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The School of Good Services

@theschoolofgood.bsky.social
416 followers 2 following 246 posts

We help organisations get better at designing and delivering services that work for their users Run by Sarah Drummond and Lou Downe good.services

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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 15h
At the Bad Services Corporation we have 15 principles of Bad Service Design. Principle #3: A bad service does not explain its purpose If you want to implement this principle, make sure you’re extremely vague about what your service does Company Induction: good.services/writing/a-ba...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Design your infrastructure or your infrastructure will design you good.services/writing/desi...
Bold black headline on a peach background reading "Design your infrastructure or your infrastructure will design you," urging proactive planning of systems and processes.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Due to popular demand, we've added some NEW courses to the end of 2026 at the School of Good Services There is a NEW 'Service Design Leadership' course taking place on November 24th and December 1st and NEW Stakeholder Leadership course on the 26th November All courses on good.services/courses
Promotional poster for a 2‑day Service Design Leadership course on a blue background, left shows the course title and a black vertical abstract pattern, right displays a testimonial praising renewed energy, inspiration and confidence with stronger strategy and new tools.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Season 1 of the Bad Service Podcast comes to an end today. In episode 13, we talk about the statement we often use: Service design is 10% design, 90% creating the conditions for design to happen. good.services/badservicesp...
Bold neon-green title "Conditions for service design" centered over a black-and-white street scene of people outside a storefront; small "13" at upper left and a stacked logo at bottom right.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Ireland, this is for you On Wednesday 7th October I'll be launching Bad Services in partnership with NCAD Design Labs in Dublin. We'll be talking about Bad Services, and I'll be joined by Irish design and education voices on the night. www.eventbrite.ie/e/bad-servic...
Frustrated office worker at a gray desk with a bright green retro computer and phone, wearing a white shirt and green tie, typing while glancing sideways; nameplate reads "Lou Downe, CEO, Bad Services Corp." with a clock and plant on a shelf behind.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Bad Services is out internationally today! To celebrate we’re hosting two conversations with Lou, the author of Bad Services on local time zones. We thought we’d give time for the book to get out there, and then discuss your reflections and questions on the themes in the book (1/1)
Person in a white shirt, bright green tie and socks sitting between two green chairs, holding a whiteboard that reads "BAD SERVICES" to convey a negative review of service.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I’m really looking forward to keynoting at the Service Design Global Conference in Frankfurt RheinMain on the 28–30 Oct, 2026 I’ll be talking Bad Services I’ve got a 10% discount code for anyone considering attending. Use LOUSDGC when purchasing tickets. www.servicedesignglobalconference.com
Promotional poster for the Service Design Global Conference (Frankfurt RheinMain, 28–30 Oct 2026) promoting a keynote by the founder/director of The School of Good Services titled "Bad services: how to fix services that don't work," showing a black-and-white portrait of a person holding a corded
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
At the Bad Services Corporation we have 15 principles of Bad Service Design. Principle #2: A bad service does not enable users to complete the outcome they set out to Make sure you've completed your induction: good.services/writing/a-ba...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Our structure defines the shape of our services Joining materials is fundamental to any design discipline. Our work needs to focus on designing better conversations and finding better ways to work together to deliver more joined up services that work for people. good.services/writing/orga...
Large heading: "Joining materials is fundamental to any design discipline — so too with service design." Right panel shows a black-and-white photo of men in caps and aprons hand-stitching heavy canvas in a workshop, suggesting traditional craft and collaborative workmanship.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Episode 12 of Bad Services is out on STRUCTURE. We delve into the challenge of siloes, and how they impact the delivery of good services. We weave between types of siloes, Austrian scythes and Conway's Law. good.services/badservicesp...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
So this is exciting. I'll be keynoting at Service Design Disrupted on Bad Services in Barcelona. There's some amazing speakers on the line up I'm looking forward to hearing from and some old friends to catch up with. I've got a 15% discount code for tickets, just use LOU-X-SDD sddisrupted.com
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Bad Services is going to be in Europe - we are going on another short book tour! After a fun launch touring around the UK and visiting some of our collaborators past and present to put on Bad Service events, we are headed to Europe in October. We're going to be in...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Risk aversion is increasing your risk of delivering a bad service Doing nothing is riskier than trying something We've written about risk and bad services good.services/writing/why-risk-aversion-is-increasing-your-risk-of-delivering-a-bad-service
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A new podcast episode is here, this time on Risk. In episode 11, we talk about how the decisions we make in services, and how we design them are influenced by how an organisation treats and responds to risk. good.services/badservicesp...
