I'm learning
Learning service design usually means a mix of reading, doing and talking to people. Here are the books people keep recommending, the courses and programmes with a track record, and communities where beginners are welcome.
Start with these
The practical companion to service design, covering research, ideation, prototyping and implementation with a large method library. Widely used as a course text.
A clear account of what service design is and how it is done, from research through to measuring the results, by three practitioners from Livework.
The Service Design Network's training arm, offering online and in-person courses from introductory to advanced, taught by accredited trainers.
Short courses on designing and leading services, run by Lou Downe and Sarah Drummond and grounded in public-sector experience.
The UK chapter of the Service Design Network, running talks, socials and an annual chapter conference for practitioners across the country.
A volunteer-run weekend where people in cities around the world prototype new services around a shared theme. No experience needed.
Questions you might have
Then keep going
Fifteen principles of good service design, drawn from Lou Downe's time leading design across the UK government. Short, plain and opinionated.
The UK government's manual for designing and running public services: the Service Standard, guidance on discovery, alpha, beta and live, and on user research and service design.
A method for mapping a service end to end, showing what the user experiences alongside the frontstage and backstage work that makes it happen. Explained clearly by Nielsen Norman Group.
International organisation supporting the development of service design practice, with local chapters, an academy, a journal and an annual conference.
The UK's national strategic body for design, home of the Double Diamond and the Systemic Design Framework.
Ten principles for designing government services, starting with 'start with user needs'. Short enough to read in five minutes and widely borrowed outside government.
Mapping what a person does, thinks and feels as they try to get something done across a service. Nielsen Norman Group's introduction covers the anatomy and the pitfalls.
Design school in Cologne where service design was first taught as a discipline in Europe, under Birgit Mager.
Author of Good Services and co-founder of the School of Good Services. Formerly Director of Design for the UK government.
A two-year postgraduate programme in service design at the RCA in London, with a strong link to live public and commercial projects.
A thorough guide to the whole family of alignment diagrams: journey maps, service blueprints, experience maps and mental model diagrams.
Co-author of This is Service Design Thinking and This is Service Design Doing, and co-founder of the software company behind Smaply.
A one-year master's at the Glasgow School of Art's Innovation School, combining service design with design innovation and research.
An English-language master's in Milan that treats products, services and systems as one design problem. One of the longest-running programmes of its kind.
Design principles, components and guidance for building health services in England, with a strong focus on accessibility and content.
On designing experiences that unfold across channels and over time, with a strong emphasis on mapping and on the language of experience design.
Occasional evening meetups in Manchester run by the Service Design Network UK chapter, usually hosted by a local studio or public sector team.
Informal evening meetup for the Amsterdam service design community, hosted by a rotating set of studios.
Long-running informal monthly meetup for service designers in Berlin, with short talks followed by conversation.
A volunteer-run festival of talks, workshops and open studios in London, running alongside the London Design Festival each September.
Marc Fonteijn's long-running video series and podcast of conversations with service design practitioners, aimed squarely at people doing the work.
An open collection of communication tools and methods for designing services, started by Roberta Tassi and maintained as a shared library.
A self-paced online course from the Interaction Design Foundation covering the fundamentals of service design.
Identifying the people and organisations involved in a service and drawing out how they relate to it and to each other. Explained in the Service Design Tools library.
The Scottish Government's framework and community for designing public services with the people who use them, with a shared method bank.
Gerry Scullion's podcast network on human-centred design, with a dedicated strand of conversations about service design and public services.
The free online companion to the book: over fifty methods for research, ideation, prototyping and facilitation, each with a step-by-step description.
The Service Design Network's journal, published since 2009. Each issue takes a theme and mixes practitioner and academic writing.