In this episode, our host Jan Meissner sits down with Sofía Santos, Staff Service Designer in the Growth Tribe at Mews. Sofía shares her unique perspective on what it means to design for the entire customer journey—from the first interaction with a brand to the complex onboarding and support systems that keep a product running.

The conversation explores how a service designer’s way of thinking bleeds into everyday life, including Sofía’s habit of prototyping her own kitchen to optimize human interaction with space. She unpacks the common misconceptions of the role, explaining why the real value of a service designer lies not in the “sticky notes” of a workshop, but in the deep discovery, visual mapping of pain points, and strategic alignment that happens behind the scenes.

They dive into the challenges of designing for a massive ecosystem, the importance of “signals” in mapping a vision for 2026, and how to balance structured experimentation with a sense of playfulness. Sofía also shares how she leverages AI as a “critical thought partner” to stress-test ideas and build high-fidelity narratives for future-state journeys.
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To learn more about Jan and Sofía, go to:
Jan Meissner
Sofía Santos

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The interview

Introduction

Jan:
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Mini R&D Podcast. Today, I’m joined by our Staff Service Designer, Sofía Santos. Sofía, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

Sofía:
Thanks for having me.

What Does a Service Designer Do?

Jan:
Sofía, if you could give us the 30-second version — or maybe a minute — what do you do? Who are you?

Sofía:
Wow. Who am I? That’s a big question.

Well, service design looks at an entire experience and helps us understand what’s happening throughout it — all the interactions a person can have with a product or a brand.

That includes everything from onboarding and configuration to support and everything in between. It’s about understanding the full journey someone goes through and making sure it feels cohesive.

Service Design in Everyday Life

Jan:
Are there any examples outside of software or Mews that inspire you?

Sofía:
Absolutely — travel and airports are great examples.

Everyone has bought a plane ticket. We’ve all interacted with airline brands we either love or hate. Every touchpoint in that experience is part of service design: booking online, checking in through an app, speaking with staff in person, navigating the airport space.

Our role is to make all of those moments feel connected, rather than like a bunch of stitched-together interactions.

Jan:
What would that look like in practice?

Sofía:
Think about how you bought your ticket. Was it through the website? The app? At a physical office?

Then, once you’re at the airport: How are you guided through the space? How clear is the signage? How do staff interact with you?

And of course, there’s the classic airport design decision: forcing you through duty-free.

Jan:
Exactly — making sure I buy chocolates.

Sofía:
Exactly.

Bringing Service Design Home

Jan:
What about examples from your personal life?

Sofía:
This actually came up recently during an offsite exercise where we talked about the overlap between our personal and professional selves.

For me, service design is hard to switch off.

We recently built a house and are now designing our kitchen. We’ve prototyped everything.

Jan:
When you say “we,” do you mean you?

Sofía:
Basically me forcing my partner into it.

We’ve been mapping out how we interact with the space: what utensils we use, when we use them, how doors should open, why they should open that way.

It’s very nerdy — but I love it.

Jan:
That is gloriously nerdy.

Common Misconceptions About Service Design

Jan:
What are some common misconceptions about service design?

Sofía:
There are a lot.

One of the biggest misconceptions is around workshops.

There are two extremes:

On one side, people in the industry sometimes say, “Get out of workshops. They’re not strategic enough.”

On the other side, people who attend workshops often think workshops are all we do.

But workshops are just a tool.

The real work happens before — understanding the problem, understanding who needs to be in the room, designing the right conditions.

And then there’s everything that happens after: translating workshop outcomes into action.

What Happens Outside the Workshop?

Jan:
What does the non-workshop part of your work look like?

Sofía:
A lot of discovery.

We observe services in action to understand what’s really happening — how people interact, where friction appears, how systems respond.

Then we map everything visually.

That usually means lots of arrows, visual artifacts, and big red indicators highlighting pain points.

We also run creative sessions that help teams think differently about challenges.

