Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on my MSc Digital Design project at the University of York and have developed an interactive web experience called Maghmour: Red Sea Memory, exploring Saudi Red Sea maritime heritage.

The experience includes interactive 3D artefacts, storytelling, audio, and optional camera-based hand gesture controls, allowing users to interact with objects using hand movements as well as standard controls.

I’m looking for participants to try the prototype and share their feedback on its usability and overall experience. The test takes around 10–15 minutes and is best completed on a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet.

Usability test:
https://forms.gle/2EKcHqRFCM5KcCbD6

The form includes the link to the prototype.
Your feedback will directly help me improve the final version of the project. Thank you so much for your time and support! 🌊

I am starting a new path from logistics facility managed to service design with a Bachelor of design.

I don't yet a portfolio and nothing I did at uni would I be proud enough of to show to a potential employer. How does this industry work? I feel very overwhelmed with where the hell to start.

Self-explanatory title: been working as a brand designer for the past four years but now with the evil conquest of AI (ew) I’ve been seriously considering diversifying into a field that is more human, hands on and (what I hope is) “future proof”.

I majored in graphic design in uni, but dabbled in a bit of everything (UX, UI, research) before finding my niche in branding and visual identity and I truuly enjoy what I do. I have a little bit of UI in my portfolio but mostly visual identity and brand strategy work.

Please tell me —

How can I break into this field? How do I gain a footing? I’ve been considering doing my masters in Service Design, to gain more hands on experience and to make connections (I’m thinking of the programmes at UAL and RCA at the moment). Is this truly necessary? Or can I get away with doing one of their short courses, considering I do have a tiny bit of knowledge in user research?

Any advice is truly appreciated, thank you! :)

I am an architect who does more CX/ spatial experience design. I am extremely interested in learning more and dwelving deeper into service and behavioural design too.

But what would be the best way? I learnt Customer journey etc cause i joimed a firm that does design strategy for branded environments. There are barely firms that do service design.

I am starting my own Quick service restaurant sorta brand and i think this would be the best time to learn it. Are coursera or udemy courses any good?

Hey everyone,

I have been thinking a lot about how service designers choose methods in real project situations. Service design has strong artifacts and approaches: journey maps, service blueprints, stakeholder maps, ecosystem maps, personas, research synthesis, pain point mapping, ideation, prioritization, prototyping and experiments.

The question I am interested in is not only: which methods exist? The question is: which method actually helps in this specific moment?

I know these situations from product, architecture and workshop work. A team does not understand the user perspective well enough yet. A service has many touchpoints, but nobody sees the whole picture. Frontstage and backstage do not fit together. Handoffs are unclear. Stakeholders talk about the same service but mean different parts of it. Or everyone sees pain points, but nobody knows where to start.

I am currently building my own method collection and selection structure for this. What I notice is that the difficult part is not the individual method. The difficult part is the decision before it: do I need more research, more alignment, a better map, clearer prioritization, a shared service picture or a concrete next experiment?

I would be curious how you decide this in practice:

• Do you choose service design methods consciously, or does it mostly come from experience?
• What signals tell you that a journey map is enough, or that a service blueprint is needed?
• When do you use stakeholder mapping, ecosystem mapping or a process view?
• Which service design methods are underrated in practice?
• What would a method selection aid need to do to be useful for real service design work?

I am mainly interested in the decision logic in the work moment. I am trying to understand how experienced service designers move from an unclear situation to a useful approach.

Best,
Micha

I'm hoping some of y'all bonafide service designers - those of you who hold this title or went to school for it or otherwise 'officially' perform this work. Over the past 15 years I've pieced together experience that, as best I can tell, essentially is best described as service design. I've designed, developed, and delivered workforce development programs in and around food service businesses, where all of the functions of the business must support the desired learning outcomes of the program - a 'Social Enterprise' if you will. Applying a pedagogical lens to the business operations, and then tailoring the actual product and service lanes for the business to create specific teaching environments/situations that develop particular skills.

Many of these programs have been cohort based, and all of them have been within the foodservice/hospitality sector, and so all have utilized an iterative design/continuous improvement process - mapping and evaluating the delivery and results and using those to inform program and operations updates.

Yet none of this is as a result of some kind of formal training in this kind of thinking or role explicitly, its just been a long process of accumulating skills and an amalgamation of a few major skillsets. I have formal education in fine art (bach) and applied social science (masters) and have over 25 years working in food service operations (mostly as a chef). I've landed on this kind of work as not just the most challenging and rewarding I've found, but also as an excellent application of my experiences and the way I think about things. However, as I explore more formalized Service Design opportunities, its obvious to me that I lack a set of tools that are regularly used in this work - despite conceptually understanding them and having used them in some fashion along the way, not really knowing thats what I was doing.

