Picture a room. A collection of talented people. Colleagues, strangers, a cross–functional team. There’s a facilitator, but their process is a co–creative one.

Each year, we always know when autumn is drawing near: days grow shorter, the warmth of summer becomes a fading memory and the service design community congregates for the global SDN conference.

As the practice of service design continues to mature and find greater traction within companies, it continually faces the same commercial question that challenges its very existence: “Does it add value?”

With the on-going effects of the global financial crisis still being felt, governments around the world have been struggling with a quandary: How to deal with the increasing demands on their services, while budget cuts and austerity measures force departments to make do with less.

Excessively business-minded and overly practical approaches to service design may well prove harmful to the whole field.

Looking back on the 6th Service Design Global Conference in Cardiff, we hope that the inspiration and aspiration on display continues to resonate as much with you as it has with us.

One issue of Touchpoint each year is dedicated to the annual Service Design Global Conference, and this time we’re proud to take a look back on the successful days we spent together in Cardiff in late 2013.

When Jamin and Alex came up with the title ”From Sketchbook to Spreadsheet“ for the SDN conference, in a catchy phrase, they had captured the essence of the service design challenge for this decade.

How can brands and service providers establish long-lasting relationships with consumers in a time of waning customer loyalty?

For the better part of a decade, I’ve had ringside seats to the evolution of two interrelated disciplines: customer experience and service design.

Have you ever found it difficult to turn innovative ideas into practice?

The knowledge that collaboration and synergy fuel success is a cornerstone of service design. | Visit the Community Knowledge section of our site to read this specially-selected article for free.

A Comparison of Contexts, Cultures, and Customers

Silicon Valley is the home of most of the world’s most influential tech companies. | Visit the Community Knowledge section of our site to read this specially-selected article for free.

Developing a world-leading customer experience for Dubai Airports at the crossroad of the world.

Transmedia storytelling refers to the practices of crafting a world of interrelated story experiences spread across different media platforms.