Service design in organisational change

Abstract

This paper reports an empirical study analysing 80 projects delivered by two leading service design agencies to understand the relevance and breadth of service design to organisational change. The analysis revealed two clearly divided camps of service design practice, playing different roles in organisational change and representing two distinct definitions of service design. Some projects evidenced that service design had the potential to move into the realm of transdisciplinary innovation and facilitate collaboration across boundaries and to engage various stakeholders in searching for solutions to complex problems. This makes service design practice of this kind acutely relevant in addressing the challenges facing our society from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper approaches the topic from two specific angles; one is taking a systemic approach and the other is focusing on service design practice and the sector. It provided much needed empirical evidence to understand how service design practice is used in and contributes to organisational change. Further, it contributes to the current discussion about the definition, boundary and context of service design practice.