An Introduction to Service Design

The most essential design capacity is invention, the capacity of envisioning preferred futures. In other words, the main job of designers is to have ideas that change the current reality. Ideas need not necessarily materialize into solutions ready to be implemented. These ideas can be expressed as hypothetical scenarios that help us think about the future we want. To be able to have new ideas, designers must understand contexts and cultures; see realities; and capture their needs and aspirations, contradictions and constraints. And from them, designers should be able to creatively synthesize these elements into new artifacts, the products of design that are meaningful, useful, and that carry an aesthetic that resonates with the public, enabling interactions and outcomes that are equally meaningful to the public. In other cases, the product of design work is not the artifact but the idea itself, the scenario of a different future that helps people and organizations rethink their mission and purpose.