Human-Plus-Technology Service Design
Give humans the trust work and technology the repeatable work.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
Human-Plus-Technology Service Design assigns work according to the comparative strengths of people and software. Map the customer journey, then reserve identity, values, trust, emotional connection, nuanced judgment, and behavior change for trained humans. Give technology repeatable work such as displaying progress, tracking goals, surfacing prior advice, collecting data, and reducing meeting overhead. AI can further remove administrative burdens—for example, summarizing a consultation so the expert can focus fully on the customer—but should not automatically replace accountable advice in a regulated, high-stakes setting. The mechanism is orchestration: technology improves expert capacity and customer convenience, while human involvement protects the relationship and judgment that make the service effective.
Origin
Joshi explains how Facet combines certified financial planners with technology and uses AI summaries to keep planners focused on members rather than note-taking.
Core principles
- 01Humans create value through empathy, trust, judgment, and behavior change.
- 02Technology creates value through automation, visibility, and convenience.
- 03The customer journey should orchestrate both roles rather than replace one with the other.
- 04Regulated, high-stakes advice requires careful human oversight.
How to run it
- 1
Map the journey
List each customer interaction, decision, information need, and follow-up action. Identify where time, friction, or divided attention weakens the experience.
Pro tip Observe what experts do during and between customer conversations.
Watch out Do not automate a fragmented journey before understanding it.
- 2
Protect uniquely human work
Keep people responsible for understanding values, building connection and trust, interpreting nuance, and guiding behavior change. Give them the context and attention to do that work well.
Pro tip Ask whether the customer needs to feel heard, not merely receive information.
Watch out Efficiency gains can destroy value if they remove the relationship the service depends on.
- 3
Automate repeatable work
Use technology for data collection, progress visibility, reminders, summaries, and straightforward actions. Reduce unnecessary meetings and manual administration.
Pro tip Start with work that distracts experts during valuable customer contact.
Watch out Automation should serve the journey rather than exist merely because the technology is available.
- 4
Set oversight boundaries
Define which outputs require human review based on stakes, regulation, and potential harm. Keep accountable experts in the loop for advice affecting consequential decisions.
Pro tip Document the boundary between administrative assistance and substantive advice.
Watch out High-stakes automation without oversight can scale errors and erode trust.
- 5
Test the combined experience
Measure whether customers gain convenience while experts gain focus and capacity. Adjust the hand-offs when either side creates friction or weakens outcomes.
Pro tip Evaluate customer impact, not only internal time saved.
Watch out A faster process is not better if customers understand less or act less often.
In the wild
Facet records virtual planner engagements and uses transcripts to create conversation summaries. The planner can concentrate on listening, connection, and trust during the meeting, then refer to the generated summary afterward.
→ Technology handles recall and documentation while the planner preserves attention for the member.
A coaching service lets clients view progress, goals, and pending actions in a portal while reserving live sessions for interpretation, motivation, and difficult trade-offs.
→ Clients gain continuous visibility without using expert time for routine status updates.
Common mistakes
Automating the trust layer
Replacing emotionally sensitive or judgment-heavy interactions can remove the service's main source of value.
Using experts for status retrieval
Meetings spent displaying routine information waste capacity that technology can provide more conveniently.
Letting AI give unchecked advice
In regulated or high-stakes contexts, unsupervised outputs can create unacceptable customer and compliance risk.
Is it for you?
Best for
High-touch or regulated services that need both expert relationships and scalable digital delivery.
Not ideal for
Low-stakes transactions that are already simpler and better as fully self-service workflows.
From the transcript
“it's identifying your value it's building connection and Trust”
“our technology on the other hand makes our planners efficient and it creates a convenience factor for all the things that can be automated”
“we have very strong perspectives on the importance of that human in the loop”
From the episode
Shruti Joshi: Get Good With Money, Achieve Financial Zen With Personalized Financial Planning
Shruti Joshi