ID414BKK
Service Design
Faculty
Anthony Howe
Head of Platforms, GFTN Solutions at Global Finance & Technology Network
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
Service design puts human experience at the centre of everything we build. This course carries students end-to-end across the Double Diamond method in three weeks, anchored on a real problem they find for themselves in Week 1.
The first two days rapidly cover the full service design method — every phase demonstrated through live exercises, AI simulations of complex real-world problems, and the design of students' first conversational discovery bot. On Day 3, teams go into the field to find a wicked problem worth solving and lock their problem statement.
From Session 4 onward, the method is studied section by section — research, synthesis, ideation, prototyping, testing, business design, and delivery — while teams carry their project through the full arc to a final presentation. AI is used as a research partner, stress-tester, and creative collaborator throughout. Heuristics for reframing, question design, and bias awareness run as a parallel skill track.
Learning highlights
- Service Design End-to-End — Carry a real problem through the full Double Diamond framework from field discovery to viable concept.
- Sprint-Based Presenting & Iteration — Present design concepts in structured sprint-style reviews, absorb structured critique, and iterate under time pressure.
- Problem Framing with Heuristics — Use reframing patterns and question-design heuristics to find problems worth solving and avoid solving the wrong one.
- Service Blueprinting — Map frontstage, backstage, and support processes to surface and resolve service failure points.
- Conversational Discovery Design — Design, prompt, and iterate AI-powered conversational bots for user research and ethnographic discovery.
- AI-Augmented Design Practice — Use generative AI to simulate complex problems, stress-test concepts, and amplify research and prototyping without losing human judgement.
Course outline
15 classes
Service Design in a Nutshell - Part #1: Discover & Define
Lecture (1.5h): What service design is and isn't; the Double Diamond as a rhythm (diverge / converge / diverge / converge); heuristics for reframing (How Might We; inversion; zoom in / zoom out; five whys); heuristics for discovery question design; cognitive bias as design risk.
Work Session (1.5h): Live reframing exercise against a well-known everyday service; AI-simulated stakeholder personas for interview role-play; students draft their first ten discovery questions and stress-test them against bias heuristics.
Service Design in a Nutshell - Part #2: Develop & Deliver
Lecture (1.5h): Rapid walk-through of ideation, prototyping, testing, and delivery; introduction to conversational discovery bots — architecture, prompt design, safety, handover to human researchers.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams build a v0 conversational discovery bot in class (system prompt, discovery heuristics embedded, termination rules); AI-simulated complex stakeholder scenario used to pressure-test the bot before field deployment.
Problems Worth Solving (Field Trip)
Lecture (0.5h): What makes a problem "worth solving" — user frequency × pain × viability × tractability; framing traps to avoid.
Work Session (2.5h): Teams deploy into the field — service safaris, street observation, informal interviews, and first deployment of their conversational discovery bots with willing participants. Return with candidate problems.
Summative deliverable: a locked team problem statement by the end of Session 3.
Deep Research: Methods & Ethnographic Posture
Lecture (1.5h): Research toolkit in depth — desk, contextual inquiry, ethnographic observation, diary studies; the observer effect; interview micro-skills (laddering, silence, re-asking); bias audit for interviewers.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams build full research plans around their problem statement; discovery bot v1 refined with lessons from Session 3; interview guides reviewed using question-design heuristics.
Field Research Day
Lecture (0.5h): Final fieldwork protocol briefing.
Work Session (2.5h): Teams deploy for depth interviews, observation, and bot-mediated discovery; return with raw data ready for synthesis.
Synthesis & Sense-Making
Lecture (1.5h): From raw data to insight — affinity mapping, coding, pattern surfacing; insight statements; personas and journey maps (and when to skip them); empathy vs sympathy.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams synthesise raw + bot-assisted interview data; AI used for thematic coding across transcripts; journey maps drafted.
