After months of planning, Monday 8th December saw over 30 service design leaders attend the first official ‘in-person’ meeting of the Service Design Forum in London. A cake was cut to celebrate a year since the birth of the forum.

Forum founders Jonathan Hunsley, Pip Hall, Colleen Henderson, Jo Frances, Bruce Prendergast, Nikita Nagpal, and Christine Houghton saw the need for a community for service design thought leaders who represent, practise and lead the service design profession.

The day’s workshops and lightning talks included looking at the current state of the service design profession, opportunities for using AI and how to increase resilience amongst service designers:

• Harnessing Service Designer Resilience, through Storytelling, Strengths, and Strategies - Corrine Thomas and Jo Frances
• State of the (Service Design) Nation - Pip Hall and Stuart Mullinger
• Shu Ha Ri – Bruce Prendergast
• AI for Analysis & Delivery – Nikita Nagpal

The day was a great success, with the following just some of the feedback from attendees:

“Today I had the pleasure of joining a community of service designers who represent the profession. We talked everything... from resilience, to the 3 stages of 'shu ha ri', to the value of service design, tools and techniques and the numerous career paths that led us here, plus a sneak-peak at the exciting AI opportunities ahead! 
I'm looking forward to actively helping shape this community, learning more and raising the profile of SD!”

“I’m still buzzing with energy from the conversations, ideas, and inspiration that filled the room.”

“The event brought together an incredible mix of practitioners who are passionate about designing services that truly work for the people who use them. From exploring challenges in our respective organisations to sharing practical tools and fresh viewpoints, it was an enriching day that left me with plenty to reflect on—and lots of new ideas to try.” 

“I am already excited for future gatherings and continued conversations in this space.” 

The forum closed with a summary and thanks from Jonathan Hunsley and Colleen Henderson – with conversation continuing (for some) in a local pub afterwards.

With thanks to David Palzeaird (‘official’ photographer for the day), and for excellent hosting Nikita Nagpal, John Sidhu and Craig Murdoch in the ‘Glue Reply’ offices.