Is service design the design discipline of the future?
Birgit Mager (Service Design Network)
This episode of ‘Design Perspectives’ is dedicated to the development and central importance of service design. Our guest is Prof Birgit Mager, one of the leading pioneers of this discipline in Germany. In conversation with host Philipp Thesen, she explains how service design has developed from a niche discipline into a key strategic approach for companies and public institutions. She emphasises the relevance of holistic, human-centred thinking, in which change processes are designed to be long-term and empathetic.
A key learning from the episode is that successful services are not created through quick solutions, but require a deep understanding of systems, people and their needs. The episode makes it clear that service design as a transformative method enables sustainable change.
Chapter
(00:00:00) Introduction and welcome
(00:00:42) Mager's professional career
(00:03:14) Emergence of service design
(00:08:06) Service design network and development
(00:21:14) Methods and characteristics of service design
(00:29:44) Conclusion and reflection
>> The podcast is held in German.
Key learnings
Service design as a well-founded design discipline
Service design has positioned itself as a young but already firmly established discipline. In contrast to design thinking, it is characterised by a much more well-founded methodology and a clear strategic focus. While design thinking is often aimed at short-term workshops, service design pursues the goal of holistic system design. It therefore offers companies and institutions the opportunity to initiate far-reaching and sustainable changes.
The strategic dimension of service design
Service design is not limited to the design of individual products or processes, but addresses transformation at company level. This strategic perspective requires a deep understanding of organisational systems and the dynamics of change processes. By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and acting as a ‘translator’ between different stakeholders, service design enables the harmonisation of complex interests and perspectives.
Challenges for agencies and companies
The increasing complexity of digital service systems presents agencies and companies with new challenges. In order to do justice to this development, companies must increasingly develop service design as an internal competence or establish it as an integral part of agency work. This requires a fundamental change in the way services are designed and implemented.
Guest:
Birgit Mager | Professorin an der International School of Design in Köln, Co-Gründerin und Präsidentin des Service Design Networks
Host:
Moritz Marder | Industrial Designer and Brand Consultant
Links
Service Design Network: https://www.service-design-network.org/
Touchpoint Journal: https://www.service-design-network.org/touchpoin