Introduction to Service Design

For government, councils, charities and housing associations

A three-part fun and interactive training course that introduces people to the principles and practices of service design and inspires them to give it a go.

Level: Entry
Duration: 3 x 2.5 hrs
Location: Online
Cost: From £300+VAT pp
Next course: Spring 2025

How to book

Who’s it for?

This course is designed specifically for professionals working in public service and third sector organisations with little or no prior understanding of service design.

It provides an entry-level introduction to the principles and practices of service design for anyone who wants to learn the basics of designing services that work better for the people who use them.

Think of this course as the first dip of the toe into service design waters. It is particularly useful for those working alongside service designers or looking to become more user-centred in their work.

What will you learn?

If you are looking to build a basic understanding of service design methods and language then this course is for you.

We combine theory, practice, reflection and action planning to create a fast, fun and effective introduction to new ways of working, with proven results.

By the end of the sessions, you will be able to:

Recognise and explain common service design terminology, principles and practice
Summarise the key benefits of user-centred service design
Communicate confidently with service design professionals
Identify situations where you might successfully apply a service design approach
Apply some of the basic principles in your work
Identify immediate steps to move your organisation towards a new way of working.

"Highly recommended."

“ServiceWorks intro course has given me a much better understanding of service design concepts and how they can be applied in practice. Highly Recommended!”
— Elli Meredith, Governance & Compliance Partner, United Welsh Housing Association
"Engaging, fast and effective"

“The sessions were really helpful in developing the confidence of our cohort of local authority commissioners to understand and apply user-centred design.
I've never seen anything that helps people grasp new concepts in such an engaging, fast and effective way before.”
— Sarah Johnston, Chief Operating Officer, Public Service Transformation Academy
“Makes the whole thing come alive so well”

“Our group of third sector folk seeking to integrate digital approaches in their organisations loved the 'Design a Better Lunch' activity.
I’ve never come across anything else that makes the whole thing come alive so well, and get the ‘Aha!’ moments so quickly”
— Jess Gildener, Third Sector Lab
"Helped me to speak confidently"

“This intro course has helped me to speak confidently about what user-centred service design is, and why we should do it - all in a really short space of time.”
— Amanda Oliver, Project Manager, United Welsh Housing Association
"It really made me think"

“It’s really made me think about the way we go about addressing a particular issue.
More emphasis on starting from the beginning to understand a matter at a deeper level rather than just being reactive or going straight into ‘solution’ mode.”
— Keira Smith, Senior HR Business Partner, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
We've already started reviewing our project process

“I came away from the Intro to Service Design course with some techniques to bring more consistency to our discovery.
We've already started reviewing our project process as a result of the course”
— Nicholas Giles, Agile Projects Lead, United Welsh Housing Association
"We loved the 'Design a better lunch' activity"

“I loved the 'Design a Better Lunch Experience' - I will keep going back to that because it wasn't about the lunch break.
It was about understanding the needs, aspirations and motivations of others so that you can design something they will value.”
— Becky Lythgoe, Greenstream Flooring
"Excellent sessions"

“Excellent sessions - thank you!”
— Carolyn Jenkins, Internal Communications Officer, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Course outline

Introduction to service design is three sessions of 2.5-hours each, about one week apart. We expertly combine theory, practice, reflection and action planning to embed learning for the long term.

The three sessions cover:

This first session brings to life some of the key concepts and approaches that organisations use to deliver successful public services.
- Why design services?
- What is service design?
- Understanding the problem.
- Finding a solution.
- Balancing the needs of users, the organisation and fixing the problem.
- Becoming more user centred.
We consider the opportunity presented by different ways of working, including examples. Participants are tasked with co-creating a service design case study library that is relevant to them.
People learn and retain information and ideas better if they experience them first-hand, so this is where we get our hands dirty!
We take participants through a ‘mini design cycle’, asking them to ‘design a better lunch experience’. Working in pairs, participants work through:
- Interviewing for user research.
- Identifying user needs and insights and then articulating user stories.
- Rapid idea generation.
- Improving design ideas based on feedback.
- Sharing and evaluating rough prototypes.
People leave with a greater understanding of why and how user research is useful in helping uncover hidden motivations, values, and aspirations or revealing one's own unconscious assumptions about others.
This important part of the learning journey gives people the time and space to share how the learning experience has affected them and consider how they will apply their learning. This builds a shared understanding and spurs coordinated action.
Participants also consider what micro-actions they could personally take to move their organisation towards a different way of working. This helps to initiate individual responsibility for ‘being the change’.

MEET THE FACILITATOR

Jo Carter, Service Design Lead

I’m passionate about service design and the benefits it can bring, especially in government, social housing and charities. As a trained coach, I also love to see others grow and develop, so I feel privileged to have been able to combine these passions through my work. I set up ServiceWorks after 10 years working in local government. I’m now an Accredited Service Design Master and an experienced consultant, trainer, facilitator and coach. I live in Cardiff with my husband and teenage girls, and in my spare time you’ll find me playing drums and cycling, though rarely both at once!