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Service Design And Physical Setting

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Glasgow’s Riverside Museum, home to over 3,000 items, has been hailed ‘excellent’, ‘terrific’ and ‘fab’ by TripAdvisor reviewers (TripAdvisor, 2014). The museum offers visitors a unique experience, where they can enjoy views of the River Clyde and the Tall Ship while they immerse themselves in learning about Glasgow’s historical past. The museum offers a unique service experience, where the use of technology in order to enhance the visitor’s experience is prevalent. In certain areas, such as Main Street, a replica of a Glasgow street the late 19th and early 20th century, the museum makes use of sound and lighting effects to create a particular ambience, whereas in other areas there is a distinct lack thereof. A visit to the museum to experience the service encounter first hand allows a critical evaluation of the encounter in terms of the service design and physical setting. One useful way to look at service design is by use of the servuction model (Hoffman and Bateson, 2010, p.9). The model illustrates the visible and invisible factors which influence the customer’s experience, and can aid organisations when designing their service. The servuction model consists of visible and invisible elements, all which have an effect on a customer’s service experience, whether or not they are aware of it. One of the visible elements identified in the servuction model is the contact personnel. These are the organisation’s front line employees who interact with visitors. On my visit to

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