Conference article

Imagineering as Complexity-Inspired Method for Transformative Service Design

Diane Nijs
NHTV University of Applied Sciences Breda, The Netherlands

Ir. Jo Van Engelen
NHTV University of Applied Sciences Breda, The Netherlands

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Published in: ServDes.2014 Service Future; Proceedings of the fourth Service Design and Service Innovation Conference; Lancaster University; United Kingdom; 9-11 April 2014

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 99:18, p. 184-193

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Published: 2014-06-25

ISBN: 978-91-7519-280-2

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

Service design is increasingly oriented toward transformative aims and practices in organizations. With this evolution; service design is entering the fields of organizational studies and social change with high responsibility and sometimes little background knowledge of their respective theories; principles and their recent evolution. Particularly in the field of change and transformation; the recent evolution of theoretical insights and perspectives of organizational science are significant as the move towards complexity science is gaining academic acceptance and starts to be embraced in practice. This article presents Imagineering as a complexity-inspired design approach to realize transformational objectives; and it illustrates the method with the case study of the transformation of the enterprise logic in the city of Antwerp. The paper concludes by reflecting on the eventual implications and perspectives of the method for the practice of service design as transformational design and for design thinking in management in general.

Keywords

Service design; Organizational transformation; Emergence; Complexity; Imagineering

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