Demonstrate an understanding of the MECE framework for presenting options
• Demonstrate an understanding of Gap Analysis
• Demonstrate an understanding of option appraisal
• Explain the key steps in the identification, assessment and management of Risk
• Describe the rationale for analysing the impact of a proposed solution
• Define the key principles of the experimentation approach to testing a solution
• Demonstrate an understanding of solution negotiation
• Demonstrate an understanding of conflict in service design consultancy assignments

Generating Options and Identifying a Solution (15%)

• Define the roadmap for Implementing Change
• Demonstrate an understanding of using techniques to assess business readiness
• Describe the methods for designing a transition
• Define the 4 strategies used to implement change
• Define the barriers to communication during change
• Demonstrate an understanding of solution deployment
• Demonstrate an understanding of how change is sustained

Exams and Assessments

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

• 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 Service Design Consultancy skills.
• A detailed insight into Service Design Consultancy concepts
• Being able to apply useful Service design Consultancy techniques to drive business innovation.