The document discusses service design at the Royal College of Art (RCA). It provides context on the RCA's 180-year history of linking art, technology and industry. The MA in Service Design focuses on user research, co-creation, experimentation and entrepreneurship to develop new service propositions. Students work closely with industry on real-world projects and challenges. Examples are provided of student projects that have addressed social issues, such as a record label started within UK prisons to reduce reoffending rates. The conclusion reflects on opportunities and challenges of emerging practices that tackle public problems through practical experience and partnerships.

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Service
Design
at the RCA
Nicolás Rebolledo. Arch. MSc. Phd.
Tutor & Lecturer in Service Design– Royal College of Art
Co-founder & Director or Strategy – Service Design UNIT
nicolas.rebolledo@rca.ac.uk
@nrebolledo
London, November 2020

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Agenda
• A brief history of Design at the RCA: 180 years linking art, technology and industry
• Service Design
• Cases

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RCA: Design & Innovation for 180 Years
Founded in 1837
#1 in Art & Design: QS World University
Rankings (2015-2016-2017-2018-2019)

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RCA: Design & Innovation for 180 Years
1851 Great Exhibition

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RCA: Design & Innovation for 180 Years
1951 Festival of Britain

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RCA: Design & Innovation for 180 Years
Design Research Unit 1942 –1972

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RCA: Design & Innovation for 180 Years
Thomas Heatherwick – London Bus 2012

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RCA School of Design today
Ten programs that combine creativity,
business and technology in close
collaboration with industry
https://www.rca.ac.uk/schools/school-of-design/
• MADesignProducts
• MAFashion
• MA/MSc GlobalInnovationDesign(with
Imperial)
• MA/MScInnovationDesignEngineering.
(withImperial)
• MAInteligentMobility
• MA Service Design
• MATextiles
• MATextilesMResHealthcare&Design
• MResRCADesignPathway
• DesignMPhil./Phd

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From products
Seabord - Roland Lamb 2011

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Desde los productos
Petit Pli, Ryan Mario Yasin 2017
From products

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To systems
Loowatt - Virginia Gardiner 2012

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To services with public impact
Good Talk - Bianca Benvenuto / Isabelle Ohlson 2019

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InHouse Records - Judah Armani 2018
To services with public impact

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Laboratorio de Gobierno - 2014-2015
To services with public impact

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We understand design as:
Creativity with
purpose
“Design may be described as creativity deployed to a
specific end. It has the capacity of shaping ideas to
become practical and attractive propositions for user
or customers.” (Cox, 2005)
Design as a
change process
“Everyone designs who devises courses of action
mined at changing existing situations into preferred
ones” (Simon, 1969)
An enquiry into
future ways of
living
“Design is an exploration about people and their future
ways of living” (Sanders, 2014)

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Service Design?

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Design articulating 3 dimensions
Value
What’s needed
and desirable
People
What’s
feasible
Technologies
What’s
viable
Organisations

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A new agenda for design
New forms of
value
Socio
cultural
shifts Inequality
Trust
Loneliness / happiness
Globalisation
Natural Resources
Global Warming
Ageing Population
New desires,
challenges
and needs
Fourth
Industrial
Revolution
Internet of Things
Big Data & Data Science
Virtual Reality
Social Media
Ubiquitous Computing
Artificial Intelligence
New possibilities
enabled by
technology
Platform Economy
Service Economy:
70% OECD (2005)
Platforms & Networks:
New forms of value
creation in complex
environments
New logics
of value
creation

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Imperial Business School Imperial ComputingRCA School of Art & Design
New social
insights for
people’s
experiences
New forms of
value creation
New digital
Technologies
Service Design at the RCA

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Close collaboration with the industry

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Combining three elements of innovation
What is needed? What
is desired? What is a
problem worth dealing
with?
People &
Society
What might be feasible?
How can we leverage the
existing resources
available?
Technology
and
Resources
What is the impact?
What are our
capabilities?
What is our legitimacy
to act?
Institutions and
Organisations
Creative and
strategic
process

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Focus on users, their culture and behavior / ethnographic techniques

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Focus on users, their culture and behavior / forms of co-creation
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Estefanía Trissotti, Mariepi Manolis 2017

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In the context of actor networks
Estefanía Trissotti, Mariepi Manolis 2017

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Using experimental entrepreneurship techniques as a form of prototyping
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Service
Propositions
(10 MA1 - 13 MA2)
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Service
Propositions
(10 MA1 - 13 MA2)
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Service
Propositions
(10 MA1 - 13 MA2)
PITCH MVP
Value proposition
in Landing Page +
Ads + Surveys
USER TESTING
UI + Interviews
USER EXPERIMENTS
Key function with
recruited users

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Learning by doing in a studio format
Term 2
Industry Project 1
Term 1
3 Projects
Icebreaker /
Training Sprint /
Grand Challenge
Term 3
Industry Project 2
Internship
Term 4
Industry Project 3
Term 5 / 6
Final project
Lectures & Workshops
Unit 1: Service Design Foundation Programme
Unit 2: Design Entrepreneurship
Unit 3: Design Research and Advanced Methods
Critical & Historical Studies (Dissertation)
Lectures & Workshops
Unit 4: Design Management and Platform Design
Unit 5: Social Innovation and Future Services
Unit 6: Implementing and deploying Services at scale

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Various formats of action and implementation
Speculative projects
Planet Impact Tax
Becky Miller
Winner of the Future of
Money Design Award 2018.
Start-ups
InHouse Records
Judah Armani
Implemented in 13 prisons
in UK
Projects for established
organisations
Medicine san frontiers
doctors hand over service.
Charlote Fountaine

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Some cases

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Laboratoria
In-house records
It is a record label inside prisons created
in conjunction with inmates, which seeks
to enhance the musical talent of the
participants and offer them new
opportunities for professional
development to reintegrate them into
society through purposeful work.
With the aim of reducing violence and re-
offending rate in the UK.

30. 428%
Increase in positive
behaviour.
80%
Commitment and
participation rate of
prisoners.
Violence&
Unemployment
Highest rates of violence and
unemployment in prison in 100
years.
£15Bl.
Cost for UK Gov
Increase in the
number of prisoners
since 1995.
200%
Theoryof
Change
We will drive job creation
and reintegration
opportunities through
music and management
skills.
Inmates
havetalent
Their past job
opportunities implied
management skills
Musicisa
Door
Hip-hop is popular
and produces high
levels of engagement
Founder’s
networks
Founder has strong
networks in music
industry
Mission
statement
How might we foster the
exiting talents of inmates
and leverage the networks
we have in the music
industry to reduce violence
and re-offending rates?

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Challenges
• We have learnt that there is a need for emerging practices to tackle public problems
• Students and staff are committed with the new challenges from a practical
perspective
• There is value on the mindsets, skills and delivery
but…
• The mix between skills, experience and implementation
• The balance between visions and concrete experiences
• The challenge of access
• The model of partnerships
WE ARE OPEN FOR EXPERIMENTING

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Gracias :)
@nrebolledo
nicolas.rebolledo@rca.ac.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/
nicolasrebolledo/
@rca_sd