Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
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PAPERS: Design and Systems. Transforming Systems from Within: Capability, Friction, and Service Design Location: Appleton Tower, LT5 Zoom Link Accessibility: https://www.accessable.co.uk/the-university-of-edinburgh/central-area/access-guides/appleton-lecture-theatre-5-edinburgh Session Chair: Cecilia Landa-Avila, Loughborough University Session Chair: Peter Hayward Jones, Tec de Monterrey | |
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Service design in practice Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Service design has evolved from a niche practice focused on improving customer experience into a transdisciplinary discipline driving systemic and societal transformation. Drawing on an online survey of 82 practitioners with formal training (MA Service Design) and a validation panel with eight experts, this study examines the current state of practice, identifying evolving roles, competencies, and emerging trends. Findings show a shift from tools to mindsets, grounded in curiosity, adaptability, and ethical, human-centred values. Practitioners increasingly engage in strategic and organisational transformation, adopting life-centred and planetary perspectives while integrating generative AI into research, ideation, and prototyping. The study also highlights growing hybrid roles across policy, strategy, and digital practice, creating both opportunity and professional ambiguity. As the field matures, education must foster strategic literacy, systems thinking, and ethical awareness, enabling designers to navigate complexity and shape sustainable, technologically responsible futures. View Paper: https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.735
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