Design Canteen live podcasts

Podcast from the kitchen of Zlin Design Week that breaks down design to the core. I've been a live listener at all the festival podcast recordings prepared and moderated by Natalia Vencovská, recorded in Zlín building No.44 . I really enjoyed connecting information from different design disciplines and also enjoyed moderated discussions. The design of information services faces a number of challenges in the future that require a new approach to innovation. It is essential to focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, sustainability, inclusiveness and user well-being. The risks associated with over-reliance on technology and insufficient consideration of the human factor must be carefully managed. The future of design will belong to those who can combine creativity with logical thinking and the ability to collaborate across different disciplines. This is the main message from experts from different spheres of design and innovation for today, detailing the role of service design in particular in these three inspiring interviews for Design Canteen as part of Zlín Design Week 2024:

The role of designers in the times of uncertainty
Design KANTÝNA | Podcast on Spotify (English language)

During a discussion and recording of the Design Canteen podcast, international design and innovation experts addressed the key challenges facing the current and future direction of service design. The discussion focused on the role of designers in addressing global challenges such as sustainability, inclusive and innovation. Several important ideas and conclusions emerged from the moderated conversation, in agreement across experts from different countries.

Why does innovation in design need a new approach?

Design has long been seen as a tool for solving problems and improving people's lives. However, designers are now faced with new and increasingly complex challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach. Collaboration between designers, scientists and engineers is essential to achieve truly innovative solutions. This approach allows different perspectives to be combined to provide creative answers to complex problems.

Professor Mike Derycke from Erasmushogeschool Brussel in Belgium mentioned the importance of logical thinking and the ability to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts. This is particularly crucial in the context of digital services, where it is necessary to think about user experience, data security and ethical design considerations. So, not only is creative thinking important for future innovation, but also a deep understanding of the technology, the interconnections with processes and their implications. This is even more true in the future when using artificial intelligence - AI.

What is the recommended focus when designing future services?

One of the main topics of discussion among the experts was sustainability and how to incorporate it into everyday design practice. Eliška Knotková pointed out the importance of the product life cycle and the need to assess its environmental impact. In the field of information services, this could mean focusing on more efficient use of resources, minimising waste and promoting circular economies.

Another key area is inclusive design. As mentioned in the discussion, designers need to ensure that their designs are accessible to all user groups, including those with different abilities and limitations. This requires a deep understanding of users' needs and the ability to integrate these needs into the final product.

However, design innovation is not without risks. As experts point out, one of the biggest dangers is overconfidence in technological solutions that do not always take into account the human factor or the long-term impact on society. An emphasis on disruptive innovation can lead to unexpected problems if all the implications are not carefully considered and tested or monitored.

Another risk is the widening gap between digital and analogue approaches in design. It is essential to maintain a balance between these two worlds to avoid losing the practical skills that are often essential for truly innovative designs.

The future of design: Focusing on well-being and collaboration

One of the most interesting trends to emerge from the discussion is the focus on well-being and user health. Design can play a key role in addressing issues related to mental health, stress and quality of life. Valentina Landa Filipkova points out that design for well-being opens up a wide range of possibilities, from digital solutions to physical products.

Last but not least, the experts' discussion highlighted the importance of collaboration across different disciplines. Hybrid skills that combine knowledge from different fields are becoming increasingly important. In the future, designers will need to be able not only to create innovative products, but also to collaborate effectively with experts from other disciplines to face complex challenges on a global level.

Competition 'Best in Design' from the jurors' perspective
Design KANTÝNA | Podcast on Spotify (English language)

 The judges of the 15th edition of the Best in Design competition addressed not only the quality of the entries, but also broader issues that influence the current and future development of design. The jury of Matěj Malecha, Büro Famos, Branko Popovic,  and Janka Csernák discussed the importance of innovation, problem areas in design and risks that designers should focus on. Here is a link to Best in design projects all over the years included this year results.

Evaluation of student projects: How and why?

The jury of the Best in Design competition placed emphasis on several key criteria when evaluating the competition projects, reflecting current trends and challenges in design. Matěj Malecha, as one of the main judges, stressed that the evaluation was not only a question of aesthetic quality or technical execution, but above all the project's ability to respond to current social issues, its innovativeness and clarity of presentation.

1. Relevance to contemporary issues: One of the main criteria was the ability of the projects to reflect current societal issues such as sustainability, inclusiveness and mental health. Projects that were able to address these aspects and offer meaningful solutions were ranked highest. These criteria are particularly important in the context of service design, where proposals aim to improve the quality of life of users through thoughtful and effective services.

2. Innovation and originality: Innovation was another key aspect in the evaluation. The judges were looking for projects that went beyond conventional boundaries and brought new approaches to design. Innovation in design is not just about technical innovation, but also about the ability of designers to think differently, challenge established norms and offer creative solutions that can have a real impact.

3. Clarity and clarity of presentation: Here, even the best idea can lose value if it is not presented clearly and understandably. The evaluation therefore favoured projects that had a well-structured presentation that clearly communicated the purpose, value and benefit of the proposed solution. This criterion is particularly crucial in service design, where it is necessary to effectively communicate how the service works and how it benefits the user.

4. Linking theory with practice: According to the jury, many projects suffered from a lack of real-world testing or the absence of physical prototypes, which is particularly problematic in service design, where real-world testing is crucial to the success of a project.