A chapter title slide that reads "Chapter 4: Risk" in large neon green text over a black-and-white aerial cloudscape, with a small green "11" above the title and a stacked "tSGS" logo at the bottom-right.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
At the Bad Services Corporation we have 15 principles of Bad Service Design We’re rolling out our training today over the next few months, principle by principle Take a seat, grab a pen+paper Principle #1: A bad service is hard to find good.services/writing/a-ba...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Ever noticed that it's the services that are the worst that find it the hardest to change? This isn’t a coincidence. Bad services actively create bad relationships with users good.services/writing/bad-services-create-bad-relationships-with-users
Bold green headline on purple background reads "Bad services create bad relationships with users," warning that poor services damage user relationships.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Why is the old leadership trope of 'Don't get involved in the detail' bad for delivering good services? Our new episode of Bad Services podcast on materials is out now and why we need to care about the detail good.services/badservicespodcast/episode010
10 Chapter 3 Materials
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Sometimes, stopping bad decisions is as important as making good ones when it comes to designing good services
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Why is it so hard to design services that meet our user’s needs? Not knowing who our users are or what they need is now so common in some organisations that we almost don't notice anymore. good.services/writing/you-are-not-your-user
A green background with black and white photograph where a man hold up scissors and a womans hair cutting it
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Lets talk users, user needs and why bad services create bad relationships with users. Episode 9 of the Bad Services podcast is out! good.services/badservicesp...
A black and white cathedral image that overlays text saying: Chapter 2: Users
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Last week, we introduced chapter 1 of Bad Services: Purpose Every service has a purpose,but for every purpose, there are infinite possible services..how do you pick the right way of delivering that purpose if you’re starting from scratch? More on purpose/services: good.services/writing/ever...
Every purpose has infinite service possibilities
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
15 billions hours are wasted each year dealing with broken services, but do we care enough to fix it? So we built a tracker to show across the year how much time has elapsed good.services/writing/15-billions-hours-are-wasted
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
You can't design a service if you don't know why you’re delivering it Whether your purpose is to help people get into cycling or get control over money, it's our purpose that tells us what services we might create to deliver that outcome and who our users might be good.services/writing/serv...
An object on ground propping a door is fronted with text saying Form Follows Function Follows Form Follows Function
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Episode 8 of the Bad Services Podcast is out. As the book, Bad Services is now out, we’re delving into each chapter, focusing on the causes of Bad Services. In episode 8, we’re talking about Chapter 1, Purpose. Why does a lack of purpose lead to Bad Services? good.services/badservicesp...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
WOW!!! Tuesday night was absolutely incredible at our London Launch Party We were completely packed out with standing room only, and it was hotter than the sun but what an amazing evening with such good vibes all round.
Pedestrians waiting outside a city storefront, one checking a phone, beside a bright green sign that reads "I fix bad services," suggesting a business offering customer-service or tech support fixes.Vendor at a purple-lit booth hands a green brochure to attendees across a counter, posters about service design hang above reading "Good services" and "I fix bad services," with a rotary phone and a small "Good Services" booklet on the table.Two people chat in front of a projected slide reading "Party!" while a third person checks a tablet nearby; a table with popcorn boxes, bottles and cups sits in the foreground against a brick-wall venue, suggesting a casual event or reception.Small live event in a brick-walled room: presenters stand by a microphone and keyboards while an audience watches a large neon-green slide titled "Thank yous!" listing contributors.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Making the case for service design is a 1 day course for anyone wanting to learn how to pitch and bring people with you on investing the resources you need to design good services. Our next one day course is on the 14th July good.services/making-the-c...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Sometimes it's easier to spot a bad service, than it is a good one. As part of our new sister company, the Bad Service Corporation, we've launched a training video on the 15 Principles of Bad Services. good.services/writing/the-15-principles-of-bad-services
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
We’re really excited for the official London launch party tomorrow for Bad Services We’re welcoming Laura Hutchinson and Sarah Gold to join us to reflect on why bad services happen We are sold out, but, some returns are being done today, so do join the waitlist luma.com/bzermheg
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Bad Services is out today and we’d like to take this opportunity to announce our unwavering support for services that don't work. So much so that we've launched our new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
It’s HEREEEEE!! Bad Services ships tomorrow but here’s a sneak peak of the long awaited sequel to Good Services. good.services/writing/bad-services-has-landed
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Our new podcast on the 'Types of Service Design' is out today Is there a right way to do Service Design? Or one process you should follow? good.services/badservicespodcast/episode007
Types of Sevice Design
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
We'll be seeing your for the Bad Services Corporation induction June 25th 2026 badservicescorp.com
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Designing services has many different starting points and reasons for it to take centre stage, or be initiated.  Our new podcast episode, Starting Points in Service design is all about the reasons service design might happen and what starting points look like good.services/badservicesp...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
We’re on a Bad Services UK Book Tour. Actually we’re on it right now, with Glasgow tonight. We’re doing a short Bad Services UK Book Tour over June and July. The link has tour dates listed, with a few more to be updated in the next few days. good.services/badservicesb...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
You’ve reached the Bad Service Corporation Customer Help line Did you know we have a website? It’s much easier to do what you’re trying to do online than it is to wait in the queue to speak to one of our customer service representatives Press 1 for New Book
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Super excited to be dropping into Bristol Service Design Meet up as part of the book tour for Bad Services 1st July, we'll be talking about the why of Bad Services Tickets: www.meetup.com/service-desi... Big thanks to James Reece for pulling it all together
meetup.com
Service Design Bristol #13 - Lou Downe 'Bad Services' book tour, Wed, Jul 1, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
Come along to a very special edition of Service Design Bristol! For this event, bestselling author, educator and service activist Lou Downe will be giving a special talk t
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Bad Services, coming soon Ships on 25th June 2026 good.services/badservicesb...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Episode 5 of Bad Services is live, and this episode is on context of use. We talk designing boxes to move multi-million £ artwork, creating new volunteer services for older generations facing fraud, and an online service supporting people with divorce good.services/badservicesp...