From Insight to Concept
Lecture (1.5h): How insights generate design directions; the "concept statement"; separating opportunity from solution; reframing heuristics revisited.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams convert insights into 3–5 candidate design directions; peer critique using I Like / I Wish / What If.
Structured Ideation
Lecture (1.5h): Why unstructured brainstorming fails; structured ideation as a team sport; rapid individual sketching (eight ideas in eight minutes); analogous inspiration; democratic-then-decisive selection.
Work Session (1.5h): Full ideation sprint against chosen design direction; AI as ideation partner for cross-industry "what if" scenarios.
Service Blueprinting
Lecture (1.5h): Blueprints — frontstage, backstage, support processes, physical evidence; where blueprints surface failure; blueprinting an existing service before designing a new one.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams blueprint their concept end-to-end; AI used to stress-test ("what breaks at scale? what if the user does X?").
Prototyping Services
Lecture (1.5h): What you can prototype in a service (touchpoints, interactions, journeys, policies, spaces); low-fi methods — role-play, paper, storyboarding, Wizard of Oz; AI as a prototyping accelerator.
Work Session (1.5h): Teams build first prototypes; AI used to generate storyboard scripts, mock communications, and simulated customer-bot interactions; discovery bot repurposed as a service-touchpoint prototype.
User Testing
Lecture (1.5h): Test design — what to test, with whom, how to capture feedback; think-aloud, preference testing; iteration planning.
Work Session (1.5h): Live testing with real users or structured peer groups; AI-assisted pattern identification across test sessions.
Iteration & Mid-Course Review
Lecture (1.5h): Rapid iteration discipline — change, keep, kill decisions; retrospective as a workshop format.
Work Session (1.5h): Abbreviated second-round testing; mid-course review — each team presents refined concept and testing evidence to peer critique.
Business Model & Implementation
Lecture (1.5h): Designing services that are viable, not just desirable; value proposition mapping; stakeholder value; service design meets business design; implementation roadmap, change management, service design culture in organisations.
Work Session (1.5h): Business model canvas applied to team concept; AI used to stress-test business assumptions; implementation roadmap drafted.
Storytelling & Rehearsal
Lecture (1.5h): Structure, narrative, evidence — the logic of a design presentation (research → insight → design rationale → business case); pitch deck vs design walkthrough vs video prototype.
Work Session (1.5h): Presentation drafting with AI-assisted narrative and visual generation; dry run with instructor feedback.
Final Presentation
Final Presentation
Course materials
Books
Prerequisites
Prior Harbour.Space coursework in design, UX, or interaction design (or equivalent professional experience).
Working proficiency in Miro or Figma.
Basic comfort with a generative AI chat interface (any provider).
No prior service design experience required.
Methodology
Studio-based teaching combining short lectures, live facilitation demonstrations, hands-on workshops, structured peer critique, and AI-augmented design work throughout. Two signature course mechanics: (1) a conversational discovery bot that each team builds in Session 2 and iterates across the course as both a research instrument and a service-touchpoint prototype; (2) AI-simulated complex problem scenarios used to pressure-test student work at key transitions.
Grading
Anthony Howe is Head of Platforms at GFTN Solutions (Global Finance & Technology Network) and founder of Think Howe, a Singapore-based service design studio. He co-founded 5th Finger — Australia's first mobile marketing firm — leading it to dual trade-sale exits to Microsoft (AU) and Merkle/Dentsu (USA), and has since led 20+ APAC market launches across fintech, enterprise SaaS, and trade finance. His teaching practice spans residencies at Strate School of Design (Paris) and guest lectures at the National University of Singapore, alongside regulatory-technology and transformation programmes for central banks and enterprise partners. A 32-year professional jazz drummer and systems thinker, Anthony frames service design as the disciplined use of empathy, structure, and improvisation under enabling constraints.
See full profileApply for this course
Service Design
by Anthony Howe
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Jun 29 - Jul 17, 2026
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.