Course detail

Service Design Management

FP-SsdmPAcad. year: 2026/2027

The importance of services is constantly increasing and they are therefore often perceived as the driving force of today's advanced economies. The subject Service Design Management is focused on defining the importance of services in today's economy and the field of service design, including understanding the entire process, planning and management. Part of the teaching is a focus on the key activities of the design process, namely: research, ideation, prototyping and implementation. The teaching will be supplemented with case studies, team discussions, professional articles, and lectures with experts from practice.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

6

Assignment to study programme types

Master's

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Entry knowledge

Basic knowledge of marketing and management is assumed.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Student evaluation will take place both in the form of continuous verification of knowledge (elaboration of individual and team semester projects) and in the form of an exam. The final evaluation of the students will depend both on the level of the ongoing work of the students during the whole semester and on the results of the exam. The exam is oral.

The requirements for obtaining credit are as follows:

1. Individual project – at the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned a practical individual project.

2. Team project – at the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned a practical team project.

The requirements for obtaining credit for students with individual studies are as follows:

1. Individual project – at the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned a practical individual project.

2. A project that can be worked on individually or joined with the students of the course - at the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned a practical project.

The control of teaching will take place in the form of the development and presentation of an individual and team semester project and a subsequent exam. The exam is oral.

The attendance at lectures and seminars is not mandatory.

Aims

The aim of the subject is to provide students with basic knowledge in the field of service design, both in companies dealing with services as the main business activity, and in companies where services are provided as a supplement to the offer of tangible products.

This subject will develop the knowledge needed to understand the issue of service design in today's companies, both in the management of the companies themselves, where services are perceived as the main business activity (such as banks, hotels, hospitals), and also where services are provided as a supplement to the offer of material products.

The course reflects current trends, including aspects of accessibility and sustainability in design.

By completing the course, students will gain comprehensive knowledge of service design principles, Design Thinking methodology, and the phases of the service innovation cycle. They will understand the structure of organizational processes from both the customer experience (frontstage) and internal operations (backstage) perspectives and will be familiar with key metrics for assessing service quality and performance.
Students will be able to independently design and conduct user research, synthesize its findings, and translate them into personas and Customer Journey Maps. Based on identified user needs, they will be capable of creating a comprehensive Service Blueprint, designing innovative service concepts, and validating their viability using rapid prototyping and testing methods.

Study aids

All available teaching materials will be published for students in the e-learning platform.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

MIROSLAVA, Vaštíková. Marketing služeb-efektivně a moderně: 2., aktualizované a rozšířené vydání. Grada Publishing as, 2014.
STICKDORN, Marc, et al. This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2018.
STICKDORN, Marc, et al. This Is Service Design Methods: A Companion to This Is Service Design Doing. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2018.

Recommended reading

HAZDRA, Adam, et al. Skvělé služby: jak dělat služby, které vaše zákazníky nadchnou. 1. vyd. Praha: Grada, 2013, 160 s.
KALBACH, James. Mapping experiences: A complete guide to creating value through journeys, blueprints, and diagrams. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2016.
KAŇOVSKÁ, Lucie; TOMÁŠKOVÁ, Eva. Doprovodné služby-konkurenční výhoda? CERM, 2009.
LEWRICK, Michael; LINK, Patrick; LEIFER, Larry. The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Využití smart technologií ve službách průmyslových podniků. Brno: Akademické nakladatelství CERM, 2018. 146 s. ISBN: 978-80-7204-990-5.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme MGR-SRP Master's 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

The subject is taught in the form of lectures and exercises. The lectures have the character of explaining the basic principles of the given discipline, including practical application.

Lecture Syllabus (13 Weeks):

  1. Introduction to Service Design
  2. Definition of Service, Supplementary Services, and Smart Services
  3. The Importance of Services in Today's Economy
  4. User Research in Service Design
  5. User Modeling
  6. Customer Journey Mapping (CJM) and Service Blueprint
  7. Ideation and Value Proposition Design
  8. Service Prototyping and Simulation
  9. Concept Testing and Iteration
  10. Service Implementation
  11. Service Measurement (Quality and Customer Experience Metrics)
  12. Trends in Service Design
  13. Service Design in IT

Exercise

13 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

The exercise is focused on the practical mastery of the material discussed in the lectures.

Seminar Syllabus (13 Weeks):

  1. Term Project Assignment
  2. Research Plan Preparation
  3. Field Research and Data Collection
  4. Data Analysis and Synthesis
  5. Creation of Personas and Empathy Maps
  6. Current Customer Journey Mapping
  7. Ideation and Value Proposition
  8. Future Customer Journey Design
  9. Service Blueprint Creation
  10. Service Prototyping
  11. User Testing in Practice
  12. Iteration, Metrics, and Implementation Plan
  13. Project Presentations