Improve or redesign services currently offered and develop or design new service propositions to meet the needs of the user as well as the business and other stakeholders.
This occupation is found in the private, public and third sector, local, national, and multinational organisations and employers. Relevant sectors include the health sector, finance sector, business and professional services, retail sector, technology sector, government, public sector, and the charity sector. There has been a growing demand for service design skills to be embedded within culture and governance structures to support future ways of working.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to improve/redesign services currently offered or develop/design new service propositions to meet the needs of the user as well as the business and other stakeholders. Service designers take a user-centred, collaborative and exploratory approach to design the new service, iterating toward implementation.
They work collaboratively with service/product owners and multidisciplinary teams; to (re)design services:
- from end to end (the start of a process to the very end step they take),
- from front to back (both user-facing and back office to create a seamless service) and
- cross-channel (to seamlessly and often interchangeably deliver the service through the various available platforms, which sometimes - but not always - include digital touch points).
In short, the purpose of a services designer is to (re)design services collaboratively and iteratively, taking a user-centred approach.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a wide range of internal stakeholders, from front-line staff to service managers, senior leaders to heads of the organisation. If involved in the research, they also interact with a range of external stakeholders, which may include members of the public and individuals working in other organisations. They may, in large organisations, report to programme boards and to shareholders in private sector organisations. They often work in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams (through formal or informal arrangement) which may include marketing, finance, communications, logistics, project management, HR, digital (developers, systems/solutions architects) and user research.
Service Designers enable services to be (re)designed in a user/customer-centred way and therefore the most important stakeholder is the end user/service beneficiary.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for guiding and facilitating the (re)design of a service, product, or solution; ensuring the work is user-centred. Increasingly, service designers design with the environment as a key stakeholder, creating services that serve the triple bottom line (profit, people, planet).
Service Designers are responsible for guiding, leading, facilitating and educating those involved in the (re)design, providing adequate challenge to ensure that they are responding to the right problem statement, that the scope of the work is appropriately sized and the limitations (i.e. with technology or the outcome an organisation wants to achieve) are understood to ensure anything (re)designed is viable.
They are responsible for selecting the most useful methodologies, tools, and techniques for use in the service design and continually work between a macro and micro view, ensuring the work has pace/is progressing and that the strategic view is not lost within the work.
Service Designers are expected to understand and contribute to budgets and return on investment considerations. In larger organisations, they may have management oversight of their own budgets.
This is a summary of the key things that you – the apprentice and your employer need to know about your end-point assessment (EPA). You and your employer should read the EPA plan for the full details. It has information on assessment method requirements, roles and responsibilities, and re-sits and re-takes.
An EPA is an assessment at the end of your apprenticeship. It will assess you against the knowledge, skills, and behaviours (KSBs) in the occupational standard. Your training will cover the KSBs. The EPA is your opportunity to show an independent assessor how well you can carry out the occupation you have been trained for.
Your employer will choose an end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) to deliver the EPA. Your employer and training provider should tell you what to expect and how to prepare for your EPA.
The length of the training for this apprenticeship is typically 24 months. The EPA period is typically 6 months.
The overall grades available for this apprenticeship are:
When you pass the EPA, you will be awarded your apprenticeship certificate.
The EPA gateway is when the EPAO checks and confirms that you have met any requirements required before you start the EPA. You will only enter the gateway when your employer says you are ready.
The gateway requirements for your EPA are:
Project with report
You will complete a project and write a report. You will be asked to complete a project. The title and scope must be agreed with the EPAO at the gateway. The report should be a maximum of 4000 words (with a 10% tolerance).
You will have 12 weeks to complete the project and submit the report to the EPAO.
You need to prepare and give a presentation to an independent assessor. Your presentation slides and any supporting materials should be submitted at the same time as the project output. The presentation with questions will last at least 60 minutes. The independent assessor will ask at least 6 questions about the project and presentation.
Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence
You will have a professional discussion with an independent assessor. It will last 60 minutes. They will ask you at least 8 questions. The questions will be about certain aspects of your occupation. You need to compile a portfolio of evidence before the EPA gateway. You can use it to help answer the questions.
The EPAO will confirm where and when each assessment method will take place.
You should speak to your employer if you have a query that relates to your job.
You should speak to your training provider if you have any questions about your training or EPA before it starts.
You should receive detailed information and support from the EPAO before the EPA starts. You should speak to them if you have any questions about your EPA once it has started.
If you have a disability, a physical or mental health condition or other special considerations, you may be able to have a reasonable adjustment that takes this into account. You should speak to your employer, training provider and EPAO and ask them what support you can get. The EPAO will decide if an adjustment is appropriate.
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 23/03/2023 | Not set |
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