Service design fundamentals
DESCRIPTION
Service design is a discipline that focuses on designing and improving the quality of services to meet both service users' and providers' needs effectively. In today's interconnected world, where employee and customer experience reign supreme, mastering the principles of service design has become increasingly crucial for businesses and organisations across various industries.
The course Service design fundamentals is a complete introduction to service design. It delves into the creative and holistic world of service design, exploring its key fundamentals and methodologies. Whether you're a seasoned designer looking to expand your skill set or a professional from a non-design background interested in understanding how to create (better) services, this course offers a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices of service design with a strong connection with strategic design.
Throughout the course, you will embark on a journey to uncover the core principles of service design, from empathising with and understanding context and needs by conducting qualitative and quantitative research to service ideation, experimentation, prototyping, implementation, and ongoing iteration/improvement. You'll explore how to apply both well-known and new tools and methodologies to service contexts, emphasising a human-centred approach to problem-tackling.
What sets this course apart is its practical approach. Through a combination of theoretical insights, real-world case studies, and hands-on exercises, you will gain actionable skills that you can immediately apply in your professional endeavours. Whether you're designing digital platforms, physical spaces, or customer interactions, the principles of service design are universally applicable and can drive meaningful improvements in your work.
By the end of the course, you will have developed a solid understanding of service design principles and methodologies, equipping you with the key tools and techniques to start tackling service challenges. Whether you're aiming to design for better customer experiences, streamline service processes, or innovate new service offerings, this course will empower you to drive positive change within your organisation.
Join us in this journey into the world of service design and unlock new possibilities for creating valuable and sustainable services, contributing to positive experiences for everyone involved.
OUTCOMES
Human-centred design: Understanding the needs, behaviours, and preferences of service actors is paramount in designing successful services. By adopting a human-centred approach, participants will learn to empathise with all people involved and design services that truly meet their needs.
Holistic perspective: Service design involves looking at the entire service ecosystem, including both frontstage interactions and backstage processes. You will gain insights into mapping out service touchpoints, identifying pain points, and designing for a lasting service experience.
Iterative process: Service design is an iterative process that involves experimenting, prototyping, testing, and refining solutions and interventions based on actors' input and feedback. Participants will learn how and when to experiment, cocreate prototypes to validate service concepts, refine through iteration, improve usability and maximise effectiveness.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration: Service design often requires collaboration across different disciplines, including design, business, and technology. You will understand the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and learn how to effectively communicate and work with actors and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds.
Measurable impact: Valuable and sustainable service design goes beyond aesthetics and focuses on delivering measurable outcomes. You will learn how to define key performance indicators (KPIs) and use data-driven insights to evaluate the success of service design initiatives, drive continuous improvement, and stay relevant.
FORMAT
You will follow a series of lessons bundled in 6 chapters. Each Monday, the online lessons for that week are unlocked. The online content is combined with recorded and live interactive classes, designed to further let you dive into service design. Study the content, watch the live and recorded classes, and do the exercises at your own pace. Because you start at the same time as your fellow participants, you will be able to discuss, exchange feedback, and work on exercises together. Learning with and from your peers is one of the guiding principles of our courses.
All lessons are online, and live sessions will take place via Zoom.
Schedule live sessions
Session 1 - Wednesday March 26, 2025
Session 2 - Wednesday April 2, 2025
Session 3 - Wednesday April 9, 2025
Session 4 - Wednesday April 16, 2025
Session 5 - Wednesday April 23, 2025
Session 6 - Wednesday April 30, 2025
STUDY POINTS
This course is worth 40 SDC study points. You will receive a certificate of completion.
KEYWORDS
Service design, organisational design, business design, design thinking, systems thinking
360° SERIES
ALL ABILITIES
LEVEL - EXPLORE
360° SERIES
ALL ABILITIES
LEVEL - EXPLORE
* US$645,00. Prices are exclusive of VAT. Non-EU citizens are exempt from VAT on e-services which includes online courses, workshops and talks.
Meet the tutors
Silvia Lleras (Colombia) is an independent consultant in research, service design, and product strategy, leveraging her expertise to guide businesses, design teams and individuals towards success.
Gonzalo Sanchidrian (Spain) is Senior Service Designer at Kindred, the online gambling operator, where he coordinates across global markets, collaborating with stakeholders and local teams to ensure a unified and collaborative strategy.
Soledad Fernández (Colombia) is a senior design strategist and researcher, currently working at tech start-up Lodgify, where she creates a safe space for sustainable innovation, service improvement, and new business opportunities.
Laura Duarte (Colombia) is a Futures & Strategy Design Lead at Scottish government, co-designing a citizen-centred, non-paternalistic and trauma informed, Social Security Department capable of responding to the challenges presented by the polycrisis.
Inge Keizer (the Netherlands) is a senior service design consultant specialised in business design, strategic innovation, customer experience and entrepreneurship with 20 years of experience.
Apurva Dabhade (India) is Design Researcher at Microsoft, where she connects dots and represents users' needs in the product roadmap, while articulating her experiences and findings through words, metaphors, narratives, and spoken language.
Enroll as a team?
Get in touch with us for a quote!
© Service Design COLLEGE. All Rights Reserved.
