Service Designer

Role overview

We are recruiting for a strategic and collaborative Service Designer to join the Digital Experience (DX) team within the OCDO at Ashurst. The DX team is a supportive team that is unafraid to push boundaries and deliver change.

The OCDO is responsible for the articulation and implementation of the firm’s “Get Digital” strategy and has digital experience at the heart of its approach.

The DX team works as an in-house research and development team supporting the initiatives of the OCDO through its capability and expertise in UX Research, Service Design, UX/UI Design and Legal Design.

The team supports the entirety of the “Get Digital” portfolio that encompasses Client Solutions, Digital Workplace, AI and Automation and Digital Culture and Literacy. The team also supports broader firm and division initiatives on a consultancy basis as required/ appropriate. Recent work has included envisioning the future digital workplace at Ashurst, designing and implementing numerous AI Trials for large swathes of the organisation, developing the firm’s AI strategy and designing client facing digital products.

We believe the role offers the right candidate a chance to join a team at a pivotal stage of expansion, to see initiatives through from idea to implementation and to shape and drive transformation in a firm committed to outpacing change.

What will you be doing?

Day-to-day, you’ll collaborate with cross functional teams, influence decision making and drive transformation in legal service delivery.

Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited, to:

•  Understanding the user

Leading user research activities including:

•  conducting user research, testing and workshops with users, internal and external, to elicit pain points, needs, requirements and understand behaviours;
•  analysing, translating and synthesising often complex and sometimes legally intricate user experience insights into actionable design and strategic recommendations; and
•  bringing user research insights to life through visual and storytelling techniques so that they can be understood and appreciated by a wider audience.
•  Designing and delivering digital experiences

Including:

•  end-to-end service design including the selection and use of appropriate service design tools, methodologies and approaches that support the objectives and goals of the work and the people, problems and processes that are being tackled;
•  designing in-person and remote experiences and touchpoints to engage, inform and educate;
•  creating wireframes, prototypes, visuals, storyboards and interactive high-fidelity mock-ups that bring product, service and solution ideas to life so that concepts can be communicated, tested and iterated; and
•  monitoring the impact of design work and iterate as needed.
•  Creating the conditions and setting the standard

Including:

•  championing user experience evidence based decision making across the firm and instilling an experience-led culture;
•  driving organisational change by advocating for service design best practices;
•  developing and maintaining resources, templates and standards for use by the team, function, division and firm and coaching and upskilling others in the field, ethos and culture of service design; and
•  cultivating a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement within the team, practice, division and firm.
•  Driving the strategy and roadmap of the OCDO

Including:

•  through the application of your skillset and experience supporting wider OCDO projects and initiatives where relevant including, but not limited, to producing visually compelling and insightful reflections thought leadership and content for both internal and external audiences; and
•  informing and influencing investment, prioritisation and sequencing decisions based on the digital experience team’s research and insights.

Capabilities/ skills we look for

Confident and diplomatic communicators

Collaborative, direct yet diplomatic, and inspiring visual communicators, mediators and storytellers who can articulate their work and concepts in a way that suits the audience and can translate between technical and non-technical.

Realistic reality makers

Pragmatic and resourceful reality makers that can translate ideas into reality through prototyping and experimentation bringing the future alive whilst mindful of the constraints of today.

Agile adapters

Ability to use skillsets and superpowers in a malleable way. Agile, adaptable, and open to learning with the ability to harness ambiguity to shape new opportunities and approaches.

Creative and visual thinkers and do-ers

Visually creative and daring do-ers and thinkers that can inspire whilst being willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.

Collaborative co-creators

Human and team centred focused on creating and maintaining inclusive, safe, and inspiring spaces and places to work, share and co-create.

Skills and experience

Must have

•  a degree in design, law, business or a related field.
•  3-5 years’ experience in a service design, user research or user experience design related role either in-house or agency;
•  experience of working in a professional services, preferably legal, environment;
•  a strong, shareable, portfolio that showcases your capability and experience and journey and different facets of your service design toolkit and how they have been applied to real world problems;
•  enthusiasm and excitement for innovation, digital transformation, new design best practices and continual learning; and
•  strong communication, facilitation and collaboration skills.

Should have

•  knowledge and interest in the evolution and transformation of the legal industry;
•  ability to absorb large amounts of information and create sense and simplicity;
•  confidence and fluency in the language and tools of agile, lean and design (including the use of Miro and Figma);
•  expertise and interest in generative AI and the risks and opportunities it presents the professional services industry; and
•  demonstrable experience of driving change within organisations and working alongside change management and communication professionals.

Could have

•  interest or experience in content design and/or legal design; and
•  prior experience of setting up and embedding a service design capability in an organisation.

Won’t have

•  an aversion to getting hands dirty and training up others in your discipline!