Service design and experience design: what unites us is greater than what divides us

This position paper draws on experiences of working within service design and experience design in the UK in order to reflect on the key differences and growing similarities between these two practices. The challenges faced by design agencies are described and in particular those arising from the closer alignment of design and business. This alignment is leading to a need for design teams to deliver process as well as digital products as project outcomes, requiring understanding of how to facilitate lasting transformation within organizations as well as how to design compelling user experiences. A skillset built upon three pillars: working with business, with people and with ideas is proposed to support further convergence of these two disciplines.