Working forwards and working backwards

What we can learn from the military about “mapping backwards” and how this applies to service design

In my previous blog post I wrote about the differences between service design and business analysis. In the breakdown of the roles, skills and mindsets I described how service designers focus on the big picture or vision for a service. Working backwards from an ideal future scenario. I then described how, in contrast, I’d expect business analysts to be working forwards from an understanding of an existing business, organisation, or ‘business as usual’ scenario.

This is what he refers to as “mapping backwards”.

If you relate this to service design it means starting with a clear, useful and usable vision for where you want to be. Then working (mapping) backwards.

Analysis works forwards and design works backwards.

Analysis tells us how things are. It helps us work forwards to improve or maintain a state of business as usual. It starts from where we are. It’s everything that can be understood or optimised in the here and now, and it usually only gets us so far.

Design is about where we could be.

The most value that a dedicated service designer will add to your organisation is their ability to work or ‘map’ backwards from where we could be in the future. They can also help you to imagine what that ideal future state might look like.

This is about setting out what might be possible despite how things are now and the impact this might have on business as usual. It’s a focus towards an ideal future state for a service or organisation and then a process of working backwards through everything that needs to happen, be put in place, or be designed to get us there.

The challenge in a design process is to move things forwards by working or ‘mapping’ backwards.

Most organisations get to the point where they know where they are (analysis). They also realise that they need to deliver significant change to how things work. This means responding to the changing needs and expectations of the people who will use their services and working through how to get there (design).

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