Business Transformation by Design
Leading Modern Organizations through Service Design
The SDGC25 theme, "Business Transformation by Design: Leading Modern Organizations through Service Design," emphasizes the active role service design plays in driving holistic, cross-functional transformation and cross-disciplinary Design across various types of organizations. The SDGC25 theme celebrates service design's potential to influence strategy, operations, and customer experience while addressing the need to integrate its principles into the broader business and organizational landscape.
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Why this theme?
Addressing a Strategic Gap
Many service design conversations remain within design-centric circles, which limits the field’s reach and impact. This theme seeks to bridge the gap by encouraging dialogue between designers and organizational leaders, including those in strategy, operations, technology, and governance.
Service Design as a Strategic Driver
The conference will explore how service design operates across three levels within organizations—strategic, operational, and tactical—while demonstrating its value as a driver of transformation and innovation.
Relevance Across Sectors
While "business" has traditionally been the lens through which service design is discussed, the theme broadens its scope to include public sector, healthcare, education, and government organizations. This reflects service design’s capacity to solve complex problems across diverse contexts.
Mission-Driven Innovation
The conference will highlight the role of public and governmental organizations as innovation leaders, underscoring service design’s relevance to broader societal challenges.
Transformation by Design
The SDGC25 theme’s dual meaning highlights two aspects of service design’s impact: intentional transformation by design, reflecting a strategic and purposeful approach to change, and business transformation by designers, celebrating their unique role in driving collaboration, co-creation, and innovation. Together, these interpretations showcase service design as both a mindset and a practice for sustainable change.
