Service design is built on the assumption that services are designed by humans for humans — but that assumption no longer holds. Today, customers, employees and designers all operate as human–technology hybrids, or in other words, cyborgs, while service design still assumes human-centred agency. This talk explores what changes when we recognise services as co-performed by asymmetrical human and non-human actors — and how design must adapt.

Key takeaways:

- A new mental model: understanding service systems as networks of human–technology assemblages rather than human actors
- A practical shift: how to adapt journeys, personas and service blueprints to account for mediation and non-human agency
- A systemic insight: how AI-enabled services create asymmetries between agency and responsibility — and how to design to address them.