Submission Categories

The Service Design Award has two separate categories: one for professionals and one for students. The entry platform will be live to register and start your submission from February 14.

Professional projects must be validated by an external client or, in the case of an in-house project, an internal client. There two professional subcategories: commercial and non-profit.

Student projects may be submitted if you are currently studying or graduated from 2017 onwards. The submitted project must have been undertaken during your studies and validated by your university, an external stakeholder or user group.

Keep in mind that it can take time to gather relevant results from the outcomes of a service design project. So, don’t just consider your current projects—consider submitting older projects if the results have only recently become apparent or measurable.

Earlybird Entry Dates & Prices: February 14 - April 10 2018

• Professional SDN members: 120 Euro
• Professional non-members: 200 Euro
• Student SDN members: 40 Euro
• Student non-members: 80 Euro

Regular Entry Dates & Prices: April 11 - June 4 2018

• Professional SDN members: 180 Euro
• Professional non-members: 260 Euro
• Student SDN members: 50 Euro
• Student non-members: 100 Euro

^{*There is an additional 7% VAT charge for entrants within Germany
**There is an additional 7% VAT charge for entrants in Europe, except those with a VAT number}

Want to know why you should enter? Find out more about the award and the excellent benefits of being a winner or finalist here.

What to Submit

An entry consists of four separate parts, please use the templates provided for submission parts 1, 2 and 3. Keep in mind that this year work will be judged anonymously, so please do not use your team, organisation, university or client names or branding anywhere in the submission or the images. The client signature will be validated at SDN to ensure a real client or user was involved, but will not be shared with the jury until finalists are selected to maintain anonymity.

Maintaining anonymity: In case you have images of artefacts or project outputs that have your organisation logo or your client’s logo or other highly recognisable branding visible, please either a) blur or cover the branding in the photograph so it is not visible or b) submit different photographs, sketches or diagrams without branding.

1. Single-page summary (click here for template) for judging & media coverage with a maximum of 450 words. Save as a PDF file named like 'Summary_Your Project Title'.
2. Five page submission report (click here for template) A maximum of 5 pages and 4,200 words.  You are allowed 1 additional A4 page only to be used for for endnotes and references (if you have referenced academic articles or publications for example), these references will be excluded from the wordcount. Save as a single PDF file named 'Report_Your Project Title'. If the entry exceeds five pages or the word limit, this content will not be considered by the jury.
3. A 1 page, signed validation to confirm your work. This will be viewed by judges in the final round of judging once finalists have been selected.
   
   1. For professional submissions, this should come from your main client (click here for professional template).
   2. For student submissions, this should come from an external stakeholder or professor who oversaw your work (click here for student template).
4. 6-15 page visual document of photos or graphics about the project for judging & project promotion (high resolution, RGB, single PDF, maximum size 15MB). We strongly recommend that you supplement your written submission with photographs, graphics, and/or service design artefacts that will help the judges better understand your project. Artefacts that are helpful for the judges include, but aren’t limited to: user journeys, service blueprints, stakeholder maps, personas, or other tools or outputs employed in your work. If your artefacts are in a language other than English, please consider calling out a few key details in English as captions or in the five page report text so that the judges can better understand your work.

Submitting your Project:

All parts of the entry must be uploaded to the entry system. Entries must be uploaded to the Service Design Award website by 12pm CET June 4. No physical entries or additional materials are accepted. Further details about the entry requirements below.

Questions or problems? Write to us at awards@service-design-network.org and we’ll help you!

Keep in Mind:

Importance of Good English
This is an international award and all submissions must be in English. Ensuring that the entry is written by a native English speaker significantly improves the chances of your entry being recognised.

Clear Communication
Clear, concise entries are easier to read and understand and make a stronger impression on the jury. The single-page summary is preferentially reviewed by jury members. Making this as interesting as possible increases the chances of your entry being noticed.

Clear & Evidenced Results
The jury is looking for evidence of what results were achieved, not why a particular approach was chosen. Prove conclusively the cause and effect between service design and the results of your submission. Provide evidence of targets set in the overview of the project being met in the impact of your work.

Scale of Impact
Provide an analysis of all effects, not just the primary results of the project. Often a better customer experience also includes more satisfied employees and better financial results. However, keep in mind that all the effects must substantiated.