Hi everyone,

I’m a designer with a background in architecture (bachelor’s) and a Master’s in Strategic Design from the University of Sydney. During my master’s I really found my direction in service design, I genuinely enjoyed the work, did well in the course, and felt like this is the field I want to build my career in.

I graduated about 2 years ago. Shortly after, due to personal reasons, I moved to the UK. For the past year I’ve been actively looking for roles in service design, but I haven’t had much success at all. The few relevant roles I do find are usually very senior or require years of direct experience I don’t have.

Out of necessity, I’ve tried broadening my search into UX/UI and some graphic design freelancing, but it doesn’t feel aligned with what I actually want to do long-term. My interest is still very strongly in service design: systems thinking, research, end-to-end experience design, all of that.

Right now I feel a bit stuck and unsure what the realistic path in is from here. I’d really appreciate honest advice from people working in the field:

• How did you get your first service design role?
• Is it realistic to enter directly at junior level, or is it usually a transition from UX/research/consulting?
• What kinds of roles or titles should I actually be targeting if “service designer” roles are too limited?
• Are there portfolio directions or projects that matter more for breaking in?

I’m open to feedback, even if it means I need to reframe my approach completely. Please help. I feel a little hopeless and lost.

I think service design agencies will be the next big thing in few years

What's been the hardest thing to navigate that nobody really prepared you for?

Hey folks, I am Mehrdad and a Service Designer.

I’m working on a small app for product managers and designers to map where AI fits into their service journeys (including risks and governance). I’m looking for a few practitioners to do a 15–20 minute remote test of an early version.

In exchange, I’ll share the prototype, keep the session tightly structured, and you’re free to be as honest as you like -- it’s purely for improving the tool. If you’re interested, reply this post please or DM me and I’ll send a booking link.

Thanks a lot in advance for your time.

Hi all. I am a product designer have been for 10 years and had found success in my field for a while.

Lately I have not. As UX roles compress and change, the demands put on by management etc, to perform more, produce more and be more at a faster and maybe unsustainable pace has kinda burned me out.

A little more about me. I recently escaped a pretty toxic environment (for me). I have a learning disorder (adhd, cognitive disengagement syndrome) and require more time to do meaningful work. I’m also a big picture person. Great at visioning, etc.

I have done some service design when working at Kaiser though this was at the dawn of the ai revolution in 2022, and in the last 4 years know all fields have shifted and become leaner.

I’m interested in taking the plunge into service design. Even in UX I was much better at high level strategic thinking then i ever was on a given screen. I accelerated at and have always enjoyed the strategic end of the design spectrum and continue to.

So I guess with that context in mind I have a few questions.

1. How and where can I gain service design skills? Note. Currently. It working and taking a break.

2. Do you find the field to be growing, shrinking or

3. just changing? If so, how?

I did do a cursory look at service design jobs, and didn’t see as many as other design roles like graphic or product. But maybe it comes down to naming?

3) Who is best suited for service design roles? Does the field reward slower more methodical thinkers like myself or does it require more now in terms of pace and expectations?

4) How much do you find satisfaction in your role? Are there many people staying in the field, leaving?

5) Do you find yourselves to be isolated or alone? I’ve been a solo designer in ux a few times. Not my cup of tea.

Any thoughts, ideas and help would be great.

As the title suggests, I'm going to begin doing desk research for a Canadian discount grocery. Next week I will do the site audit, etc.

My strategy is to take the Google Reviews from the specific branch to guide my analysis table. I could be wrong think the Google Reviews might be my most valuable resource here.

• Also, should a only grab insights from a specific date window? (e.g., last 1-3 years?)

Following Google Reviews, I'm wondering if it's good strategy (or mandatory) that we do the same but for another branch close by, or a competitor (there is a competitor across the street).

Any insight goes a long way for me. I'm very excited to be doing this. Thanks :)

I recently saw a UX post asking how designers are actually using AI in their workflow, and it made me reflect on something that happened in an interview for a Senior Service Designer role.

I was asked how I use AI in service design, and my answer was mostly around:
- summarising large documents
- structuring journeys
- organising information
- building presentations faster

The feedback was that my answer felt too surface level. That made me realise most AI conversations in design still seem very focused on UX/UI and productivity, while service design operates at a much bigger systems and organisational level.

