70 602 Service Design 2: Service Design Futures (Spring 2026)

Students must have passed 70 513 Service Design 1: Exploring design for experience, or have equivalent education.

Recommended previous knowledge.

• Service Design concepts and methodologies
• User-centred design methodologies
• Qualitative data analysis
• Prototyping
• Project communication

This course focuses on advanced service design knowledge and competencies by engaging students in service design research. Students will be actively involved in hands-on research-through-design work with real service partners. Through this process, they will contribute to advancing the theories and practices of service design, while at the same time supporting the student’s own development in becoming a more rigorous, reflective and informed service designer. As part of the course, students will read and discuss academic articles on service design, strengthening their critical thinking skills and integrating learnings into their own practice.

The course will be delivered in two modules with different partners all focusing on differing services and the service systems that enable them. We will partner with different designers, researchers and practitioners to learn more about how to navigate the messy realities of service design in context. The Norwegian public sector has been an early adopter of service design to drive change in public service provision. The second module of this course looks at how public service design can be extended and deepened to more thoughtfully work with public policy, structural changes in service systems, the underlying logics of service development, transformation in the public sector, and how public service systems influence social inclusion.

By working within this research context, students will practice what they have learnt in Service Design I and/or GK5 and GK6 by applying these design skills toward meaningful contributions to pressing issues in Norwegian public and/or private sector services. Throughout the project-based work, students will be introduced to concepts and frameworks based on different approaches to service design that will support reflection on their own praxis.

KNOWLEDGE

• Gain insight into the different framings and perspectives on approaches to service design whilst reflecting on one’s own burgeoning practice
• Develop an analytical approach and critical perspective on the evolving field of public sector service design
• Deepen understanding of policy processes, service development, and administration in public service systems as well as the role of service design in relation to these
• Reflect on what design research and its methodologies mean for service design practice and vice versa

SKILLS

• Strengthen ability to read, understand and contribute to service design research
• Enhance capacity for analyzing service design situations in relation to relevant theories and insights from research
• Demonstrate the capacity to reflect upon the potentials and limits of service design within the context of public service systems
• Show competency in working ethically and carefully with marginalized populations

GENERAL COMPETENCE 

• Gain an overview of the state of the art of service design research
• Promote an active and designerly participation within research projects
• Learn to engage and collaborate with external community and public sector partners
• Promote critical reflection on the unintended consequences of service design decisions

The course is run differently from Service Design 1. In Service Design 2 students will be working more independently and in close collaboration with service design researchers and practitioners at the school.

Learning activities will be based upon establish research at AHO and burgeoning projects in collaboration with external partners, where the students will be part of the research team. The course also integrates studio work, tutoring and reflective sessions in the classroom, workshops, structured presentations and deliveries, and discussions with other course participants.

There will also be lectures with invited guests, designers and researchers. These will include sessions specifically designed to give students insight into differing ways to approach designing both in practice and research, whilst providing space to reflect on their own practice. The students are expected to read some academic literature. 

Students will work both individually and in groups.

Form of assessment: Portfolio assessment

Grouping: Individual

Grading scale: Pass/fail

The course has 2 modules and each module will be assessed by an external examiner and must be passed in order to pass the course. If the student fails the first module, an improved delivery can be presented in the second module.

• Design work deliverables, such as: Evidencing material, workshops, interviews and field work.

Contents of the assessment folder:

• Design work deliverables, such as: Evidencing material, workshops, interviews and field work.
• 80% attendance for main course events in the calendar.
• Final presentation and/or report or equivalent deliverable.