Development of Competences for Service Design

Ono, K. , Levy, P. , Ishizuka, A. , Hachima, S. & Watanabe, M. (2008). Development of Competences for Service Design. In the Proceedings of International Service Innovation Design Conference 2008 - ISIDC08 ([on CD]). Busan, Korea: Japanese Society for the Science of Design.

Article

⌈Résumé⌋ Objective of this research is to clarify crucial competences for designers who design service and competences that education institutes should develop for future service designers. To refer about Service Design, firstly, it is necessary to clarify each of two concepts, design and service, that both are elusive.
In this research, design is treated as a process to create a meaningful new option through doing simulation of creation, imagination (of people who will enjoy the benefit) and evaluation.
Regarding service, this research shows that a concept of service includes several different concepts and those are able to be categorized into two major concepts.
One is the concept of service in a narrow sense, which there are nothing left after goods are bought and sold and nonphysical economic goods to provide satisfaction and utility (e.g. cleaning shop, hair salon, etc). Another is the concept of service in a broad sense which is economic nonphysical combination of goods of products, information and narrow services for getting satisfaction and utility (e.g. restaurant, car dealer, hotel, etc). Consequently this research proposes that broad service is that we should cover and the competence we should develop is to do cycle in a level of combination of products, information and narrow services.
However about the way to develop the competence, if the simulation of creation, imagination and evaluation is the exclusive means in order to create a meaningful new option, it might be impossible to start to do the simulation in a level of narrow services without any knowledge and experience and also difficult to find the excuse that designer should be competent for the simulation in a level of narrow services.
Therefore, by expanding the ability of imagination which enhanced by repeating the simulation in a level of products and information as conventional design process to the level of service, the competence for creating meaningful new services in a narrow, also broad service should be developed.