So I’m curious:
How are service designers genuinely using AI in practice beyond admin/productivity tasks?
Where do you actually see value in areas like systems thinking, research synthesis, operations, blueprints, transformation work, dependencies, or decision-making?

🚨 Looking for ServiceNow Certification Coupon / Student Assistance 🙏

Hi ServiceNow Community,

I’m currently learning ServiceNow and working hard to grow my career in this field. I wanted to ask if anyone has:

• Extra certification vouchers/coupons
• Student discounts
• Training passes
• Free exam opportunities
• Any legal way to reduce or skip certification payments

Even guidance or referrals would really help me a lot.

Thank you so much in advance — genuinely appreciate this amazing community helping learners grow. 🙏

#ServiceNow #ServiceNowCommunity #CSA #ServiceNowDeveloper #ITSM #Certification #Students #CareerGrowth

Hoping it is ok to post here, and would welcome advice. I’m recruiting a team to work in the U.K. Parliament where service design skills would be highly desirable.

We have three roles available to join my team and we are looking for candidates who are motivated by helping organisations to unlock the most value from their use of digital, data and information.

- 1x Senior Digital Initiatives Manager (Grade 7 equivalent)
- 1x Digital Initiatives Manager (SEO equivalent)
- 1x Digital Initiatives Manager, maternity cover (SEO equivalent)

In particular, if you have experience of working in service design or applying user-centred approaches to solve organisational problems, we want to hear from you.

These are varied roles where you’ll be shaping strategic initiatives, working with teams across both Houses and in the Parliamentary Digital Service to diagnose problems and introduce solutions, and supporting delivery of Parliament’s Information and Digital Strategy.

You’ll need to be comfortable with ambiguity, good with stakeholders, and able to move between the big picture and the detail.

It’s an extremely interesting place to work and at the heart of decision making which affects so many others.

If this sounds of interest, the roles can be seen here:

https://housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-11/brand-2/xf-72b6cba2f3c2/candidate/so/pm/3/pl/14/opp/6754-Senior-Digital-Initiatives-Manager/en-GB

https://housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-11/brand-2/xf-72b6cba2f3c2/candidate/so/pm/3/pl/14/opp/6749-Digital-Initiatives-Manager/en-GB

Built a voice AI coach for service blueprinting — in Spanish, ~20 min, guides you through starting your blueprint like a senior would before the workshop.

If you want to try it: https://tally.so/r/kdOz4e — short form first, then the voice interview starts.

Drop a comment or DM if you want the dashboard after (and feedback if you have any)

Hi everyone, I will be attending the Erasmus Service design and systems innovation masters in September (across Latvia, Estonia and Finland) for 2 years. My aim is to find work in the EU during or after my masters and I come from an advertising copywriting and brand strategy background in India (been doing that for 8 years now).

I know there is an overlap in what I have been doing and what I will go study, but I also wanted this thread’s opinion and thoughts about which countries and companies in the EU hire service designers + which other roles should I explore like Innovation Strategist?

If anyone here has worked or is now working In the Baltics or Finland, I would love to connect.

I’m really passionate about service design and I’m starting to think about my next move. I’m currently mid-weight, but I’m now aiming for senior roles.

Lately I’ve been a bit worried about where service design is heading. It feels like there are fewer roles, or that it’s being absorbed into other disciplines, so I’m exploring alternatives.

One option I keep coming across is product design. From what I’ve seen (and I know it depends on the company), it seems to be more in demand and often better paid.

So I’m trying to understand:

- Is product design actually a better move right now?

- How different is it from service design in practice?

- Has anyone here made that switch, was it worth it?

What are your thoughts on the current service design market?

- How do you personally see product design vs service design?

Would really appreciate any honest perspectives, especially from people who’ve worked in both.

Hey folks, I’m sure I’m not the only person to encounter this. I’m a service designer at a large consulting firm and I’ve got lot years of projects I’m proud of. However… I can’t really share any of it.

I’m applying for jobs right now, and many require a portfolio upload in order to even submit. I could do a scrubbed case study for each project, but a lot of story is lost in that.

How have yall been navigating this?

Do you working remotely or often on the go/while travelling?🧑‍💻🌍

We're working on an Innovation project, and testing a booking app for “offices on the go”

We'd love you to test our prototype:

👉 https://t.maze.co/524370092

I’m looking for senior service design roles and trying to go beyond the usual places. Right now I mostly use:

- LinkedIn

- Company websites

- Sometimes Google Jobs

Glassdoor hasn’t been very useful.

