Get an inside look with Harmonic Design

Get an inside look with Harmonic Design

There's an intriguing mystery to the backstage... Think about it for a moment. People love to see what happens inside the kitchen of a Gordon Ramsey restaurant. Or to follow a sports team into the locker room before and after a game.

We want to look over the shoulder and get an inside glimpse. See things that are usually hidden from the general public. We want to see beyond the frontstage. Well, I've got exciting news, because today we're going to do just that. Not for a restaurant or your favorite sports team but for a leading service design consultancy.

To celebrate their 4th anniversary with the community, the team from Harmonic Design agreed to sit down with me for an uncensored ask-me-anything episode.

In this episode, you'll hear the team react to questions like:

  • What is your strategy for finding new clients?
  • What is the most challenging part of your work?
  • What does it take to get hired at a service design consultancy?
  • What is the biggest failure you made in a project?
  • What is the most important thing you look for in a client?
  • What is the future of agencies?
  • And many more...

The team promised me the truth and nothing but the truth. I would say listen to the episode and find out if the team managed to live up to their promise.

As you'll see and hear, this is a format we haven't done on the Show before. So let me know if this is something that you enjoy and we should do it more often!

My first encounter with Harmonic Design founder Patrick Quattlebaum was for an interview on the Service Design Show back in episode #115. Ever since our first interaction, Harmonic Design has been a great partner of the Show. I want to use this opportunity to send out my appreciation and gratitude for how they are contributing to the service design community and helping it mature.

[ 1. EPISODE GUIDE ]

00:00 Welcome to Show
04:30 Meet Shreya
05:15 Meet Stephen
05:45 Meet Kerri
06:45 Meet Tucker
07:45 Finish the sentence: communicating the value
11:30 Lightning round: Shreya
13:45 Deep dive: what skill does some need to demonstrate
19:30 Finish the sentence: misconceptions
22:00 Lightning round: Stephen
24:00 Deep dive: how do you get to know the full problem space
32:00 Finish the sentence: our strategy to find new clients is
34:15 Lightning round: Kerri
36:15 Deep dive: how do you scope a project
44:00 Finish the sentence: the most fun part of your work
47:00 Lightning round: Tucker
49:15 Deep dive: the future of agencies
54:00 Finish the sentence: recommendations
59:00 Closing thoughts

[ 2. LINKS ]

[ 3. BOOKS ]

Episoder(317)

Where did all the Service Designers go? / Giulia Di Gregorio / Ep. #247

Where did all the Service Designers go? / Giulia Di Gregorio / Ep. #247

If you look at the current job market, you might notice something strange... The words "service design" seem to be slowly disappearing from job titles. Does that mean our field is shrinking, or worse,...

12 Feb 58min

From The Experience Economy to The Transformation Economy / Joe Pine / Ep. #246

From The Experience Economy to The Transformation Economy / Joe Pine / Ep. #246

A few months ago I finally hit a major milestone...After years of putting it off, I finally started taking golf lessons.Jasper, my coach (or "pro" as they say in the golf world), has been helping me d...

3 Feb 1h 5min

2026 Predictions ~ AI Agents, CX Engineers & The End of "Chat" / Jochem van der Veer / Episode #245

2026 Predictions ~ AI Agents, CX Engineers & The End of "Chat" / Jochem van der Veer / Episode #245

Imagine a world where you can simply look at your journey model and ask it why... Why, for example, is our customer churn spiking this quarter? How close are we to that reality?I invited my good frien...

15 Jan 1h 7min

The Hidden Cost of the "Perfect" Journey (and how to avoid it) / Kendra Shimmell / Ep. #244

The Hidden Cost of the "Perfect" Journey (and how to avoid it) / Kendra Shimmell / Ep. #244

Sorry, but I have to say it...We are optimizing our way to boredom.Measure everything, test every variation, and optimize the customer journey until it’s "perfect". That seems to be the mantra of mode...

1 Jan 1h 7min

Designing for Truth in an Era of AI Hallucinations / Inside Service Design / Episode #08

Designing for Truth in an Era of AI Hallucinations / Inside Service Design / Episode #08

We need to talk about the "intern" sitting on your desktop...Come on, you know the one. Sure, they are fast, very eager to please, and can process data at lightning speeds. But they also have a bad ha...

25 Des 20251h 1min

Fighting the "Enshittification" of Experience / Dan Saffer / Ep. #243

Fighting the "Enshittification" of Experience / Dan Saffer / Ep. #243

Sure, design might be going through a tough period...But as the saying goes, "never waste a good crisis."So this moment of uncertainty, where everyone is wondering if (or rather when) AI will take ove...

18 Des 20251h 13min

How To Stay "Stubbornly Human" in an AI World / Inside Service Design / Ep. #07

How To Stay "Stubbornly Human" in an AI World / Inside Service Design / Ep. #07

Here is a hot take, empathy is becoming "theater"...I mean, it's that feeling you get when you receive a "hyper-personalized" yet clearly automated email saying "We are so deeply sorry to see you go"....

11 Des 20251h 1min

Designing for the Long Game: Self-Care as Professional Rigor / Rachael Dietkus / Ep. #242

Designing for the Long Game: Self-Care as Professional Rigor / Rachael Dietkus / Ep. #242

We often hear the "mantra" to move fast and break things...But what happens when the thing that breaks is you?For many service design professionals, this is the reality of their calendar: back-to-back...

4 Des 20251h 9min

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