Sept 2025 Entry
2 years
61
What's New
Aims & Objectives
The Service Design specialism nurtures students to develop both theoretical and practical knowledge of service design.
Students will understand the end-to-end journey of a service. This specialism will help student to understand user needs and interests of different group of stakeholders in the service industry through various design methodologies, tools and practices how the centrality of users in the humans-centred design process is complemented in customer, business and public organisations in the wide service industry.
This programme offers students to work involving the creation of, or change to, transactions, products and content across both digital and offline channels through lectures, studio learning, workshops and their own projects. Graduates will be equipped with the necessary professional skills to meet the demand of professions in service industry with Systemic thinking, Strategic thinking, Digital perspective, Evidence and Context based design, Agile working, Prototyping in code, Effective communication and Community/Organisation collaboration.
Characteristics
Is Service Design for you?
Service Design is a new design discipline. It is not a user experience design, information design, product design or any other single output of design application, but it is a broad design platform that integrate design, technology, business and human needs that create the design solution of tomorrow and bring the value to our society.
You should be interested in observation and meditating between people needs and technology capacity. You should be able to identify who users are and their needs based on the evidence. You are likely be able to translate user stories and propose meaningful design propositions. You should be able to understand how the digital economy is changing user behaviour and their interaction with information, product, organisation and government landscape.
Strong candidates would communicate effectively and have a good understanding of the complexity of design and technical activities embedded in the context.
Graduates of the BA (Hons) in Design (Service Design) would take on leadership roles in a wide range of sectors in both private and public service industries. These range from mobility, communication, tourism and hospitality, healthcare, finance, retail, education, entertainment, government and many others to advocate design innovation and managing multidisciplinary team. Graduates’ career prospects include service designer, strategic designer, user experience strategist, design consultant, interaction designer, customer experience designer and manager, start-up entrepreneur, and design researchers.
Year 3 Pre-professional Collaborations
Year 3 allows students to be equipped with essential knowledge and skills for service design. Students are expected to broaden their skills with systemic and critical design thinking to integrate the conceptual and technical skills into development of concrete service value proposition through studio-based design projects.
Year 4 Integrative Design
Year 4 students will concentrate on the synthesis of knowledge, practical skills, conceptual thinking and methods and prepares students for professional practice in the interdisciplinary nature. Students will have opportunities to work on a real-life project in an interdisciplinary team and to learn independently through a self-directed project that involves substantial research, writing and making.
Senior Year students are required to complete a total of 61 credits in order to graduate.
Additional 3 to 9 credits of English and/or Chinese language subject(s) for students not meeting the equivalent standard of the Undergraduate Degree LCR.
More information can be found here.
61
Scheme Leader
Gerhard Bruyns
BSc (Arch) MSc Urbanism TUD, PhD TUD
Programme Leader
Jaehyun Jaden Park
PhD in Management, Case Western Reserve University, USA
Applicants with an Associate Degree OR a Higher Diploma in Service Design/Design Studies, Social Sciences, Technology or related disciplines (e.g. Business Studies) from a recognised institution.
For further programme information, please contact:
The General Office
Tel: 2766 5488; email: nicola.yau@polyu.edu.hk
Tel: 2766 4353; email: jennifer.lo@polyu.edu.hk
Required
Copies of public examination result slip(s) demonstrating applicants' English language proficiency, e.g. HKDSE, HKALE, HKCEE, IELTS, TOFEL, etc. (for reference only)
To understand the attitude and potential of the applicants for the programme; To ascertain whether their expectations match what the programme/career path can provide; and To evaluate their learning commitment and their language, communication and interpersonal skills.
10-15 minutes
