Service Design: What's Next?

Notes to design educators.

Marzia presenting at the Service Design Network Global Conference, Madrid (ES), 2017.

At the end of 2017, I gave a presentation titled “Service Design, the Next Ten Years” at the private opening of the Service Design Network Global Conference in Madrid. That presentation resonated with many practitioners; many service designers globally commented and shared their thoughts. In that presentation, I anticipated 4 drivers of change:

1. Liquid Sectors and Fluid Consumers: Sector boundaries are no longer relevant for businesses and consumers. Consumer expectations are transferred from one sector to another.

2. Data Analytics: As we build more connected smart things that observe and measure us and our world, the relationship that design, functionality, and experience have with real-time data analytics will grow. 

3. The Human OS: Cognitive and behavioural science is pervading design to truly understand people and their needs and design for behavioural change.  

4. CX Capability Building: Organisations virtually across any sector have been, and are increasingly, investing in developing internal CX capabilities at scale. 

As a result of these four drivers, I anticipated four future roles for service designers: 

1. Translator: Bridges data analytics and organisational needs to service design. Key skills are organisational empathy, strategy, and data literacy. 

2. Relationship Designer: Designs personalities of tech people. Key skills are playwright, psychology, and machine empathy. 

3. Behaviour Designer: Designs experiences that guide human behaviour. Key skills are cognitive and behavioural science and design ethics. 

4. Visualiser: Simplifies and visualises ideas, concepts, experiences, and processes to enable different stakeholders to grasp complex subjects. Key skills are illustration, synthesis, and simplification. 

Seven years later, I think I got most of it right. In this period, we have witnessed an acceleration of digital tech that has required designers to adapt, embrace and critique smartly and constructively. We have witnessed organisations virtually in any sector establish and scale CX teams. We have witnessed consumers shifting preferences across sectors like never before. I have probably, however, underestimated the speed at which the focus on sustainability would have grown, becoming today a key area of specialisation for many service designers. 

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A practice undergoing a deep crisis

Today, the service design field is going through a moment of deep reflection, if not a true crisis of the practice. This is due to three main phenomena. First, for over a decade, the concept of “design thinking” has been pushed into organisations with the promise of solving all problems as a mere magic toolkit to fix all organisational headaches. Design thinking is not a toolkit, and even less is a solution to all organisational problems. As expected, design thinking has failed to deliver on that insane promise, creating a lot of debate on whether design thinking is dead (Ackermann, 2023). The best comment I read on the topic, among the thousands shared, is from Design Leader Ovetta Sampson, Director of UX Machine Learning and ML Infrastructure at Google. She says: “

“Design thinking is a methodology that was never truly created or defined. It is a mirage or a blob of methods that can be shaped and adapted any way the practitioner sees fit. It was never a cure-all. No design method is! Because design is never done. There isn’t one design method out there that is successful as everyone claims Design Thinking was supposed to be… Design methods fail all the time. Because it’s design. Every time I read “design thinking failed,” I laugh. Failed at what? And what design method hasn’t failed? … Design thinking was never meant to solve the world’s problems it was meant as a way to innovate in a world where creativity and groupthink stalls progress.” (2023)

The second phenomenon affecting the service design practice is the multiple rounds of layoffs organisations globally have performed across their design population. Many organisations, especially in tech, have invested heavily in design during years of rapid growth, failing at positioning their design teams effectively and demonstrating value in practice. They have ignited multiple waves of layoffs that have shaken the practice and flooded the market with top-level practitioners struggling to find a job. The message that this has sent was that design is not a necessary function but rather a nice to have. Finally,  the inability to position service designers strategically in organisations has meant that service designers have been relegated to tactical roles, able to simply influence the experience at individual touchpoints, lacking the opportunity to influence the end-to-end experience. Service design, therefore, more often than not, performs at a fraction of its potential. 

What’s Next?

What can we expect the future of service design to be? And how can Universities and Educational Institutions prepare their students for a job market that is in rapid evolution? What are the key competences to thrive despite a market in constant flux? 

I envision four emerging roles for service designers going forward. For each, I will explain the exogenous force influencing the need and the skills emerging as paramount to responding to such forces. 

