Service management and design has primarily focused on the interactions between employees and customers. This perspective holds that the quality of the “service experience” is determined by the customer during this final "service encounter” that takes place in the “front stage.” This emphasis discounts the contribution of the activities in the “back stage” of the service value chain where materials or information needed by the front stage are processed.However, the vast increase in web-driven consumer self-service applications and other automated services requires new thinking about service design and service quality. It is essential to consider the entire network of services that comprise the back and front stages as complementary parts of a “service system.” The authores emphasize the need for new concepts and methods in service design that recognize how back stage information and processes can improve the front stage experience. This paper envisions a methodology for designing service systems that synthesizes (front-stage-oriented) user-centered design techniques with (back-stage) methods for designing information-intensive applications.

In conclusion, a service outcome is seen as an emerging process including the service system of back and front stage services that establish the context and satisfy the preconditions for the final service encounter to take place. There may be a “moment of truth” in which the quality of the service experience becomes apparent to the service consumer, but that quality was enabled or constrained to a greater or smaller extent by the entire service system. The design conflicts and tradeoffs between front and back designers are lowered by a service system perspective. Front stage service providers need capabilities for capturing Information about front stage preferences, contexts, and events. This and other back stage information can then be exploited by the front stage to enhance the service experience.