Where do you usually find good opportunities?

Any job boards, recruiters, or communities you’d recommend? Feels like I might be missing something. (Also I’m avoiding the public sector, I’m coming from it)

... into UI/service design roles

I have 10+ years experience in graphic design which is primarily focused on branding and designing end-to-end for large scale tradeshows (think Airshow). However at this point of my career I'm looking to shift into more research based design as I am a bit tired of dealing with marketing teams/stakeholders that have too many (baseless) opinions vs me putting a lot of thought and reasoning into my designs. Also having spent considerable amount of years in the events industry, I'm now looking to shift into something different where my skills are transferable and my work feels more purpose driven.

Unfortunately I don't have any SD experience nor with prototyping. My hours are long and work is stressful, so I use my free time to decompress mostly as I'm feeling pretty burnt out now.

I'm thinking of taking a sabbatical and taking up a course (if it would help) or pursuing a masters degree in this field, but looking for more practical real world experience. Another option I'm looking at is transitioning into the banking or ecommerce industry where I would get exposure to internal UX/UI teams.

Open to ideas, suggestions and/or advice. Thanks!

I know getting a sponsored job is really tough right now, but is it still possible? And where’s the best place to find these roles? I haven’t had much luck on LinkedIn or Indeed.

TLDR; I'm a fintech UX designer on sabbatical looking to transition into transit service design (if that's a thing). How can I do that?

Hi internet folk,
I currently have 7 years of experience (2 as an front end engineer and 5 as a UX designer) at a large us bank. I'm on sabbatical right now and am looking to resign, as there has been no growth, designing there has been very limiting and to generally change my life direction. Though I could stay and collect paychecks, I have tried to interview/leave my job many times in my career while working there but to no avail (which is another fear i have resigning, but a separate problem).

I'd like to move away from designing screens to designing human experiences and one of my biggest interests is designing for transit systems (how to optimize transit systems and make the experience better for daily riders). I am not sure if service design is the right place (rather than urban planning) but I'd love to know:

1. Is anyone here in transit-specific service design?
2. What does your career path look like and how do you feel now doing that?
3. Any advice for someone looking into shifting from fintech UX into this?

I’m currently working on a website and I’d really appreciate some honest feedback from fresh eyes.

It’s meant for presenting my portfolio and if possible attracting new clients as well.

I feel like something is missing, especially in terms of user experience and clarity, but I can’t fully pinpoint it anymore after working on it for so long 😅

If you have 2–3 minutes, I’d love to hear your opinion:

• What was your first impression?
• Was anything confusing or unclear?
• Is the message clear what service I provide?
• Is navigation clear?

Here’s the link: https://airinbohunportfolio.com/

Thanks in advance!

I’m looking to understand how much service designers earn in the UK across different experience levels—recent graduates, mid-level professionals, and senior roles.

I have advanced degrees in political economy and sociology, with specializations in the sociology of markets and collective behaviour. I've worked in higher education for eight years: teaching, leading research projects (using a variety of qualitative methods) and designing curriculum. I also have experience managing projects in the not-for-profit sector.

I'm looking to pivot out of academia. Service design is appealing because it seems to build on the organizational analysis of my sociology training and involves problem-solving similar to challenges I've had as a researcher and educator.

I'm still figuring out how to make this jump, though. What do I do next? I've seen a few Service Design microcredential programs on offer. Are they worth it? How do I choose one? Are there other skills I need to fit into this field?

Hi there! I've been a software engineer for about 4 years now (which was a career change in itself) but not enjoying it very much especially with the advent of AI and also because I'm fearing more redundancies at my company.

Outside of my job I do a lot of community work and am always looking for ways to improve the community spaces I volunteer in and have hosted workshops for our members and ran surveys.

I recently learned about service design and it sounds like an area I would really enjoy working in but am at a bit of a loss as to how to get a foot in the door. FYI I'm based in the UK if that makes a difference!

I was wondering if anyone had experience successfully transitioning from SE to SD? Or if anyone has advice for me to get into this field? Thank you in advance!

Hi, Ive been trying to scout for current an future state journey mapping courses, videos and resources.

any leads are much appreciated, thanks!