BAPD2220 Service Design: Sustainable Solutions in Complex Systems Course description

This course provides an introduction to service design as a design practice and emphasises the development of students’ systemic, critical and creative thinking. Students are introduced to practical exercises and theoretical knowledge that offer insight into how services are designed. The aim is to enable students to develop design solutions grounded in strategic processes. The course introduces methods for designing for sustainable development, with particular emphasis on understanding and describing the complex systems of which the service is a part.

Through the course, students will acquire knowledge and skills that are in high demand in both the private and public sectors.

Competence equivalent to successful completion of the first year of a BA programme (or equivalent).

None

Upon completion of the course, the student will have the following learning outcomes, defined under knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The student

• has basic knowledge of service design, including methods for gaining insight and developing a service, such as visual current-state descriptions, user journeys and/or strategy maps.
• has insight into the interplay between complex systems and service design, including factors such as people, technology and sustainability.
• has a basic understanding of how service design can help address challenges across different industries, sectors and areas of society.
• is familiar with sustainable design principles.

Skills:

The student

• can understand complex challenges and develop innovative solutions through various system-oriented approaches.
• can apply relevant methods and tools to develop services for service providers and end-users.
• can explore and design digital and analogue services, and experiment with different formats and prototypes.
• can document and present service design processes.
• can describe the relationship between services and impact at different scales.

General competence:

The student

• can facilitate workshops for data collection.
• can reflect critically on the role of service design in a sustainability context.
• can work independently and in teams to plan and carry out design projects.

Teaching in the course consists of:

• Lectures and seminars to provide a theoretical understanding of service design.
• Workshops and group work for practical exploration of design methods and tools.
• Supervision, both individual and group, to support students’ academic development.
• Project-based learning, where students collaborate on concrete and realistic design challenges from different sectors.

Compulsory coursework requirements to be eligible to sit the examination:

• Present a current-state description of the context being designed for.
• Peer assessment.

Portfolio exam in groups of 2-4 students (an individual option may be approved by the course coordinator.).

The portfolio consists of:

• A physical or digital presentation of the service design demonstrating the process and intended impact.
• Visualization of the service design’s overall solution and/or sub-function within a specified context.

The portfolio is assessed holistically and awarded a single overall grade.

The exam grade may be appealed.

All aids are permitted, provided that the rules for referencing are followed.

Students are required to state whether and how artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in completing their examination.

Grade scale: A-F

Two internal examiners.

An external examiner is used regularly.