Introduction to Service Design explores the nuanced art of creating profound and impactful interactions between customers and services. This comprehensive approach emphasises improving every interaction, from the first contact to the last, ensuring that services are not merely functional but truly transformative. Service design understands that services extend beyond mere transactions; they become integral journeys in the tapestry of people’s lives, underpinning our contemporary service-centric economy.

In this course, students will be introduced to the core principles and methodologies of service design and how they impact how organisations conduct and design customer relationships. It introduces students to human-centred design and customer-centricity through case studies, with an introduction to the history of service design and the service design toolbox. 

The course provides knowledge and skills in design thinking principles, the service designer’s role and the processes embedded in the double/triple diamond approach. Through practical insights and tasks, candidates learn about the importance of user research, customer journey mapping, personas, and how to choose from a complex and varied toolbox, given a specific challenge. An introduction to relevant agile planning tools is also given

A portion of this course is dedicated to a small, guided project to let candidates explore the new concepts they have recently learned.

The students will be able to define service design and how to do service design in brief. Knowledge and skills acquired during this course will give students a relevant framework for the whole programme and the opportunity to holistically relate to every tool, process, and method. The student gains a broader perspective of their own field, which provides a basis for interdisciplinary collaboration with other areas of the disciplines.