Abstract
This paper argues for decolonising dominant service design practice and discusses the need for designers to develop a certain cultural sensitivity to engage in ethical collaborations with Indigenous communities aimed at fostering social change and cultural sustainability. This is exemplified by ethnographic and participatory action research conducted in Vietnam and Australia adopting a range of co-creation methods to engage with diverse Indigenous communities. The paper proposes an anthropological approach for service designers to elicit diverse communities’ lived experiences and contribute to community empowerment. Going beyond the limitations of both top-down and bottom-up approaches to service design, this paper proposes a ‘middle-up-down’ approach to co-designing social innovations and building long-term partnerships aimed at community resilience and social impact. In conclusion, the paper paves the way for a new area of service design that respects and integrates indigenous knowledges and contributes to more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable futures.
Keywords
service design, social innovation, decolonising design, Indigenous communities
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.4
Citation
Mazzarella, F.(2025) Towards Decolonising Service Design – Ethical Collaborations Between Designers and Indigenous Communities in Vietnam and Australia, in Mahamuni, R., Onkar, P. (eds.), ServDes 2025: Empowering Diversity, Nurturing Lasting Impact, 6–10 October, Hyderabad, India. https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Towards Decolonising Service Design – Ethical Collaborations Between Designers and Indigenous Communities in Vietnam and Australia
This paper argues for decolonising dominant service design practice and discusses the need for designers to develop a certain cultural sensitivity to engage in ethical collaborations with Indigenous communities aimed at fostering social change and cultural sustainability. This is exemplified by ethnographic and participatory action research conducted in Vietnam and Australia adopting a range of co-creation methods to engage with diverse Indigenous communities. The paper proposes an anthropological approach for service designers to elicit diverse communities’ lived experiences and contribute to community empowerment. Going beyond the limitations of both top-down and bottom-up approaches to service design, this paper proposes a ‘middle-up-down’ approach to co-designing social innovations and building long-term partnerships aimed at community resilience and social impact. In conclusion, the paper paves the way for a new area of service design that respects and integrates indigenous knowledges and contributes to more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable futures.