Service Blueprint Diagram Explained in Detail [+ 5 Awesome Resources]

Hey there! Visualizing and mapping out the steps to deliver your service can be game-changing for your business. Let me walk you through everything you need to know about using service blueprint diagrams. I’ll share my insights as a data analyst and tech geek to help you take your services to the next level.

What is a Service Blueprint Diagram?

A service blueprint diagram is a visual map that displays the customer journey from start to finish when obtaining your product or service. It outlines the frontstage and backstage actions that make up the entire service delivery process from the customer’s perspective.

Think of it as an expanded version of a customer journey map. It starts with the customer journey and adds layers of frontstage service actions (seen by customers) and backstage actions (behind-the-scenes) that come together to deliver the complete service experience.

By mapping out these different components of your service sequentially from the customer‘s point of view, you can analyze the end-to-end process to identify issues and opportunities for improvement.

Let‘s briefly explore what kind of actions a typical service blueprint includes:

• Customer actions: The steps customers take to obtain the service like researching, purchasing, using and contacting support.

• Frontstage actions: All direct interactions customers have with service employees across channels like in person, phone, chat, email.

• Backstage actions: Indirect actions invisible to customers that enable frontstage actions, like order processing and fulfillment.

• Support processes: Additional activities like analytics, payment processing, inventory management that facilitate service delivery.

• Physical evidence: The tangible elements customers encounter throughout the service journey whether digital or physical touchpoints.

Now that you understand the core elements of a service blueprint diagram, let’s look at why mapping out your service process can be so valuable.

Why Use a Service Blueprint Diagram?

Visualizing your service delivery pathway end-to-end provides many benefits:

Gain an Outside-In Perspective of Your Service

Viewing the service through the lens of the customer journey helps you see pain points and inconsistencies you may otherwise miss. You essentially walk through the service as customers experience it.

Identify Failure Points in the Service Process

Illustrating the frontstage and backstage actions reveals where breakdowns, bottlenecks, and hiccups might occur. You can address these proactively to avoid issues.

Improve Service Efficiency and Workflows

Analyzing the sequence of service actions lets you streamline workflows, eliminate redundancies, and maximize productivity for service teams.

Design Enhanced Services

Service blueprints allow you to model new service concepts on paper and test innovations before rolling them out.

Onboard Employees by Communicating Service Delivery Expectations

The diagram clearly outlines required steps and hand-offs for employees to successfully deliver the service.

Consistently Exceed Customer Expectations

Finding pain points gives you opportunities to implement service improvements that consistently wow customers.

Uncover New Revenue Streams

Reviewing the service process could reveal gaps where you could add value and generate more revenue.

Differentiate from Competitors

Unique backstage innovations you implement can enable you to deliver distinctive service experiences versus competitors.

As you can see, service blueprinting delivers immense strategic value in designing, managing, and improving services. Now let’s break down what key components a service blueprint must contain.

Elements of a Service Blueprint

While service blueprints can take many forms, there are a few essential components:

Additionally, service blueprints include a few key lines that provide important boundaries on the diagram:

Now that we’ve explored the foundational elements of service blueprints, let’s go through how to actually create one for your business.

How to Create a Service Blueprint

Here is a step-by-step process for building out a service blueprint diagram:

1. Map Out the Customer Journey

• Outline every step customers take to obtain your product or service from their perspective from start to finish.

• Refer to existing customer journey maps if available.

• This forms the customer actions row of the blueprint.

2. Identify Frontstage Actions

• Determine every direct interaction customers have with frontline employees across both physical and digital touchpoints.

• Plot these above the line of visibility in the frontstage actions row.

• Examples include in-person service counters, phone inquiries, chat conversations, and customer support emails.

3. Map Backstage Actions

• Consider what invisible activities enable the frontstage actions identified.

• Add these below the line of visibility in the backstage actions row.

• These could include order processing, inventory checks, appointment scheduling, payment processing, etc.

4. Note Other Support Processes

• Identify any other processes and systems that support service delivery not visible to customers.

• Add these in the support processes row beneath backstage actions.

• Examples are database management, quality assurance, analytics, staff training.

5. Pinpoint Physical Evidence

• At each step of the customer journey, note elements they physically interact with or see.

• These could be digital or physical touchpoints like a website, mobile app, brochure, reception area, dressing room, etc.

6. Differentiate Frontstage and Backstage

• Add the line of interaction separating customer actions from frontstage actions.

• Insert the line of visibility dividing visible customer actions above from backstage actions below.

7. Analyze and Optimize

• Review the blueprint to identify failure points and bottlenecks.

• Implement changes to streamline flows, improve efficiency, and exceed customer expectations.

• Regularly update the blueprint as improvements are made.

Let’s look at an example service blueprint in practice for a hotel stay.

Hotel Service Blueprint Example

Analyzing an applied example makes the concept much clearer. Below is a service blueprint diagram for a hotel stay mapping out the customer journey:

Let‘s break down what this blueprint shows:

• The customer actions row depicts each step of the customer journey from reservation to checkout.

• Frontstage actions like check-in and concierge recommendations are visible direct interactions with hotel staff.

• Backstage actions like room cleaning are unseen activities that enable the frontstage.

• Support processes like payment processing and email marketing are additional behind-the-scenes activities.

• Physical evidence at each step are elements the customer encounters like the lobby, room key, and receipt.

• The lines of interaction and visibility differentiate visible and invisible steps.

By mapping out this hotel stay service visually, you can easily identify areas for improvement. For example, the hotel could allow self check-in via a mobile app to speed up front desk lines. Or, housekeeping could use smartphone apps to communicate status for quicker room turnaround.

This example illustrates how service blueprinting reveals opportunities to optimize the service delivery process. Next, let‘s explore some valuable templates and tools to simplify creating service blueprints.

Helpful Service Blueprint Resources

Leveraging templates can give you a headstart on mapping out your service visually. Here are some of my favorite service blueprint tools and templates to check out:

Service Blueprint Software

• Miro: Flexible canvas with pre-made template to edit.
• MURAL: Interactive templates to guide you in building custom blueprints.
• Lucidchart: Intuitive blueprint diagramming tool.
• Creately: Features helpful swimlanes.
• Canvanizer: Simple drag and drop tool.

These software tools make it easy to map out professional service blueprints online collaboratively.

Service Blueprint Templates

• Miro‘s food delivery blueprint
• Lucidchart‘s customer service blueprint
• Creately‘s hospitality blueprint
• Canvanizer‘s sales blueprint

Leverage these pre-built service blueprint examples for industries like food, customer service, hospitality and sales as a starting point.

Service Blueprint Design Inspiration

• Sketching Service Journeys
• Visualizing Services
• Service Design Blueprints

These articles provide visual examples and design tips to inspire your service blueprint diagrams.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

To quickly recap, a service blueprint diagram lets you visualize your service delivery from the customer‘s perspective to identify improvements. The key is mapping out frontstage and backstage actions sequentially.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Service blueprints provide an outside-in perspective of your service customer journey.

• They allow you to pinpoint service failure points and bottlenecks.

• You can diagnose issues and improve service efficiency.

• Blueprints help train employees and exceed customer expectations.

Next steps:

• Use the steps outlined to create service blueprints for your business.

• Take advantage of the available templates and tools.

• Analyze your blueprints and continuously optimize.

Visualizing services is invaluable for designing experiences that delight customers and propel your business forward. I hope mapping out your service delivery pathways using these service blueprint techniques helps you provide exceptional services that set you apart. Let me know if you have any other questions!