Service Innovation & Design

  • Hey, we are designing!

    The simplest things we do and all everyday items we use are made as they are by design.  We all contribute – sometimes unconsciously – to the outcome which is designed. Hands up, if you have thought about decorating your home or if you have done it to some point? Yes, at least some of…

  • Planning on developing a new digital service? Designing for the Digital Age may just be the handbook you are looking for

    Thousands and thousands of new digital services are developed each day, by well-known design agencies, by new start-ups as well as by individual designers or developers in different organizations, projects and associations.  Everyone on these aims to design services that are “easy to use”, “attractive” and “appealing”. However, it is rare to have a comprehensive…

  • Design Meets Business

    Posted by Juho Hyvärinen I had an honor to participate in a design seminar in Helsinki City Hall on Thursday 18.11. Although having lived my whole life in Helsinki I think this was the first time I actually visited the city hall inside. The surroundings were grand and in my opinion proper setting for afternoon…

  • Doctoral Dissertation of Anna Salonen

    Posted by Juho Hyvärinen I had an honor of participating in Doctoral Dissertation of Anna Salonen in wonderful settings of Runeberginkatu 22-24. The title of dissertation was “Essays on globalization and evolving competitive strategies of Finnish MNEs: Transitioning from products to services and solutions”. As opponents were Professor, PhD Kazuhiro Asakawa from Keio University and…

  • Book Review: New Service Development: Creating Memorable Experiences (Fitzsimmons J.A. & Fitzsimmons M.J., 2000, Thousand Oak, Sage)

    I pass by specialized coffee shop daily when going to lunch. Well, I don’t just pass by. It is the place for me to enjoy quality coffee, good service and relax before heading back to the office. It is my sanctuary which I have managed to fit to my daily routines. It just has something…

  • Service Design Network Finland founded

    Laurea University of Applied Sciences took the initiative in establishing the Finnish Chapter for Service Design Network on Oct. 23, 2012. Laurea strengthens thus its forerunner position in developing the Finnish service business. The objectives of the SDN Finland are to: spread knowledge about service design , its benefits and opportunities in Finland support the creation…

  • Strategic Roadmap for Startups

    by Abdalla, Man, Markus, Juha and Theodros The term “Service economy” has changed the mindsets of companies’ strategic thinking in the 21st century. It reflects from the fact that in industrialized economies, manufacturers are focusing more and more on add-on services when trying to defend their business against the continuously growing service sector. Market is…

  • Are you a Designer?

    How many of you consider yourself as a designer? This was one of the first questions we were asked in our service design workshop at Lahti University of Applied Sciences on October 9th 2012. Probably you can guess the answer, roughly half of the participants raised their hands. Then it was time to wake people a…

  • Takeoff into Design Thinking

    There is an ever growing list of definitions for design. Some people agree with Nelson & Stolterman who’ve said that “Design is the ability to imagine that-which-does-not-yet-exist, to make it appear in concrete form as a new, purposeful addition to the real world (The Design Way)” whereas others prefer Tim Brown’s version: ”Design thinking is a discipline…

  • Competing with Business Models

    “If you are not thinking about business models, you are an irresponsible leader.” Co-author of Business Model Generation (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) Alexander Osterwalder challenged Finnish business experts in Business Model Innovation Seminar in Helsinki 6th of November 2012.  He stated business models makes organizations thrive or die. “We will have more industries where companies…