Abstract
In the age of globalisation and information technology, corporate strategies are challenged to bring production in line with a complex demand, which requires a substantial shift from production of goods to the provision of knowledge-intensive systemic solutions. Such solutions usually consist product-service systems, i.e. a marketable set of products and services capable of jointly fulfilling a user's need. Given their strategic relevance, such solutions have rightly been widely discussed in management and marketing disciplines. In the Design discipline instead, the methodological implications of the design of PSS have rarely been discussed even though design components play a critical role in their development. This paper aims at contributing to the debate about a new role for designers in the definition of innovative PSS. The paper illustrates the design process of a service (an urban telecentre), emphasising the main methodological problems arising in the process and introducing the methodological tools used to understand the nature of the service. The findings from the research project reported in this paper are expected to provide elements for discussion in the debate about the methodological implications of the expansion of designers’ competence: from the design of industrial products to the definition of the technological, cultural, organisational and social aspects of the design of a PSS.
Citation
Morelli, N. (2002) The design of product/service systems from a designer’s perspective, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/56
The design of product/service systems from a designer’s perspective
In the age of globalisation and information technology, corporate strategies are challenged to bring production in line with a complex demand, which requires a substantial shift from production of goods to the provision of knowledge-intensive systemic solutions. Such solutions usually consist product-service systems, i.e. a marketable set of products and services capable of jointly fulfilling a user's need. Given their strategic relevance, such solutions have rightly been widely discussed in management and marketing disciplines. In the Design discipline instead, the methodological implications of the design of PSS have rarely been discussed even though design components play a critical role in their development. This paper aims at contributing to the debate about a new role for designers in the definition of innovative PSS. The paper illustrates the design process of a service (an urban telecentre), emphasising the main methodological problems arising in the process and introducing the methodological tools used to understand the nature of the service. The findings from the research project reported in this paper are expected to provide elements for discussion in the debate about the methodological implications of the expansion of designers’ competence: from the design of industrial products to the definition of the technological, cultural, organisational and social aspects of the design of a PSS.