Abstract
Service design has evolved from a niche practice focused on improving customer experience into a transdisciplinary discipline driving systemic and societal transformation. Drawing on an online survey of 82 practitioners with formal training (MA Service Design) and a validation panel with eight experts, this study examines the current state of practice, identifying evolving roles, competencies, and emerging trends. Findings show a shift from tools to mindsets, grounded in curiosity, adaptability, and ethical, human-centred values. Practitioners increasingly engage in strategic and organisational transformation, adopting life-centred and planetary perspectives while integrating generative AI into research, ideation, and prototyping. The study also highlights growing hybrid roles across policy, strategy, and digital practice, creating both opportunity and professional ambiguity. As the field matures, education must foster strategic literacy, systems thinking, and ethical awareness, enabling designers to navigate complexity and shape sustainable, technologically responsible futures.
Keywords
Service design, Design practice, Design education, Design Research, Transdisciplinary approach
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.735
Citation
Sun, Q., and Runcie, C. (2026) Service design in practice, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.735
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Service design in practice
Service design has evolved from a niche practice focused on improving customer experience into a transdisciplinary discipline driving systemic and societal transformation. Drawing on an online survey of 82 practitioners with formal training (MA Service Design) and a validation panel with eight experts, this study examines the current state of practice, identifying evolving roles, competencies, and emerging trends. Findings show a shift from tools to mindsets, grounded in curiosity, adaptability, and ethical, human-centred values. Practitioners increasingly engage in strategic and organisational transformation, adopting life-centred and planetary perspectives while integrating generative AI into research, ideation, and prototyping. The study also highlights growing hybrid roles across policy, strategy, and digital practice, creating both opportunity and professional ambiguity. As the field matures, education must foster strategic literacy, systems thinking, and ethical awareness, enabling designers to navigate complexity and shape sustainable, technologically responsible futures.