Customers can tell when a service has been designed around organisational silos instead of real human needs.

The insurance claim passed endlessly between teams. The healthcare referral that leaves patients repeating the same information. The digital service that technically works, but frustrates everyone using it.

Most service failures are not caused by one bad interaction - they happen because the service itself was never designed end-to-end.

Without clear service design, organisations can modernise technology while leaving customer frustration untouched. Service design helps organisations connect customer needs, business goals, operational processes, and collaboration across teams. It creates a clearer view of how services are experienced in the real world and where they succeed or fail.

That is why service design has become one of the most important disciplines in customer-centric transformation today.

On Tuesday 7 July 2026, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is hosting an author webinar with Dr Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley of AssistKD to coincide with the publication of their new BCS book, Service Design: A Practical Guide to Creating Customer Centric Services.

Part of the official BCS Publishing Author Webinar Series, this practical session explores how organisations can create more effective, reliable, and customer-focused business services.

What you’ll learn in the webinar

During this session Dr Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley will explore:

• what defines a service and why it matters to organisational success
• why service failures damage trust and customer experience
• the principles behind effective service design
• practical frameworks for improving services
• how collaboration across roles improves outcomes
• the growing relationship between business analysis, business architecture, and service design
• the evolving career path from Business Analyst to Business Architect to Service Designer

About Dr Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley

Dr Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley have helped shape the growth of business analysis and service design.

Dr Debra Paul is Non-Executive Chair of AssistKD, co-founder of the Business Analysis Conference Europe and the BA Manager Forum, and chief architect of the BCS Advanced International Diploma in Business Analysis. She also co-developed the A4Q Certified Service Designer scheme and has authored some of the profession’s most influential books.

Jonathan Hunsley is CEO of AssistKD, founder of the Service Design Forum, Chief Architect of the A4Q Certified Service Design award, and Lead Assessor for the BCS Advanced Diploma in Business Analysis. He has helped shape professional capability frameworks across service design, business architecture, and customer-centric transformation.

Together, they have spent years helping organisations improve services, strengthen collaboration, and build practical transformation capability.

About the book

Service Design: A Practical Guide to Creating Customer Centric Services, published by BCS, provides practical guidance for professionals looking to design and improve services that are reliable, collaborative, customer-focused, and aligned to business goals.

The book brings together practical frameworks, professional expertise, and real organisational insight to help organisations deliver better outcomes for customers, employees, and stakeholders alike.

As the professional body for IT and digital professionals, BCS has long supported the development of standards, qualifications, and professional practice across business analysis and digital transformation.

Event details

BCS Publishing Author Webinar Series 
Online Event 
Tuesday 7 July 2026 
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM (GMT+1)

Register for the webinar here.

Further information

If you are looking to develop practical service design capability within your organisation or career, AssistKD also offers a range of Service Design training courses covering customer-centric transformation, service improvement, and professional development in service design.

Explore Service Design courses from AssistKD here.