Service design is an interdisciplinary approach that has emerged from the combination of different methods and tools from various disciplines, both traditional design and beyond. It is an emerging way of thinking and designing, as opposed to a new stand-alone academic discipline. It sees the application of established design process and skills to the development of services. This usually seeks to design the experiences leading to a better customer/user experience and better efficiency in terms of the service provider; a mutually beneficial approach for both consumer and provider. The service design approach will normally involve amulti-disciplinaryteam who work with stakeholders and end-users throughout the design process.

Service design emerged as a new generation of designers began to apply their industrial design process to the designing of immaterial experiences such as services. Service design continues to grow as a discipline as organisations are becoming increasingly aware that they can no longer rely on providing value solely through products but need to move into creating meaningful and memorable customer experiences. At The Glasgow School of Art, Service Design is taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as a means of applying the creative to complex problems, usually combining artefacts, interactions and experiences - through the design of services that exist, unfold and evolve in both space and time.

At GSA there is an emphasis upon the social value of service design, as well as its economic importance. Consequently, we have worked with NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, as well as commercial and private sector organisations. As with all user-centred design, the focus is upon people - what they do, how they do things, why and when they seek to engage with the world around them through private or public sector services. The ubiquity of digital information makes this type of design practice vital to the evolution of service providers and to ensure the quality of experience for service users. Services are everywhere, and they are spreading. The role of service design is to put human experience and aspiration at the heart of the design process as it addresses the world of services. The M.Des Design Innovation & Service Design seeks to equip students with the thinking, tools and processes of service design and to create innovation in the conception, design and delivery of services ad service experiences.