Service design in China : the current situation and future opportunities

Because of the recent development of the service economy in China, the design community is willing to address this development trend, while academia is exploring a new design discipline called Service Design. Service Design had become a visible topic in industry from 2015 because of the initial promotion done by academia and design companies. Being still though at an infancy stage compared to other regions like Europe, UK or USA, Service Design is still encountering a lot of challenges and barriers in China. This short thesis has investigated the current status of Service Design development in China, looking at the current practice of the Chinese Service Designers and academics, considering both their challenges and future opportunities. For this reason, a qualitative research based on a series of interviews was carried out. Sixteen people working in academia and service design agencies in China were interviewed about their experience and opinions. This thesis presents the results from the interviews providing an overview of the current state of Service Design in China, pointing to the main limitations of its development, to then articulate an overall strategy of actions that could be applied for both the academia and the industry.