Why is innovation in design key for the future?

Innovation in design is essential for solving the increasingly complex problems facing not only society today, but also individual design sectors.They should not be an end in themselves, but reflect real user needs and respond to current challenges such as sustainability, inclusivity and rapidly evolving technologies.

Particularly in the field of service design, which is a relatively young discipline, it is important to focus on a systems approach that can effectively address complex service design problems. It is also about being able to understand the wider context and implications that these services can have on society.

What is the focus for future service design development?One of the key points for the future is the need for a thorough understanding and proper application of artificial intelligence (AI) in design.Many students and educators do not yet fully understand the potential of AI, which can lead to its superficial or inappropriate use.In service design, AI is a tool that can bring significant improvements, for example in personalising services or optimising user experience, if applied correctly.

Another key aspect, is linking theory to practice. Many designs, especially in product and industrial design, still rely on visualizations and digital models without proceeding to physical prototyping.However, in the context of service design, it is essential to test designs in the real world to ensure that they meet user requirements and needs.

According to the jury, many young designers rely too much on social media and do not take full advantage of the opportunities offered by comprehensive and professionally prepared applications. This lack can negatively affect their chances of success.

Innovative practices such as upcycling in fashion design can be difficult to compare with research-intensive projects in other fields.In service design, a similar problem can arise when evaluating projects with varying degrees of application of theory and practice, which places high demands on the jury in assessing their value.

The future of service design appears promising but challenging to the discussing experts.Innovation will be key to addressing current and future challenges, and it is important to ensure that new technologies are properly understood and applied. They stress that clear presentation, linking theory to practice and interdisciplinary collaboration will be crucial for success in this very dynamic field.Competitions such as Best in Design remain an important platform for supporting and developing young designers who will shape the future of design.

Using Service design in the digital transformation of public services
Design CANTEEN | Podcast on Spotify (Czech language)

The digital transformation of public services is nowadays important an increasing topic / issue, especially in the context of growing citizen expectations for the quality and accessibility of services provided by the state and local governments. In an interview for Design Kantýna, two experts, Veronika Quek, Chief Strategy Officer at Česko.Digital, and Roman Sellner Novotný, teacher and designer at KISK Masaryk University, focused on this topic. They discussed how design can contribute to better digitalization of public services and what challenges exist in this process. During the debate, I really appreciated the concrete examples and the way of thinking to denounce incremental innovations in this sphere that each of us as citizens has to deal with at some point.

The digital transformation of public services is a very complex process that requires more than just technological innovation. A key success factor is an emphasis on service design that incorporates user needs as well as system integration and the ability of public institutions to adapt to change. Inclusiveness and a focus on real outcomes for users are essential to create digital services that are truly useful and accessible to all groups. In the Czech Republic, we have 1.5 million digitally excluded and 1.4 million digitally vulnerable people. The excluded are those who do not have access to digital services at all. They are mostly people who are elderly or from weaker social groups. And the vulnerable are those who do not have the digital skills, for example, to get a job.

The importance of service design in the public sector

According to Veronika Quek, service design in the public sector is often limited to surface-level changes, such as changing the appearance of the user interface. However, true service design goes much deeper. It involves not only aesthetics and functionality, but also a thorough understanding of user needs and the ability to integrate those needs into a complex system that works effectively across multiple touchpoints. During the talk, she stressed the importance of distinguishing between user interface (UI) design, user experience (UX) design and system design, each of which plays a key role in service design.

The challenges of digital transformation in the public sector

Following on from this, Roman Sellner Novotny pointed out that one of the main challenges in digitising public services is the lack of user involvement in the design process. Public institutions often implement technological solutions without sufficient understanding of how these solutions will be used in practice and what the real motivations of users are, and which user groups use the services and which ones do not, because perhaps they cannot. This leads to situations where digital services exist but are not fully used because they do not meet the real needs of users.

Roman Sellner also mentioned the problem of rigid structures in public administration, which prevent rapid iteration and adaptation of services based on feedback. This problem is further complicated by the fact that public institutions often do not operate on the principle of evidence-based design, where decision-making is based on data and research.

Inclusiveness and accessibility

Veronika Quek further elaborated on the topic of digital inclusion, stating that in the Czech Republic there is less than a third of the population that is digitally excluded or at risk. Accessible digital services must be designed to include these groups, which requires not only technical solutions but also changes in access and communication by the state.

As a counterbalance, she cited specific examples from a foreign work placement in Singapore, where it was possible to improve communication of public services by improving the clarity and accessibility of digital services, for example by adapting the text on government websites to make everything more understandable to the general public and not written in bureaucratic heavy-handed language. The editing of texts and forms was created through user research - participants were given a green and a red marker to underline on paper incomprehensible and incomprehensible formulations and texts from the website. The result was then to edit the red underlined wording so that everything was 'green' at the end of the editing process. This design approach, focused on user needs and understanding, led to a reduced burden on customer support and increased user satisfaction. Furthermore, Veronika Quek said that there is no need to submit tax return forms to the office, the office simply calculates and writes the final tax balance for the overpayment or underpayment from the available data itself and the citizen does not have to deal with more besides the payment, which is an absolutely brilliant CX and UX solution in comparison to our reality of the Czech authorities, increasing also the credibility in the authorities.