Designing for Trust

Artificial Intelligence is permeating every facet of our lives. While organisations are in a race to maximise the benefits of implementing new technologies, consumers increasingly lose trust in organisations and institutions and the products and services they deliver. Designing for trust is therefore becoming paramount to understanding what needs to be true for people to trust their service provider and rethink products and services accordingly. One of the key players in this field is Projects by If, a small design agency based in London, fully dedicated to designing for trust. In the words of Valeria Adani, partner of the agency:

“In an era marked by growing concerns over security, privacy, and authenticity, being trustworthy emerges as a crucial component for success (and survival too).” (2023)

Crucial emerging skills to be able to design for trust are:

• Data literacy: Understanding where data come from, internal bias, and limitations. 

• Security awareness: Understanding principles of data security and privacy, as well as  Identifying and mitigating potential security risks.

• Design ethics: Transparency, consent and control, bias mitigation. 

• Regulatory knowledge: Compliance and policy design.

• Cultural sensitivity: Creating a design that is appropriate for a global audience, as well as adapting to local context, sensitivity and requirements. 

Designer as Founder

As organisations globally struggle to recognise and unleash the power of the service designers they employ, many choose to quit the corporate career progression to start their enterprises. Therefore, many of these designers have created disruptive organisations that deliver exceptional products and services. 

A few examples are Alto Robotics, co-founded by Sara Bellini, developing robotics and AI that are easily integrated into production workfloors. Upfront, founded by Lauren Currie, aims to change confidence, visibility and power for 10 million women. Etsy, co-founded by Rob Kalin, the selling e-commerce platform for vintage and handcrafted goods.

Increasingly, more service designers are, therefore choosing the path of entrepreneurship. Crucial emerging skills needed are:

• Financial Literacy: Managing budgets, understanding financial statements, and planning for profitability.

• Strategic Planning: Setting long-term goals, creating business plans, and developing growth strategies.

• Product Development: Knowledge of the product development lifecycle and how to work with developers and engineers.

• Decision-Making: Making informed decisions quickly and effectively.

• Networking: Building and maintaining professional relationships within and outside the industry.

• Legal and Compliance:  Understanding copyrights, trademarks, and patents, as well as understanding contracts with clients, employees, and partners.

Organisational Navigator

For those instead that opt for a more traditional career path in a large or medium organisation, there is a pressing need to learn to navigate and influence the organisation. One of the key reasons why service designers are failing to influence the future of organisations strategically is a lack of understanding of how organisations work. In this case, internal stakeholders are the key customers to understand, engage and design for. This is one of the most recognised emerging traits in service designers operating in organisations. In the publication curated by Birgit Mager (2020), titled The Future of Service Design, Martin Sistig argues that “The service designer, who is involved in decision-making at the strategic level, becomes a change facilitator. There is a chance that service design in the company will link the strategic and operational levels more closely together” (2020, p. 31). The ability to navigate different altitudes of the organisation while connecting the dots is allowed by one of Service Design’s key principles, holism (Aricò, 2018). Service Designers are trained to view the full ecosystem within which they operate, to map it and to consider the repercussions of the change proposed on different elements of that very system. To become the change facilitators Sistig refers to, this is, however, not enough. 

Emerging skills for this group of Service Designers are:

• Organisational decision making: Understanding how decision-making works in business to inform strategies to influence it effectively.

• Storytelling: The ability to translate the service vision into a language different stakeholders can understand and relate to. 

• Meaningful relationships: Generating meaningful relationships with key stakeholders across the business. 

• Performance Measurement: Understanding the key KPIs in different functions, how people are rewarded and their individual targets. 

Sustainability Unlockers

Finally, this is one element I overestimated in 2017 that I believe will continue accelerating in the next decade, driven by growing environmental concerns, regulatory pressures, and shifting consumer preferences. The aim is to create services that meet customer needs, minimise negative environmental impacts, and contribute positively to society. This trend is evident in various sectors, including transportation, healthcare, retail, and energy. Many organisations today have set targets in this respect. An example is the world’s largest furniture retailer IKEA, having announced their objective to become fully circular and climate-positive by 2030 (IKEA, 2024). 

