Abstract
As digitalization reshapes religious services, Taoist temples in Taiwan face challenges involving cultural heritage, ritual experience, and institutional coordination. Existing studies often focus on the technological or sociological aspects of digital religion but rarely examine how design practice balances institutional efficiency with cultural sensitivity. This study explores how service design can clarify the systemic complexity of Taoist service transformation while addressing both institutional and cultural contexts throughout digital transition and implementation. Using a qualitative case study of a Taiwanese Taoist temple, the research applies the Triple Diamond Model of service design to analyze the cultural complexity embedded in people, processes, channels, touch points, and data. The study identifies four structural disconnects: role coordination, communication channels, touchpoint flows, and physical–digital integration. An integrated platform linking backstage management, frontstage registration, and LINE communication modules was developed, reducing registration time by over 60% and improving collaboration. The study presents three key insights: (1) service design clarifies cross- role and cross-process logic; (2) it enables institutional restructuring while navigating cultural tensions; and (3) AI supports knowledge sharing and lean teamwork by accelerating development and lowering technical barriers. Overall, this research extends service design into culturally sensitive domains and provides methodological and practical grounding for the digital transformation of complex religious service systems.
Keywords
Service design; Religious services; Digital transformation; Digitalization
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.591
Citation
Chen, S.,and Tang, H.(2025) Utilizing AI-Assisted Service Design to Address the Digitalization Challenges of Religious Services: A Case Study of Taoist Temple Service, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.591
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 7 - Service Design for Public Services and Policies
Utilizing AI-Assisted Service Design to Address the Digitalization Challenges of Religious Services: A Case Study of Taoist Temple Service
As digitalization reshapes religious services, Taoist temples in Taiwan face challenges involving cultural heritage, ritual experience, and institutional coordination. Existing studies often focus on the technological or sociological aspects of digital religion but rarely examine how design practice balances institutional efficiency with cultural sensitivity. This study explores how service design can clarify the systemic complexity of Taoist service transformation while addressing both institutional and cultural contexts throughout digital transition and implementation. Using a qualitative case study of a Taiwanese Taoist temple, the research applies the Triple Diamond Model of service design to analyze the cultural complexity embedded in people, processes, channels, touch points, and data. The study identifies four structural disconnects: role coordination, communication channels, touchpoint flows, and physical–digital integration. An integrated platform linking backstage management, frontstage registration, and LINE communication modules was developed, reducing registration time by over 60% and improving collaboration. The study presents three key insights: (1) service design clarifies cross- role and cross-process logic; (2) it enables institutional restructuring while navigating cultural tensions; and (3) AI supports knowledge sharing and lean teamwork by accelerating development and lowering technical barriers. Overall, this research extends service design into culturally sensitive domains and provides methodological and practical grounding for the digital transformation of complex religious service systems.