From Theory to Practice: “Ways of Working” in MA Service Design
TL;DR: The “Ways of Working” module in the MA Service Design programme focuses on reflective leadership elements of Design. It helps students reflect on their individual approaches and understand the impact of their leadership styles on team dynamics and design outcomes. By bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world scenarios, students gain practical experience collaborating with teams and industry partners. The module cultivates students’ creative confidence and equips them with the skills to navigate complex challenges in service design, becoming empathetic, adaptable, and effective service designers.
Bridging the gap between theory and practice
Within the field of service design education, the predominant focus often lies on the tools and processes, prioritising frameworks and artefacts. While these aspects undoubtedly hold value, as service design becomes more commonly adopted in organisations on different scales and contexts, we have come to realise that we have inadvertently neglected the crucial human element — both at the individual and collaborative team levels.
Service design is a discipline that places significant value on understanding people and their unique needs. It is a holistic approach that goes beyond following a rigid process; it involves embracing diverse perspectives to co-create thoughtful solutions. However, this collaborative approach can present challenges, especially when collaborating with individuals from diverse backgrounds, expertise, and distinct working styles. To address this gap, MA Service Design developed the “Ways of Working” module back in 2017. Spanning a period of eight weeks, this unit encourages students from diverse cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds to reflect upon their own ways of working. It facilitates self-reflection and self-awareness, analysing the impact of individual leadership styles on team dynamics and, ultimately, design outcomes.
By introducing this module at the outset of the programme, we aim to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world application. Especially since all subsequent units require extensive collaboration with partners from various industries, providing students with invaluable opportunities to translate theory into practice not only for their MA study but also in their future careers. Past students have had the privilege of collaborating with organisations such as the European Union, Government Digital Service, Camden Council, Southwark Council, and Age UK during their MA programme.
Over the past five years, the “Ways of Working” module has proven highly effective in nurturing our students’ ability to critically analyse their learning processes. It gives them the confidence to evaluate academic theories and apply them in practical scenarios. When faced with challenges during the design process, students can adapt their ways of working, drawing upon their creative confidence to explore alternative solutions.
As in previous years, students are expected to write a reflective essay summarising their eight weeks of learning at the end of the unit. This year, we’ve invited eight students to share their work and reflections from the unit.
Meet the students
Divya Charlie from India, brings her expertise in Fashion Design and digital product crafting to the table. She finds inspiration in recognising the uniqueness of each team and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Divya’s essay on “Power of Individual’s Double Loop Learning” delves into her insights on effective collaboration.
Chenyu Jasmine Chou from Taiwan, with a background in interior design, found the module instrumental in challenging her assumptions about collaboration. Her essay, “Combining Order and Learning Culture: Striking the right balance to optimise team performance,” explores the importance of adaptation during teamwork.
Yidong (Ito) Sun from Japan, with a background in business and commerce, gained valuable insights into emotional intelligence and team collaboration. He reflects on the significance of vulnerability in amplifying team collaboration in his essay, “Achieving High Team Creativity in Practice.”
Vicky Worrall from the United Kingdom, enjoyed a rich and varied career in Early Years after her training at Norland College. In this unit, Vicky has written about how she has been adapting these open communication skills to work in cross-disciplinary teams in her essay, “Relinquishing Control.”
Rachel Leung from Hong Kong, studied Product Design and spent six years working as a project designer for an NGO. In her essay, “Reinforcing Double-loop Learning by Adopting Play in the Development of a Service Designer,” she recognised that the concept of play can trigger, encourage, and intensify the iterative learning process in both design and team dynamics.
Lewis Baylin from the United Kingdom, studied architecture prior to undertaking his MA. In his essay, “The Benefits of Uncomfortable Truth Telling in Team Dynamics,” he discusses the interplay between psychological safety, healthy disagreement, and truth-telling as integral components of the iterative improvement process.
Yuchen Jiang (Brandon) from China, studied industrial design, with coding, physics, and manufacturing systems skills, and noticed a remarkable change in team dynamics and creativity. His essay, “Developing three progressive phases of trust for constructing effective team dynamics,” explores how trust within teams fosters creativity.
Ashmita Radhakrishnan from India, with a background in Electronics and Media Engineering transitioning into UX design, shared a profound realisation: “Sometimes as adults, we often make team collaboration more complex than necessary.” She highlighted the importance of creating a safe environment for team members to freely express their thoughts, emphasising the need to let go and embrace vulnerability. Ashmita’s essay on “The Power of Vulnerability in Strengthening Team Bonds” further explores this theme.
These reflections from our students showcase the diverse perspectives and profound insights gained from the ‘Ways of Working’ module. It’s evident that through self-reflection and exploration, they have unlocked new pathways to effective collaboration and leadership.
Conclusion
The “Ways of Working” module has proven to be a transformative and invaluable component of our curriculum. As the discipline of service design strives to go beyond problem-solving and truly understand people and foster collaboration, this module plays a pivotal role in preparing our students to navigate the complexities of service design. Through a focus on self-reflection and self-awareness, students are empowered to examine their individual approaches and understand the impact of their leadership styles on team dynamics and project outcomes.
Our students come from various backgrounds, bringing diversity to the “Ways of Working” module. The reflections of the students above share their experiences from the module, each offering a different background and viewpoint, showcasing the diversity of our programme, and contribute to a rich learning environment that encourages creativity and innovation.
By regularly reflecting on and improving our teaching methods, our teaching team stay ahead in the service design disciplines, ensuring we prepare our students for future challenges and enable them to explore new opportunities, fostering true innovation and positive outcomes.