Context of Use title with episode 05 title. Parking sign in background.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Delighted to be kicking off the start of talking about Bad Services, our new book in Glasgow Ahead of being shipped, this is the first stop of a wider book tour to be announced shortly Tickets are Free Glasgow Glasgow School of Art Reid Building 5.00 - 6.30pm www.eventbrite.com/e/bad-servic...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Really excited to be closing keynote @uxlondon.bsky.social With Bad Services coming out soon, we'll be talking about all things BAD, all things SERVICES but really asking, why does this happen? 2nd - 4th June Use our code JOIN_LD for a 20% discount! #UXLondon UX London 2026.uxlondon.com
UX London graphic, 4 June 2026. Small person with short hair holding green phone in circle image
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Our Stakeholder Leadership course is coming up on the 25th June. Fed up of silo’s? Learn how to work with them rather than trying to tear them down. Come learn how to create effective relationships that enable good service design and delivery to happen good.services/stakeholder-...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Our Making the case for Service Design course is coming - 14th July and it is (we think) the last time we will run it this year Learn how to communicate the value of user-centred change and build a compelling financial pitch to gain investment and buy in for design good.services/making-the-c...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Designing Good Services Summer course is coming up on 23rd June Come work with us and learn about what makes a good service, how to identify problems in the design of services and understand what can be done to improve them. good.services/designing-go...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
A new episode of Bad Services is live. Episode 4 is how to spot a bad service. There are lots of ways in which you can spot if something isn't working, we've put some of our initial go to data points down. good.services/badservicespodcast/episode004
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
“The course has given me a renewed sense of energy and inspiration, along with the confidence to continue in my chosen direction" This was some fantastic feedback from our Service Design Leadership Course. Our next course is on the 2nd and 9th July good.services/service-desi... Tickets Limited
"The course has given me a renewed sense of energy and inspiration, along with the confidence to continue in my chosen direction, but this time with a stronger strategic foundation and equipped with new tools. It encouraged me to reflect on my work, validate my ideas, and think more clearly about how I want to develop them further."
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Our summer semester trio of one day courses is coming up in June. If you’re looking to learn more about services and how to design good ones, Designing Good Services is a great introductory course. Designing Good Services - June 23 2026 (BST) good.services/courses
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Reposted by The School of Good Services
Jonty @fairless.xyz · 22/04/2026
Incredibly privileged to join @energysavingtrust.bsky.social colleagues y'day for a @theschoolofgood.bsky.social masterclass from @loudowne.bsky.social. Getting great feedback today - "so valuable - they linked stuff together which I've always thought about, but never had the framework to tackle!"
Lou Downe standing and speaking next to a large television, showing a bright turquoise screen with black text which reads "A good service encourages the right behaviour from users and service providers". A few people sit with their back to the camera, watching.
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
A new episode of Bad Services is live. Episode 3 is on What makes a Bad Service. From services that de-humanise people, to hidden rules in services, we lay it all out. What do you think makes a bad service? good.services/badservicespodcast/episode003
What makes a Bad Service text in green
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
We’ve got a new podcast! Bad Services is out on the 20th of May, but if you can't wait to get stuck in, we’ve just launched a podcast so you can dive into the book early, and listen along as we talk about each chapter over the next few months. good.services/badservicesp...
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The School of Good Services @theschoolofgood.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Sun's out, and our summer semester is on it's way. We've got our whole range of courses on offer. Tickets available on our website: good.services/courses
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