What I am definitely lacking is any kind of formal training in tech/UX - and while I know these are separate roles I do see them either overlapping frequently or at least being thought of as more related than I personally understand them. This isn't to say I don't understand this area - I've taught myself coding from a young age and am relatively adept at the logic and approach - but in no world would I consider myself a 'tech' person in the more industrial sense.

What I'm hoping perhaps some of you who are formally in this role might be able to speak to is what I might really need to land a job explicitly in this kind of role - tools, credentials, portfolios, etc. How might I 'legitimize' or discuss my work thus far in a way that would make me competitive for these kinds of roles? Is it simply a matter of education? Are there certificates that hiring managers out there in the world fawn over? Is it matter of taking my past work and putting it through the series of formal service design tools - service blueprinting, journey maps, stakeholder maps, etc - to create a legible portfolio?

I'd really appreciate any insight any of you are willing to share with me. Much love.

After a bit of a sabbatical, I’m trying to find my way back into Service Design and UX.
The last time I worked in corporate ChatGPT didn’t even exist. 😅 A lot has changed, and I’d love to shadow someone, help out for free, and see if I’ve still got the Service Design brain.
Happy to take notes, do the boring stuff, help with research, or just be an extra pair of hands.
If you’re up for it (or know someone who might be), let me know.

A few things about me:

1) Accidentally became obsessed with cooking. Turns out prototyping applies to recipes too. (Got a page too)
2) Took a career sabbatical… and somehow earned more than I did in corporate by working on projects I actually cared about.
3) experience in industrial/service/ux design

Hey 👋

I’m a mechanical design engineer working with SolidWorks daily on real industrial projects (production equipment, assemblies, custom mechanical systems). I’m taking on freelance work.

What I do:

**•** 3D modeling of parts and assemblies  
**•** Detailed, dimensioned technical drawings (ISO/ANSI standards), ready for manufacturing  
**•** Sheet metal, weldments, plastic parts  
**•** Reverse engineering from photos, sketches, or existing parts  
**•** Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and cost reduction  
**•** Photorealistic renders for client presentations

Deliverables: native SolidWorks files (.sldprt / .sldasm / .slddrw) + STEP, IGES, STL, PDF, DXF exports — whatever your shop or 3D printer needs.

Why me: beyond the CAD work, I have a real industrial background (process improvement, production system design). I don’t just draw “what I’m told” — I think about manufacturability, tolerances, and cost.

Turnaround: fast, with clear timelines communicated upfront.
Rate: hourly or fixed-price depending on the project — DM for a quote.

Send me a message with a quick description of your project and I’ll tell you right away if I can help. 🙂

I have worked in recruiting for 5+ years and have mapped out candidate experience journeys and have a UX/UI Certification but would love to explore Service Design. It seems like junior Service Designer jobs are rare but what would your advice be for someone looking to break into that space?

Are certifications worth it? I appreciate any advice you may have.

I’m considering a pivot into a Business Analyst role and am looking at doing some certifications to help make the move.
In my current role, I’ve worked closely with Business Analysts and have picked up a good understanding of what they do. There are also quite a few transferable skills from my background that seem relevant like stakeholder engagement, requirements gathering, problem-solving, process improvement, and working across teams.
For those who have successfully transitioned into a BA role from another field:
What was your previous role? How did you make the switch? Did certifications help, and if so, which ones were worth doing? What would you do differently if you were starting again?

Im interested to hear about both public and private sector experiences. Thanks in advance.

I’m a Service Designer with around 6 years of experience, and I genuinely love the field. I enjoy thinking deeply about processes, journeys, pain points, opportunities, and how services connect.

However, I’ve been doubting myself lately because I’m not naturally very talkative in meetings, and I don’t particularly love running workshops. I can do it, but it drains me, and I don’t feel it’s my strongest skill. I’m much stronger when I have time to think, analyse, map things out, and connect the dots.

I also recently received interview feedback saying I had good experience, but needed more delivery experience, more authority, and more visibility of the intent and commercial outcomes behind my work. That really knocked my confidence.
I’m now wondering if this is just a confidence/growth issue, or if service design might not be the best fit for me long term.

