Service Concept

How will it meet their needs?

Overview

After generating many ideas, it’s time to begin shaping a more concrete proposal. This canvas helps your team turn one promising idea into a clear service concept.

The Service Concept Canvas guides you to describe the proposal, explain what makes it unique, break it down into key service elements, and reflect critically on how well it responds to users’ needs. It also encourages teams to anticipate risks and think proactively about how to strengthen the idea.

Open in Google Slides

⏱️ Time: 45–60 minutes

👫 Participants: Small working group (2–4 people per concept)

🛠️ Materials: Printed Concept Canvas, pens/markers, idea sketches or post-its

Input

Before completing this canvas, ensure you have completed the following steps:

Re-FramingCrazy 8

Context

Use this tool after your ideation phase (e.g. after Crazy 8 and clustering ideas). It’s especially useful when you want to move from open brainstorming into preparing for prototyping. Each group can fill out one canvas per selected idea.

Recipe

1

Describe the initiative vision

• In a few words, describe your proposal (e.g. a public park that includes a section with playground for children and tables for adults)

• Then, describe what is the main feature that makes this proposal unique to respond to people's needs? (e.g. the park furniture is very versatile and it allows to be used for multiple purposes for the community)

2

Define the service elements

For each part of your concept (e.g. digital tool, help desk, space), answer:

• List all the characteristics or elements that your service will include (e.g. a bench, an information page, a call center)

• Who will be using each of those elements? Why would they would to use them?

• How exactly is each of these characteristics responding to people’s needs? Can you think of an alternative or better way?

3

Be constructively critical

Then, be critical with your idea so that we can open up possibilities:

• What could go wrong? (e.g. low uptake, confusion, cost)

• How might you address this in advance or design around the risk?

Results

A clear and structured concept proposal that connects user needs, service elements, and practical considerations. It helps teams prepare for prototyping and makes it easier to share ideas with stakeholders or users.

Tips

• Stay grounded in user insights—don’t over-design for imagined needs.

• Be honest about weaknesses; every idea has some.

• Try to write clearly enough that someone outside your team could understand it.

• If it’s hard to explain, simplify.

• Use this as a living draft—it’s okay to refine or revise as you move forward.

---

Share Your Experience

We'd love to hear how you're using this tool! Please share your examples and feedback to inspire others and help improve the Booster. Submit your example today and be part of our community.