by Birgit Mager

(FULL)

This workshop will give insight into the theoretical methodological and practical approach of Service Design. It will show how design thinking and design acting have contributed to improvement and innovation in the service sector.

Case studies will show, how throughout the service design process design specific competencies have been systematically developed within service companies in order to enable them to integrate the Service Design approach into their service culture and their processes.

A special focus will be put on the research that has been conducted throughout the last years on how the performing arts can inform the Service Design practice in order to professionalize the design of service experiences. The outcomes are quite striking and have led to several innovative interventions into service culture, service organization and service performance.

A couple of experiments will deepen the understanding of the impact that Service Design can have.

About Birgit Mager

Professor of Service Design
Köln International School of Design, University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Cologne, Germany

After her studies of psychology, Birgit Mager has worked for many years as an in-house consultant with notable companies like Hewlett Packard, specializing on the development and improvement of services: its strategies, its organization, and interaction. Since 1995 she has held the first European professorship on “Service Design” at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Germany. Her numerous lectures, her publications and her projects have strongly supported the implementation of a new understanding of the economical, ecological, and social function of design and the recognition of the immaterial aspects of design.

Birgit Mager works as a consultant for companies like Siemens, Hewlett Packard, Swisscom Mobile, and Lufthansa. She taught Service Design as a guest professor in Switzerland, Italy, China, and Japan. For the German Ministry of Science Research she has conducted different research projects on the topic of design and services. Today she is on the board of different awards for service excellence and is the head of the Center of Service Design Research.