Service design for social interaction. Applying mobile technologies for a healthier lifestyle

The PhD research explores the relations between service design, health and today’s social media specifically through mobile technologies. Due to economic, social, and environmental changes, new forms of well-being emerge. On the other hand, mobile technologies offer new opportunities for a more user centered, socially connected, and economically sustainable healthcare system. With the improvement of social media technologies, designing services opens more opportunities to create future scenarios around healthcare. A major focus of research is in the effective use of mobile technologies to incite social interaction in promoting healthier lifestyles. The research is based on Frayling’s “research through design” model [1993] and explores the practices and processes of design through the participation in three action projects. The purpose is (i) to explore how to design a service application in the context of healthcare taking advantage of mobile technologies, (ii) to understand the designer’s role in designing service for a healthier lifestyle and (iii) to investigate the use of participatory and service design tools for the engagement of users in their long-term healthcare management. The research begins with a summary of research background, motivations and methodology concerning how service design through mobile technologies for social interaction could provide an approach for healthier lifestyles. This section provides a guideline to the overall dissertation giving an introduction of research problem, explaining the objectives of the research and how these objectives will be achieved by selected methods. The first part, which includes three chapters, explores theoretical background including literature review, field research and case studies collected in the research area. This part provides an overview of the state of the art in the research area reviewing literature regarding key conceptual themes; ‘design thinking towards service design’, ‘mobile technologies and participatory tools for social interaction in the context of healthcare’, ‘research strategies for designing health services’. It gives an review of previous work related to research problem, methodology used in those areas of intervention and results. The second part, which includes two chapters, focuses on three action projects regarding healthier life service scenarios. The third part concludes research results and analysis of the three practiced led projects. This chapter proposes a conceptual framework for designing services for healthier life, and designer’s role in designing services providing also discussion of existing barriers to embracing participatory approach. It investigates together with the results, the effects of methods used as a data obtained. The conclusion part gives an closing outline if the research problem has been solved, to what extend objectives has been achieved, how this knowledge can be used in different areas of research.