:: Service Design Contest

National Service Design Contest in Iranian Public Libraries

The severity and epidemic of the corona caused us to face the fact that at any moment we might engage in an unpredictable crisis, a crisis that might change the routine of processes. Perhaps now is the best time to design and redesign creative service models for public library services. Service design is a people-centered approach to understanding the current situation and providing solutions to improve it.
The "National Service Design Contest" is a competition to praise, encourage and motivate the next generation of designers. Participation in this competition is open to librarians, researchers, students, and anyone who thinks they have new ideas. This competition is organized by the Iran Public Libraries Foundation and Iran Public Libraries Advancement Association in line with their mission to improve the provision of services to all library users.
Our prediction is that the participants in the competition are mostly young people. Those who can take a fresh look at the processes and services offered by public libraries and creatively come up with solutions to improve them or offer new services.

Your unbiased, bold, and unrestricted approach leads to new ideas, ideas that ultimately lead to quality service at the right time and in comfortable and cost-effective conditions for everyone. We encourage the next generation of designers to design new, effective, attractive and practical services for the use of public library users according to the new approaches to service design in the world.
 

By Participating In This Contest:

You work on a service design with real impact;

You will learn new methods and skills;

Implement your project under the supervision and coaching of experts;

You have a chance to win a cash prize of 250 million rial;

You can present your work at an international conference.
 

Contest Calendar

January 20, 2022 - Deadline for uploading video on the contest website

Until January 20, you have the opportunity to record a video of upto 3 minutes and upload it in zip farmat with size upto 80MB on the contest website.

In this 3-minute opportunity, you should describe the problem that sparked the design or redesign of a service in your mind. Then present your solution in the form of a service.

At this point, we encourage you to do a field search of your city public libraries, talk to people, and consciously choose the challenge you want.

In addition, for more information on public library services, you can refer to the "Public Library Services" podcast in the Useful Resources sectionat the end of this page.
 

January 25, 2022 - Announcement of the winners of the first stage / holding a workshop

On the 25th of January, from the submitted videos, the participants who are allowed to participate in the service design workshop will be selected and announced.

The Designs selected at this stage are creative and innovative, are selected based on a careful needs’ assessment, and are workable and cost-effective.
 

March 16, 2022 - Registration of service design proposal in the contest website

You have time until March 16, to complete the proposed service design form on the contest website.

Note that this proposal must be written in such precision and detail that a third party can implement it.
 

April 14, 2022 - Announcement of the winners of the second stage

At this stage, 10 selected works will be selected and announced by the judging team from the received bids.

Attention to detail, accurate cost estimation and accurate design of service processes are the evaluation criteria at this stage.
 

April 30, 2022 to July 01, 2022- Operational implementation of the service plan under the supervision of the instructor

At this stage you have the opportunity to perform your service on a trial basis under the supervision of an expert instructor and the support of the public library institution in the nearest public library in your city.

Executing the design in a real environment allows you to discover the drawbacks, challenges and ambiguities of your design and evaluate your design from a practical point of view.

July 11, 2022- Sending the final report and output of service design

Until the 11th of July, you have the opportunity to modify and complete your service design and prepare the achievements and outputs obtained from its operational implementation in writing and upload it on the contest website.

August 01, 2022 - Announcement of the final winner 

The finalists of the competition will be announced and cash prizes will be awarded to them.
 

Rewards

This competition is an opportunity for librarians, students and researchers to present their creative ideas. In addition to the cash prizes, the final participants have the chance to put their ideas into practice under the supervision and guidance of a professional instructor and the financial and moral support of the country's public libraries, and present them at an international conference. Thus confidently, take most of the next successful steps in your career path.

 

First prize: 250 million rials with the statue of the competition

Second prize: 150 million rials with the statue of the competition

Third prize: 100 million rials with the statue of the competition

Forth to tenth persons: 10 million rials with a letter of commendation
 

What Are We Looking For?

Despite the importance of service design in the world, this issue is still ignored in Iran. The purpose of holding this competition, in addition to emphasizing the position of service design, is to encourage those interested in various fields to solve the challenges and needs of Iranian public library users. We are looking for ideas that work both now and in the future. Human-centered solutions that can start small and locally, but can be implemented in larger environments; ideas that are scalable and flexible.
 

Design Evaluation Criteria

People-centered: Your ideas are based on the needs and habits of the people. The solution you offer will improve the services people receive and have a positive effect on their behavior.

Experience-based: Your idea will satisfy the users of public libraries by providing an attractive solution and will create an effective, valuable, lasting and satisfying user experience.

Community-oriented: Your design improves services related to minorities, such as ethnic minorities and the disabled, and encourages them to make greater use of public library services.

Compatible with new technologies: Your service design is compatible with possible changes and new technologies.

Executability: Your design is executable and scalable.

Compliance with public libraries: Your designed services are either a redesign of one of the current services or a service design in line with the mission of public libraries.

 

Useful Resources

Service Design Introduction Podcast

Service-design-network.org

Servicedesignchallenge.com

Library Service Design by Joe J.Marquez

 

Competition Judges

Dr. Fatemeh Sheikh Shoaei from the Scientific association of Iran Public Libraries Advancement Association
Dr. Siamak Mahboob from the Iran Public Libraries Foundation
Dr. Alireza Faizbakhsh is a member of the faculty and professor of the Faculty of Management and Economics of Sharif University of Technology

Judge of The Last Stage:

*Joe J.Marquez

*Joe J. Marquez is the web services librarian at the Reed College Library. He has presented and written on topics related to service design, UX tools, library space assessment, website usability, and marketing of the library. His current research interests involve service design in the library environment and space usage assessment. Marquez has an MLIS from the university of Washington iSchool, an MBA from Portland State university, and a BA in anthropology from the university of Colorado, Boulder.

Sponsors:


*It is worth mentioning that the "National Award for Service Design Contest in Iranian Public Libraries" is one of the side events of this International Conference, which will be held at the national level for the participants from Iran to meet challenges and needs of Iranian public library users.

 

Click Here to Participate in the Contest