eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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The interest in service experience in health care is increasing. This thesis has a focus on studying service experience and the applicability of service design approach to service development in the context of infertility services. The following research questions are studied: 1) How is a service experience constructed in infertility treatment services? 2) How can service design principles and methods be applied to service development in the context of infertility treatment services?

The research was conducted as a qualitative single case study in a Finnish private infertility clinic. The focus of the research was on studying the service experience of Swedish and Norwegian couples going through oocyte donation treatment in the case clinic. The empirical research was conducted during May-November 2012 using design probes, participatory design workshops and semi-structured expert interviews as primary data collection methods. Also service blueprinting, customer journey method, and user personas were utilized during the research process.

The findings of the thesis suggest that service experience in infertility services is constructed from five experience dimensions: operational dimension, informational dimension, participational dimension, emotional dimension, and physical dimension. The dimensions are overlapping and integrated meaning that the strengths and weaknesses in one dimension mutually reinforce or weaken the others. Furthermore, the empirical research implies that due to the high subjectivity and sensitivity of the infertility service experience, the service design principles and methods are well applicable for service development in this field.