ALICE MALCOLM

Dundee is a prominent forerunner in the evolution of service design. With this exciting new field on our doorstep, we have noticed that many students in the art school wish to learn about this area in greater depth. At Just Dandy, in collaboration with Rodney Mountain, we have come up with an idea to make service design accessible to those who have an interest in getting involved in the movement.

 

Our aim is to start up a service design hub in the art school, which students can drop into in order to learn more about it, gain a network of relevant, inspirational people involved in the area. For anyone who’s attention has been caught by service design we are giving the opportunity to gain some valuable work experience through us by volunteering on projects.

 

It is useful for students to get a taste of the work they are interested in before they graduate university, giving them an idea of what sort of area they could be interested in when they leave. Many of the skills learned at university are transferrable, even into sectors outside of the creative. Gaining experience in service design not only shows you that you don’t have to be pigeonholed within your field of study, but also gives you the opportunity to appreciate that the skills you have can make a proactive difference in people’s lives rather than just in their pockets.

 

Dundee is full of charities and small businesses that would welcome a student’s creative input and enthusiasm, by working closely with charities and businesses such as these, it gives the student the opportunity to see first hand the positive impact they can make on a city through service design, and the wide scope of projects that are available to them.

 

The hub will also benefit us as a company. Hiring students on a volunteer basis keeps the costs down on projects, allowing us to take more on at any one time. As we are overseeing the work, it also gives us the opportunity to scout the volunteers for any shining students that we could take on as a graduate. Minimising the brain drain and keeping talented people with an aptitude for helping people within the walls of the city, ensuring that the students can implement what they’ve learned at university in proactive and valuable way.

 

As part of the service design hub, we have come up with the idea of creating a manual; a step by step ‘how-to’ guide, introducing the novice service designer into what they can expect from service design, giving a brief overview of some of the options that are open to them while going down this route and examples of already implemented service design projects that have made a positive change on people’s lives.