How Close Is Service Design to the Customer?

Jan:
Do you get to talk directly to customers?

Sofía:
Not as much as I’d like.

At Mews, service design is often very organizational, which means we spend a lot of time understanding journeys from our internal perspective:

• What’s happening across departments
• What tools are being used
• How teams interact internally

We always keep the customer in mind, but I’d love even more direct access.

I’d love to shadow a customer from the moment they become a prospect all the way through working with customer success.

Jan:
So sometimes your “customers” are actually our own engineers, product managers, sales teams, and support teams.

Sofía:
Exactly — it’s across the board.

R&D stakeholders, go-to-market stakeholders, and sometimes customer stakeholders too.

Service Design in Growth & Ecosystem

Jan:
You’re now part of the Growth tribe and the Ecosystem team after some restructuring. What does that mean?

Sofía:
Yes — I’m sitting within the Growth tribe, more specifically embedded in the Ecosystem team.

That means I’m less focused on designing individual features or interfaces.

Instead, I focus more on direction.

What should our ecosystem feel like? What should the end-to-end experience become?

It’s about understanding where we are today, defining where we want to go, and helping bridge that gap.

Jan:
So it’s more strategic — especially as we grow through acquisitions and integrate new products.

Sofía:
Exactly.

And that connects closely to product-led growth.

A big part of my role is understanding how product-led motions shape the customer journey while making sure we never lose sight of the customer experience before and after those interactions.

A Project That Clicked

Jan:
Is there a project that really stands out to you?

Sofía:
Recently, we worked on defining an ideal customer journey for the end of 2026.

We brought a lot of stakeholders into one room and focused on signals:

What do we need to know about customers?
When do we need to know it?
How does that information help us make better decisions?

We framed these as very human questions, like:

• Have we approached this prospect yet?
• Does this customer currently have Mews RMS?
• How frequently are they making changes in the system?

It was one of those moments where everything clicked.

The vision, the journey, the product-led growth strategy, and the underlying data needs all connected.

Experimentation: What It Really Means

Jan:
You talk a lot about experimentation. What does that mean in practice?

Sofía:
Experimentation is about balancing playfulness with purpose.

There needs to be room for exploration — almost like a scientist trying things out.

But experimentation also needs structure. You’re trying to learn something specific.

Good experimentation creates the right conditions to discover something new.

And when people step outside their comfort zones and engage playfully, they’re often much more open to discovering unexpected insights.

AI and Service Design

Jan:
It wouldn’t be a 2026 podcast without asking about AI.

How is AI helping your work?

Sofía:
A lot.

We use AI for visual storytelling — creating images that help people imagine future-state journeys.

It’s also a really strong thought partner.

When prompted well, it can help generate creative and thoughtful ideas.

Jan:
Though sometimes it’s too nice.

Sofía:
Exactly.

I often explicitly prompt it:
“Be critical. Tell me what I’m missing.”

Although sometimes it’s also nice to hear, “You’re doing great.”

Learning More About Service Design

Jan:
If someone wants to learn more about service design, where should they start?

Sofía:
Start by observing the services around you.

When you go for coffee, visit a doctor, travel — pay attention.

How does it make you feel? What works? What doesn’t?

That awareness is the first step.

Then translate those observations into your own context.

A lot of my inspiration comes from everyday experiences that I later connect back to Mews.

Jan:
Any books you’d recommend?

Sofía:
A few great ones:

• Mapping Experiences
• This Is Service Design Thinking
• This Is Service Design Doing

And beyond books, explore creativity models and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

That’s where a lot of growth happens.

Closing Thoughts

Jan:
Sofía, thank you for joining us — and for making the trip from Madrid.

As always, if you’re at Mews, feel free to reach out to either of us on Slack.

And if you’re outside Mews, you can find us on LinkedIn.

Do you reply on LinkedIn?

Sofía:
I do.

Jan:
There you go. Thanks again.

Sofía:
Thank you.