CRISP #1 magazine ‘Don’t you design chairs anymore?’ CRISP #1 | Page 34

CASD project— CRISP Magazine # 1
Using the strategic role of design to strengthen the competitive position of Product Service Systems and industrial design providers.

PSS... WHAT?!

Would you be willing to pay more, if a hairdresser gave you a free comb?

Bram Kuijken
Product-Service Matrix Non-Tangible Characteristics Important
We’ ve long struggled to clearly define what a product-service system( PSS) is. This debate is by no means new. Some 40 years ago, Lynn Shostack published a series of influential papers and books in which she argued that all products and services consist of combinations of product and service elements. These days, some scholars and practitioners believe that all products are in fact services. This servicedominant logic considers services as the fundamental basis of exchange. However, when is a particular combination of product and service elements actually a PSS? Without a clear definition of what makes a PSS, many offerings may be labelled PSS, thereby diluting the concept’ s significance.
Interaction Not Important
Musical Performance on a CD
Stapler Pizza
Psychotherapy
Meal in a Good Restaurant
Tangible Characteristics Important
Interaction Important
What we are looking for is a way to disentangle product and service elements. Design practice and theorist often distinguish between how users interact with the offering, its interaction, and the actual form or expression of the offering, its manifestation. Product manifestations are tangible with high material intensity; those of services are not. The user’ s interaction with a product is generally static; it is predetermined and cannot be changed over time. A service, on the other hand, is dynamic; it cannot be fully pre-programmed because services are co-created with users. Users and circumstances may be different each time a service is delivered.
It is important to recognise that, although goods may possess intangible aspects, and services tangible aspects, not all of these aspects add economic value. Would you be willing to pay more if a hairdresser gave you a free comb? Or if the cashier wrapped the present you bought for someone?