| Abstract: | This paper addresses the issue of service design, specifically that of designing the service encounter for improved quality. We introduce a framework based on the three T's of task, treatment, and tangibles as a means of organizing the application of the diverse and growing body of service quality literature to encounter design. The framework is consistent with how successful service managers disaggregate the design problem. More importantly, we show that mutually supportive interrelationships between the three T's produce an opportunity for designing in a robustness to service failure. The framework is supported by case based evidence. |
