Service Design and Social Change

Service Design is often heralded for having potential to deliver social change deemed pivotal for mitigating the collateral effects of climate change and the challenges of the ailing welfare states. However, if one closely scrutinizes the field, it becomes obvious that the notions of ‘the social’ and ‘change’ are subject to many different and sometimes even inconsistent interpretations. The aim of this chapter is to present nuanced perspectives of the relationship between social change and Service Design informed by theory and examples of practice. It brings together three voices and is organized into two distinct parts. Part A is written by the lead author, Thomas Markussen from University of Southern Denmark and provides an overview of different theories of ‘social change’ based on a cross­ examination of extant literature within various research disciplines. It forms the majority of the chapter and offers a theoretical framework and concepts for contextualizing and exploring various kinds of social change in Service Design. Having set the conceptual foundation, Part B offers additional layers of reflections and criticality seen through the lens of practice. It documents a roundtable conversation between Thomas, Daniela Selloni from Politecnico di Milano, Italy ,and Joyce Yee from Northumbria University, UK, discussing the concept of social change from Daniela and Joyce’s perspectives of their own design practice and research projects.1 The interplay between the two perspectives highlights that social change in Service Design needs to be critically positioned along a theory– practice nexus.