Public Foundations of Service Design

This chapter looks into the developments of service design in the public sector. It shows how Service Design emerged and continues to evolve in Australia, where the practices involving the design of services are deeply rooted in human-centred design principles and where these practices have begun to influence many areas of government, ranging from public management to social policies. For researchers of Service Design, the Australian efforts present an opportunity to situate the design of services theoretically and practically in an area, where the development of services is not an option but a mandate, where services do not affect a select target market but thousands, if not millions of people. This chapter looks into the role and challenges of the Australian Service Delivery Reform in re-envisioning the ways in which the Australian government goes about developing products and services for Australian citizens and residents. It points to the need for Service Design to position itself in the public contexts of policy-making and policy implementation and to understand its role in contributing to social justice, social inclusion and social coherence.