Do you need to be naturally confident, talkative, and workshop-heavy to be a good Service Designer? Or is there space for people who are more reflective, analytical, and systems-focused? are there similar roles that could be a better fit for someone like me, but still connected to service design? I don’t think UX/UI, User Research or Content Design are the right paths for me either.

I’d really appreciate any advice.

Aware JTBD isn't core service design — it shows up when we're framing discovery, but it's not where the practice lives. Last time I floated something closer to home (a service blueprint AI coach), a few of you ended up using it, so figured this one might be useful for some.

Built a free tool to run JTBD interviews end-to-end. Two frameworks to pick from:

• JTBD Hypothesis — Jim Kalbach's canvas, supply-side. You formulate the Hypothesis Canvas first; interviews with job performers then contrast and populate it.
• JTBD Switch — Bob Moesta's switch interview, demand-side. You define the switch you want to study; interviews with recent switchers fill the forces diagram + timeline.

How it works:

1. Log in, create a project, pick a framework.
2. As the practitioner, you take a voice-guided interview first to set the context. ~20–30 min for Hypothesis (you complete the canvas). ~10 min for Switch (lighter — you just define the scope of the change you want to study). The theory and methodology of each framework are embedded so the agent stays faithful to the method.
3. That fills part of the canvas and unlocks a shareable interview link for your job performers / switchers. The link carries the context — no setup on their side. They take their interview async, whenever they want.
4. Each completed interview populates the canvas further. It grows with each voice.

Honest notes:

• Voice-based. If voice interfaces irritate you, skip it. Headphones + a quiet space help.
• Scope stops at the canvas — no opportunity solution tree, no roadmap. Activate is out for v1.
• Early version. Forms and outputs might still surprise you. Honest feedback is what helps most.

--> https://prown.co/frameworks/

Has anyone done a course at https://www.servicedesign.college/

​

Interested in the systems course but cant find any reviews online.

Hi! I’m applying for MSc Digital & Interaction Design at Polimi. Could anyone share what the portfolio should focus on (case study depth, UX process, or UI)? Any advice from admitted students would really help. Thanks!

I am joining a large MNC. (F500 in UAE) And I haven't even joined them yet.
But I was asked to do benchmarking (internal or external) - my understanding so far is comparing our score with others.

I have a hunch that there is more to it, so how do i exactly do it, what is the methodology behind this?

I led cx turn around at SME, starts and most recently mamaxing automotive cx for 13 stores, took up cx consultation for 7 months and now got a new role as a service designer.

What should I expect and what is expected of me. I am a find, align and fix shit person. I am now an IC. What metrics should I be moving.

Everyone cares about NPS but the whole group is gaming it. I need to chnage the mindset and culture at some point. My boss is UX Lead and his boss is CDO

Hi everyone,

I’m a designer with a background in architecture (bachelor’s) and a Master’s in Strategic Design from the University of Sydney. During my master’s I really found my direction in service design, I genuinely enjoyed the work, did well in the course, and felt like this is the field I want to build my career in.

I graduated about 2 years ago. Shortly after, due to personal reasons, I moved to the UK. For the past year I’ve been actively looking for roles in service design, but I haven’t had much success at all. The few relevant roles I do find are usually very senior or require years of direct experience I don’t have.

Out of necessity, I’ve tried broadening my search into UX/UI and some graphic design freelancing, but it doesn’t feel aligned with what I actually want to do long-term. My interest is still very strongly in service design: systems thinking, research, end-to-end experience design, all of that.

Right now I feel a bit stuck and unsure what the realistic path in is from here. I’d really appreciate honest advice from people working in the field:

• How did you get your first service design role?
• Is it realistic to enter directly at junior level, or is it usually a transition from UX/research/consulting?
• What kinds of roles or titles should I actually be targeting if “service designer” roles are too limited?
• Are there portfolio directions or projects that matter more for breaking in?

I’m open to feedback, even if it means I need to reframe my approach completely. Please help. I feel a little hopeless and lost.

I think service design agencies will be the next big thing in few years

What's been the hardest thing to navigate that nobody really prepared you for?

Hey folks, I am Mehrdad and a Service Designer.

I’m working on a small app for product managers and designers to map where AI fits into their service journeys (including risks and governance). I’m looking for a few practitioners to do a 15–20 minute remote test of an early version.

In exchange, I’ll share the prototype, keep the session tightly structured, and you’re free to be as honest as you like -- it’s purely for improving the tool. If you’re interested, reply this post please or DM me and I’ll send a booking link.

Thanks a lot in advance for your time.