The transformative role of service design – a case study of a public library

Abstract

Using a wider context of a growing role of service design (SD) in different change processes, the aim of this article is to explore the transformative role of service design on two levels: organizational and societal. We investigated a transformation process of a public sector organization – a public library, showing how service design can be a vehicle of organizational and societal changes. We were able to map 3 cycles of transition that have been gradually expanding the visions, theories of change, mindsets, and new ways of designing in the organization, helping to achieve more and more agency in transforming, first the organization, and then local community. The article contributes to the growing body of knowledge connecting design with change. It also creates a more in-depth understanding of how SD can become a vehicle for transformation in a public sector organization.