A PHD in Service Design

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Swiss Innovation Academy

Hi lovely human 👋

The one thing

Are you looking for new and fresh Service Design talents? Then you should talk with Camila Gutiérrez Meade.

Get in touch with her

The rest

Here is a quick overview of all the new Service Design content I've worked on this week:

1 new Service Design Talent profile highlighting the story and work of Camila Gutiérrez Meade.
1 video interview about prototyping with Sofiia Kaminska
1 new answer to a Service Design question on where to find PHD positions focused on Service Design

Greetings from Switzerland,

Daniele 🧔🏻‍♂️

p.s. As always, you'll find all below for when you have the time to read this newsletter.

New Service Design Answers

I'm slowly building a library of answers to the most common questions about Service Design. Here are the new ones:

Where can I find PHD's in Service Design?

Service Design Talents

I'm prototyping a new series where I highlight Service Design talents with the hope to motivate more people to join this career and help those highlighted find new opportunities in the space.

Meet Camila a Service Designer building a startup to prevent breast cancer

Who are you Camila?

Hola, hello, hallo! I’m Camila Gutiérrez Meade, a Mexican Designer who has called Switzerland home for the past 5 years. With a Bachelor’s in industrial design from ZHdK and currently pursuing a Master’s in service design at HSLU, my focus is on healthcare, particularly women’s and children’s health.

What’s your project of the moment?

Currently, I’m deeply engaged in my master’s thesis on Breast Cancer Awareness, a topic close to my heart due to personal experiences. This project has grown into a dream of creating a startup aimed at developing a tool for breast awareness, self-care, and self-love. My vision is to encourage body exploration and understanding, helping women recognize their “normal” and fostering a culture of proactive health awareness.

You’re living in Zürich, Switzerland. What’s your take on Service Design in Switzerland?

Service Design in Switzerland? It’s buzzing with innovation! The country’s commitment to healthcare aligns with my interests, offering opportunities to enhance services, especially in women’s and children’s health.

The Swiss ecosystem, with its mix of multinational corporations and innovative startups, provides a diverse canvas for designers to collaborate and innovate.

Opportunities for designers like myself who are passionate about fostering connections and driving positive change. Whether it’s developing innovative solutions for healthcare challenges or reimagining customer experiences in various sectors, Service Design in Switzerland is primed for creative exploration.

As I contribute to Service Design in Switzerland, I aim to create designs that meet user needs and contribute to a brighter, more inclusive future.

What makes you special as a service design professional?

In design, I enjoy crafting workshops and user journeys, aligning designs with user needs. I love creating meaningful experiences. My background spans various design areas—graphic, product, and service—giving me a holistic perspective when tackling complex challenges.

Beyond my thesis, I lead the Marketing team for the InCube Challenge by the ETH Entrepreneur Club, promoting innovation. And when I’m not immersed in design, you can find me enjoying my passion for sports, particularly running and cycling.
As a designer with a mission to impact healthcare and beyond, I believe in the power of design to create a more inclusive and positive future.

Discover Camila’s portfolio

Sofiia Kaminska shares her Service Design prototypes and why you shouldn’t join a master

The pitch

In this interview 21-minute interview, I talk with Sofiia Kaminska, a Digital Ideation master student who dabbles in Service Design. She shares her prototypes, lessons learned from that process and who shouldn’t join such a Master Design program.

The summary

Sofiia shares three prototypes that could help zillennials prone to anxiety build a more mindful relationship with digital media.

individual-focused prototypes
collective-focused prototypes
cultural-focused prototypes

We then go deeper and reveal some lessons that her work in progress teaches us, for example:

Break boundaries: It’s important to break down mental boundaries like the label of your specialization in order to integrate learnings from other discipline like digital ideation, product design, eco-social design, and service design can lead to more innovative solutions.
Use simple tests: Simple and accessible testing methods, such as social media or peer feedback, can be effective in the design process.
Keep on testing: It’s important to understand that prototyping is an ongoing, never-ending process that evolves with user feedback and changing needs.
The end is not the end: We should view a final Master presentation as a stepping stone, rather than the end of a project, as such projects can then continue to be explored as startups, side projects or in-house in your next job.

At the end of this conversation Sofiia shares for who a Master Design program is and who shouldn’t join.

For who it isn’t: Such a program is not for those expecting all information to be handed to them. It requires active participation and decision-making. The program offers a lot of freedom and autonomy, which can be both a blessing and a curse.

For who it is: The program can be seen as a ‘career development sabbatical,’ where students can deeply explore their passions or fields of interest. Therefore students should have a deep passion for a theme, as they will be working on it for a long duration.

Thanks Sofiia for sharing your prototypes and letting the world have a behind the scenes look at what happens in the master.

Get the video, slide deck and more