Technology-based service experience: Creation and evaluation of emergency ambulance services

Abstract

With the rapid development of communication technology and the spreading of mobile devices, mobile applications are involved in people’s everyday life. Technology provides designers with both challenges and possibilities. Service designers also embrace technology to create service systems for better experiences. This study investigates how to improve the emergency ambulance service experience in Rovaniemi with a technology-based service system. A mobile application was designed and tested. The cyclical action research process includes an online questionnaire survey (N=23), semi-structured interviews (N=6) as generative research, and a service prototyping workshop (N=4) as evaluative research. The results from generative research indicate the need for information communication during emergencies, while the results from evaluative research provided more insights for future iteration design. Based on the research data and design outcomes, the study concludes a framework of how to design a technology-based service system by combining service design and UX design.