Service design and organizational change: Bridging the gap between rigour and relevance

Abstract: More and more design professionals enter the field of service design and conduct projects that have the potential to introduce changes to organizational systems. This working paper reflects on the potential of service design to generate and implement internal changes within an organization. The authors report on two pilot case studies from the educational sector. While the two pilot studies serve as further examples of how “reflection-in-action” can be rigorous in its own right [1], the purpose of this paper is to build a bridge between the theories and practices of organizational change and Service Design. The authors suggest that successful and sustainable new services, which aim for lasting transformations [2], require reflective inquiries into organizational systems. The authors frame these levels of service design inquiry and their potential impact introducing the terminology of ‘service interaction design’, ‘service design intervention’ and ‘organisational transformation’.