Jon Rodriguez's background in service design and his thoughts on the industry

In a captivating conversation on El Periscope, Jon Rodriguez, industrial designer and leader of the Service Design team at Philips, talks with Marc Fabra, design director at Lúcid, and shares his fascinating career path dedicated to service design. He reflects on his beginnings in Mondragón (Basque Country) and his current position, mainly focused on the healthcare sector at Philips.

Its beginnings: Service design for the public sector

‍Jonbegan his career working for the Rotterdam City Council, which hired him to conduct research for the design of bicycle stations, marking his entry into utility design. Although the term "utility design" was not widely used at the time, Jon had the opportunity to combine research and urban planning with one of his passions: cycling.

From consumer electronics to healthcare

His career at Philips started in consumer electronics, already linked to service design. Today, he leads the service design team in the healthcare sector, where he manages projects focused on addressing medical challenges, from hospital system maintenance to education and consulting services. In the podcast, he highlights the long-term satisfaction he gets from working on healthcare solutions.

Throughout his career at Philips, he has witnessed the transformation in service design thinking, noting that service design has taken a much more holistic and integrated approach. He emphasizes that early involvement of service designers in projects is key to making a significant impact on design projects.

Tools, collaboration and methodologies

When asked about tools and methodologies, he laughs as he recalls being called "Jon Flow" in his early days. Today, he recognizes the importance of curiosity and explains that, for him, working with tools is a priority, such as digital dashboards that provide up-to-date information on the implementation and launch of services. He also highlights the close collaboration between departments and diverse profiles, which allows for a more integrated approach to design.

The complexity of a multi-stakeholder environment

In the podcast, he addresses the complexity of designing solutions for medical equipment, as many of the projects are characterized by multiple stakeholders. He also discusses Artificial Intelligence and acknowledges that this discipline has been impacting the healthcare sector for some time and has been of great help in many processes. He highlights, for example, the use of AI for disease diagnosis, remote monitoring of healthcare systems and more efficient medical decision making.

Inspirational recommendations

‍Jonrecommends the book "Good Services by Lou Downe" and highlights Lou Downe as a reference figure in service design. He mentions the British government as a case study that has excelled in this discipline.

In summary, Jon Rodriguez's experience and perspective offer valuable insights into the evolution of service design and its impact on healthcare projects, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, adaptability and constant innovation. This journey from industrial design to leading innovative healthcare projects highlights the versatility and evolution of the design discipline throughout Jon Rodriguez's career.