As service design grows, it faces the challenge of meeting the even greater demand for it. How can the seeds of service design be sown in tomorrow’s designers and business people? How can our techniques be introduced across entire organisations - to be applied by non-designers - to improve their services? And what frameworks can be proposed to categorise (blossoming) service designers according to traits and areas of expertise?

On May 20th 2026, we are holding a special event connected to the publication of the most recent issue of Touchpoint, the journal of service design: Touchpoint Vol.17 No. 1 | From AI to Synthetic Services.

AI continues to disrupt our work as service designers, fundamentally changing the way we design, deliver and analyse services. The advances are rapid as well, presenting new opportunities while at the same time forcing us to answer some challenging questions on where and how its capabilities are deployed. This issue of Touchpoint answers an ongoing need in our community to learn from each other - as well as those outside our field - to confidently apply AI, as well as know where it should be avoided.

Connect, Collaborate, and Create Change – SDGC26 Awaits! Join us in Wiesbaden, Germany and online, 28–30 October. Registration is open, with Early Bird tickets on sale until May 15.