Reading Circle- Blueprinting the Practical Way
3rd March 8:00AM PDT, 4:00PM BST (UK), 5PM CET, 9:30PM IST
**See full reading schedule below**
60 minute discussions over two months, moderated by John Alberts, Learning Advocate
Cost: FREE for all member types, register to join the Open Circle (FREE) for invites.
Reading Circle- Blueprinting the Practical Way
Join our book club exploring Your Guide to Blueprinting the Practical Way by Erik Flowers and Morgan Miller. The book offers a hands-on approach to understanding and improving customer experiences through service blueprinting. At its core, the book teaches organizations how to visualize the complete journey of their services. This involves what customers see on the “frontstage,” as well as the behind-the-scenes “backstage” systems, processes, policies, and roles that make those experiences possible. This end-to-end perspective is essential for diagnosing where experiences break down and for designing better future states.
Erik Flowers and Morgan Miller emphasize actionability above all: if a technique doesn’t lead to concrete improvements, it’s not truly practical. The book covers both current-state mapping (understanding what exists now) and future-state blueprinting (envisioning what should be), providing step-by-step guidance on facilitating these sessions, knowing when to blueprint, and translating visual maps into actionable insights quickly. As you discuss this book, consider how blueprinting might apply to experiences in your own work or life: What “backstage” factors shape the services you interact with daily? Where do disconnects between frontstage and backstage create frustration? And how might visualizing these systems help organizations move from good intentions to real change?
Why this matters: For our book club, this discussion is important because it prompts us to reflect on our own work. How can we better connect the dots between research, design, and real-world impact? How do we close the loop in our own processes to ensure we’re designing responsibly? Let’s explore together.
Feel free to join as many Reading Circles as possible (you don’t have to attend all of them to participate).
Reading schedule
| Date | Chapters | Pages |
| 3rd March
11:00 EST/16:00 GMT (UK) |
Chapter 1 “Introduction to Blueprinting”
Chapter 2 “Current state v Future state Blueprinting” |
11-21
21-36 |
| 17 March
11:00 EST/16:00 GMT (UK) |
Chapter 3 “The Format of a Blueprint”
Chapter 4 “Example Blueprints” |
39-58
63-71 |
| 31 March
11:00 EST/16:00 GMT (UK) |
Chapter 5 “The process of Blueprinting”
Chapter 6 “Planning and preparation” |
71-78
79-94 |
| 14 April
11:00 EST/16:00 GMT (UK) |
Chapter 7 “Facilitating Blueprinting”
Chapter 8 “Taking care after Blueprinting” |
95-102
103-114 |
| 28 April
11:00 EST/16:00 GMT (UK) |
Chapter 9 “Common Blueprinting questions”
Chapter 10 “Conclusion” |
115-126
127-131 |
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| Date: | 03 Mar 2026 |
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| Time: | 08:00 am PST 11:00 am EST 04:00 pm GMT 05:00 pm CET |
| Check Your Timezone | |
Who You will Learn From
Frank Spillers
Founder - UX Inner Circle
Frank Spillers, MS, founded the UX Inner Circle in 2020 to support senior practitioners facing complex challenges. The community exists to sharpen thinking, increase your confidence, and pressure-test real decisions. It’s built for people doing the work, not just talking about it. Frank founded an award-winning UX and Service Design consultancy (Experience Dynamics) and now leads UX and Service Design at numerous organisations, including the UK Government Digital Service. He has worked with and led teams to deliver hundreds of products and services over several decades. His work spans government, enterprise platforms, nonprofits, and global brands. He brings 25+ years as a senior UX and Service Design leader. His focus areas include Inclusive Design, accessibility, emotion-led design, cross-cultural UX, VR/AR, and UX leadership. His work has directly increased conversion by 88% and revenue by 300% for organizations including Nike, Microsoft, Intel, Capital One, Global Disability Rights Now!, the World Bank, and the City of New York.
