forum about service design held in qianhai on sunday was attended by 11 experts , the shenzhen special zone daily reported yesterday. the global service design and innovation forum was held to share international customer service methods that chinese companies may adopt.
"the difference between products and services is that products are physical, but services are intangible and consumers can only feel the service quality by using the services," said jesse grimes, the service design network's executive director.
grimes said it is important to understand the users and predict their needs.
he said a growing focus on services in the chinese economy will make customers happier through more efficiently designed systems.
richard buchanan, a professor at the case western reserve university in the u.s., said over 50 percent of china’s economic growth came from the service industry over the past 18 months, a significant development for chinese industries.
buchanan said service providers should build trust with customers.
paul thurston, head of innovation at pdr, an international center for design and research, said many european governments have raised public service efficiency by redesigning them.
he said pdr has launched a project to provide governments with public service planning and employee training, based on research.
tsinghua university professor liu guanzhong said the goal of design should be healthier life styles and a sharing economy. he said services should propel a society's progress
