Service Design

The first two terms will take you from a foundation of the tools and methodologies through to advanced techniques and management skills which are applied through projects leading to the Independent Research Project in the third term.

Term 1

Service Design Foundation Methods and Materials encompasses the whole term and consists of a series of lectures on the methods and materials of service design accompanied by 3 project sprints in which these methods are applied.

You will develop an understanding of core design processes and skills and demonstrate learning from the taught aspect of the programme through practical exercises that are applied to a live student project. The initial project develops a theoretical and practical understanding of the ecosystems of services, develops skills in research, design sprints and the interaction between human, technology and systems.

Across Terms 1 and 2, you will participate in AcrossRCA, the College-wide unit. See below for more details.

Term 2

The second term will deliver teaching in Advanced Service Design Methods, looking at the role of the service designer in developing transformational programmes to reframe projects. You will develop an understanding of organisational cultures, how to think at a strategic level, specify metrics and create a Minimum Viable Experience. You will explore delivery across channels including the human and ethical issues of emerging technology platforms such as AI.

You will also have an Elective choice in term 2.

In term 2 all School of Design students will participate in the Grand Challenge, School-wide unit. The aim of this unit is to connect and challenge all students in the School through the introduction of a ‘wicked’ design problem that requires a cross disciplinary approach to problem solving involving an external international scientific or industry partner (or both). This unit and lecture series has been hugely successful in connecting and disrupting disciplines, people, philosophies and approaches to design thinking whilst providing our student body with very unique networking opportunities.

Term 3

You'll work on an Independent Research Project in one of several Challenge Labs, collaborating with external organisations who bring active projects and challenges. You will develop strategic visions with practical deliverable design interventions to create new services and systems. This project will be the core of the public output of the programme and contribute powerfully to public discourse on the value and suitability of the services and interactions we experience.

Situated at the core of your RCA student experience, this ambitious interdisciplinary College- wide AcrossRCA unit supports how you respond to the challenges of complex, uncertain and changing physical and digital worlds by engaging you in a global creative network that draws on expertise within and beyond the institution. It provides an extraordinary opportunity for you to:

• make connections across disciplines
• think critically about your creative practice
• develop creative networks within and beyond the College
• generate innovative responses to complex problems
• reflect on how to propose ideas for positive change in local and/or global contexts.

AcrossRCA launches with a series of presentations from internationally acclaimed speakers that will encourage you to think beyond the discourses of art, architecture, communication, and design, and extend into other territories such as economics, ethics, science, engineering, medicine or astrophysics.

In interdisciplinary teams you will be challenged to use your intellect and imagination to respond to urgent contemporary themes, providing you with an opportunity to develop innovative and disruptive thinking, critically reflect on your responsibilities as a creative practitioner and demonstrate the contribution that the creative arts can make to our understanding and experience of the world. This engagement with interdisciplinary perspectives and practices is designed both to complement your disciplinary studies and provide you with a platform to thrive beyond graduation.

You will work on a range of live projects from industry that align to different Challenge Labs: 

1. Social Impact – delivering transformation
2. Financial Services – research project on current trends
3. Liveable Planet – exploring system change for sustainability
4. Service Futures – new models for service design
5. Healthcare – behaviour change and better health

The curriculum works across the RCA and our partner establishments, blending design expertise across all departments with technology and business management from London business schools and the Department of Computing at Imperial College London.