Turning the tide for good - Student Service Design Challenge 2024 is off to a great start!

The 5th edition of the global Student Service Design Challenge*) has started after the submission and selection of the finalist teams that will participate in the remaining phases of this year's competition. With over 150 submissions and after a rigorous selection process, 33 teams received the outstanding scores needed to continue in the competition. The selected teams are spread out among this year's 4 challenges, offered by: ISDIN, IKEA, Laerdal and Philips.?

Initiated in 2019 by Philips and the Service Design College, together with IBM and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Student Service Design Challenge wishes to engage young creative talents who bring fresh perspectives, new technologies, and innovative ideas to envisioning the service solutions of tomorrow. It aims to push the boundaries of service design by encouraging a transdisciplinary human-centred approach to solving a prevalent global issue in a local context.?

As in previous editions, the students are a good representation of the extent and interest in service design as a force for good. They represent schools and universities from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America in a challenge aiming to celebrate, encourage and inspire the next generation of designers.*) The teams are also multidisciplinary, coming from all design areas and beyond. The diversity in perspectives will help them to design solutions that are well-rounded and sustainable and take into account the needs of a variety of individuals and groups.?

This year, the topic revolves around the 'turning the tide for good' topic. An encompassing theme that aims to consider the need to rethink, reimagine and reassess the impact of existing services and come up with new ones that contribute value and positively impact our individual and collective wellbeing. While many services have been designed with good intentions in the past, some have inadvertently contributed to harm rather than foster positive outcomes. By 'turning the tide', we invite students to transform vital services into pillars of holistic wellbeing where emerging technology and design converge for a healthier planet and a happier society.?

One crucial requirement for all projects presented is that they must address a locally pressing problem that takes into account the students' backgrounds and contexts. Following the briefs, the teams must identify issues in their communities that lack proper solutions or are based on unsustainable systems. Teams will use first-hand observation, interviews, probes and mappings to help them uncover the challenging problems presented in the briefs.

The briefs

The 2024 Student Service Design Challenge features 4 design briefs from organisations, committed to enhancing people’s health and wellbeing, sharing a fundamental aspect that aligns with the core principles of the Challenge: a genuine ambition to (re)design services that contribute value to people, society and the planet.

ISDIN

This international laboratory and pharmaceutical company specialising in solutions in dermatology is asking students for ways 'to turn the tide on the packaging waste epidemic' by designing a service that closes the manufacturing and logistics loop, has planet needs as a starting point, and includes all actors and stakeholders to empower individuals to create a more sustainable society.?

IKEA

The well-known retail furniture brand is on a mission to create a better everyday life for the many people. Ikea wants students to dive into 'turning the tide to enable more sustainable lives at home' by designing a service that promotes sustainable living and improves people’s health, wellbeing and ability to live within the boundaries of the planet.?

Laerdal

A leader in healthcare simulation and education, Laerdal is dedicated to improving the quality of care to help save more lives. They are looking for fresh ideas to 'turn the tide in time-critical emergencies' that truly make a difference and contribute to improve the wellbeing of individuals and their local communities and strengthen their resilience.

Philips

Focused on health technology aimed at improving people's health and enabling better outcomes, Philips is encouraging students to dive into 'turning the tide on fragmented healthcare experiences' by aligning connectivity, convenience, and sustainability with the transformative capabilities of AI to create a more cohesive and interconnected healthcare model.?

Expert mentoring and collaboration

Students are supported throughout the Challenge by an incredible coaching team. Each student design team will have regular coaching sessions with dedicated coaches supporting each of the four challenges. Every design team is also guided by a team coach, an IBM design strategist and practitioner who will use their expertise and experience to provide feedback and help on specific areas. Also, and to help teams get started with each design phase, they will be able to take advantage of the experience of past winners of the Challenge who will offer support, tips and encouragement. In the final design phase, the teams will also receive strategic and business mentoring to consider the viability of their service concepts.

The Challenge ends with the submission of a full fledged service concept. All final concepts will be assessed following the competition's criteria and scored by the Challenge Jury. This year we are honoured to have the following jury members: Anna Meroni , Jury Chair, Suhaib Aslam , Katalin Doczi-Nagy , Ferran Miquel Aymar , Karen Reeves , Adam Cutler , Anna Ribera Ferrer , and Edwin van Rutten .

A selection of teams will also be able to pitch their final concepts to the Challenge Jury at a Dragons’ Den event.

In all, the Challenge offers students a unique and valuable learning experience that goes beyond traditional classroom education. They get to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems, work collaboratively with their peers, receive guidance from experienced professionals, and gain exposure to diverse perspectives and approaches. This kind of hands-on, immersive learning can have a significant impact on their personal and professional development.

*) About the Student Service Design Challenge

The Student Service Design Challenge is a design challenge that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of designers. It is a chance for design students to practise a design process based on a real-life case, use their joint creativity, and get rewarded for it.?

The Challenge is organised by SERVICE DESIGN COLLEGE , in collaboration with 飞利浦 , IBM , 宜家 , ISDIN , Laerdal Medical and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation . It is open to students worldwide and aims to involve the next generation of designers to use their creative power to shape behaviour and promote a more globally conscious set of values. By promoting an inclusive approach to service design, the Challenge encourages students to develop exciting new service experiences that contribute value to people, the planet, and the public.?

The Challenge has 4 working rounds: Identify & explore, Empathise & discover, Frame & define, and Ideate & develop. At the end of this process, all teams submit their final service solutions to be evaluated by the jury in Round 5. The jury comprises renowned design experts from various fields related to human-centred (service) design, circular design, and design-led innovation.?