Such commitment has large implications on every aspect of how an organisation like IKEA runs their business, from how it sources materials to how it transports materials and products, the design of the products, and the nature of the services it offers to customers, just to name a few. Service Designers have a big role in this process. There are various themes within the sustainability umbrella that are emerging as hot for service designers to work on:

• Circular Economy Integration: Service design is moving towards models that promote the circular economy. This involves designing services that facilitate reuse, recycling, and the efficient use of resources. For instance, product-as-a-service models, where consumers lease products instead of buying them, ensure that products are returned, refurbished, and reused, thereby reducing waste (Stahel, 2016).

• Eco-friendly Service Models: Services are being redesigned to minimise their carbon footprint. For example, digital services are optimised for energy efficiency, and logistics services are shifting towards low-emission delivery options. 

• Sustainable Consumer Behavior: Service Design also focuses on encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour. By incorporating elements such as nudges and incentives, services can guide consumers towards making environmentally friendly choices. For instance, apps that track and reward sustainable practices like recycling or reduced energy use are becoming more common (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

• Lifecycle Assessment: Lifecycle assessment tools are being integrated into the service design process to evaluate the environmental impact of services throughout their lifecycle. This approach ensures that sustainability is considered from the initial design phase to the end-of-life of the service (Reisch & Thøgersen, 2015).

Future critical skills for this cohort of Service Designers are: 

• Systems Thinking: Service designers must understand and design within complex systems, recognising the interconnectedness of social, economic, and environmental factors. This holistic view is crucial for identifying sustainable solutions that can be integrated across different sectors and service touchpoints (Meadows, 2008).

• Lifecycle Assessment Proficiency: Familiarity with LCA tools and methodologies will be essential. Designers must be able to assess the environmental impact of services across their entire lifecycle and make informed decisions that promote sustainability (Reisch & Thøgersen, 2015).

• Behavioural Insights: Knowledge of behavioural science will help designers create services that effectively encourage sustainable consumer behaviours. Understanding how to design incentives and nudges can lead to significant environmental benefits (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

• Stakeholder Engagement: Effective service design for sustainability requires collaboration with various stakeholders, including consumers, businesses, policymakers, and NGOs. Strong communication and engagement skills are vital for building these partnerships (Manzini, 2015).

• Digital Literacy: As digital tools and technologies play a growing role in sustainable service design, proficiency in digital platforms, data analytics, and new technologies such as AI and IoT will be crucial (Cohen, 2020).

By mastering these skills, future service designers will be better equipped to lead the charge in creating sustainable, impactful services that meet the needs of both people and the planet.

From generalists to domain experts

Service Designers up until today have been trained as generalists. They have been trained to fully command the service design processes with the underlying assumptions that the process is relevant within any given sector and context. 

Going forward, I see this type of education becoming increasingly irrelevant as students will end up operating in environments characterised by high complexity, demanding Service Designers to possess the fundamental knowledge and skills to operate within the chosen area. Mastering the process is no longer enough. What will be needed is to combine the process with domain expertise, such as organisational structures and models, digital technologies, and sustainability, to name a few. 

This type of education can only be delivered as multidisciplinary efforts between faculties dealing with different subjects of expertise. It will, therefore, require university departments to collaborate like never before. Are universities ready for the challenge? I encourage educators to think about this very need as resolving some of the most complex challenges of our times will require a new form of service designer that does not yet exist. 

References

Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Yale University Press.

Manzini, E. (2015). Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation. MIT Press.

Reisch, L. A., & Thøgersen, J. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Stahel, W. R. (2016). The circular economy. Nature, 531(7595), 435-438.

Cohen, M. J. (2020). The Future of Consumer Society: Prospects for Sustainability in the New Economy. Oxford University Press.

Mager Birgit, “The Future of Service Design”, KISD | TH Köln, 2020. 

Ackerman Rebecca, “Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?”, MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/09/1067821/design-thinking-retrospective-what-went-wrong/. [9 February 2023].

Sampson Ovetta, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marziaarico_designthinking-activity-7133809932583215105-ZyFJ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop. [November 2023].

Adani Valeria, “Trust Is More Important than Good UX”, Design Mavericks. https://designmavericks.substack.com/p/trust-is-more-important-than-good. [21 December 2023].

IKEA, “Our Circular Agenda”, https://www.ikea.com/global/en/our-business/people-planet/our-circular-agenda/. [2024].