AT-ONE PROJECT SUMMARY
Oct 24th, 2007 by admin
AT-ONE
Today more than 70% of total value added in the OECD countries comes from services. Market-based services (that is, excluding those typically provided by the public sector, such as education, health care, and government) have become the main driver of productivity and economic growth, especially as use of IT services has grown. In Norway, eight out of 10 new jobs are created within service industries and all net employment growth comes from services. Three out of four employees work today in service provision.
The term service-design is emerging as a response to industries’ needs to improve service innovation and provision. Design has recently become a hot service topic because of its documented innovation effect within the field of product design. Traditional design skills, such as customer-insight, cultural understanding, creativity and the ability to create products that are attractive and desirable are now being used in the design of services. Service-design uses these skills, but transforms them and directs them towards service innovation and provision.
The AT-ONE project will further develop the area of service-design together with Norwegian research- and teaching organizations and industry. It will develop methods, knowledge, service innovations and create a centre of competence in service innovation to serve Norwegian industry.
The AT-ONE method
Experience shows that many organizations approach service innovation from a product-innovation point of view, and use methods, processes and terms from product development. AT-ONE focuses upon the elements that are different between products and services, to focus innovation upon service development.
AT-ONE is a practitioner-based method for service-design, aimed to maximize the innovation potential at the early stages of service innovation. It was developed from research into innovation methods and from commercial experience in designing services. The method is scalable and works for short projects and major transformations. The AT-ONE project aims to further develop the AT-ONE method and create a centre of competence within the area of service design in Norway.
The partners
The AT-ONE KMB project combines academic and commercial resources to iteratively refine and develop the AT-ONE method. On the research and education side, AHO, BI, KHiO, DIEC (UK), University of Aalborg (D), LIVEWORK (UK) and SINTEF will work together to develop the method and use it in teaching. The Norwegian Design Council will use the project to develop a service design initiative, and the industrial partners Telenor, Norsk Tipping and Gjensidige will evaluate the method in respect to incorporation into their innovation processes.
The AT-ONE project is a strategic project within the research field and in commercial development. The project runs from autumn 2007 until the end of 2010 and will develop the AT-ONE method through at least three iterations of the method. It contributes directly to the research council’s goal of contributing to long-term build up of industry-relevant competence within an industrial segment of importance in Norway. Its combination of practice- and research-based development across existing disciplines, and the creation of a service-design network in Oslo are seen as the start of a long-term initiative to improve service-industry innovation through design.
The AT-ONE project is jointly funded by the industry partners and the Norwegian Research Council (NFR).
An overview of the AT-ONE process. Use the link to download the PDF (1.6 MB)