Service Design Network

What happens when service design moves into the boardroom?

We’re excited to welcome Monica Dalla Riva, Senior Vice President and Chief Design Officer at Deutsche Telekom, as a keynote speaker at hashtag . 🎤

Drawing on her experience, Monica will share practical lessons on leading design organizations, connecting design, engineering, and business, and creating influence at the executive level.

Join us this October in Wiesbaden and hear Monica’s perspective on bringing service design closer to business decisions and organizational transformation.

🎟️ Get your hashtag ticket: https://zurl.co/y6Q1g

💭 Zum ersten Mal geht der Titel World Design Capital nach Deutschland. Thema: Demokratie. Warum dieses Thema?

🌟 SDN Community Voices | SDGC26 Special nº006 Was kann Design für Demokratie? 🇩🇪 auf Deutsch
🌐 Untertitel & Übersetzung auf YouTube zuschaltbar

Frankfurt RheinMain ist 2026 World Design Capital – als erste Region in Deutschland. Motto: „Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life". Zehn Handlungsfelder, ein Programm aus einem offenen Call. Im Oktober kommt die SDGC26 nach Wiesbaden, mitten hinein.

Worüber wir sprechen:
✨ Wie kam die Region zu diesem Titel?
✨ Was steckt hinter dem Motto?
✨ Wo begegnet Service Design dem Programm?
✨ Was soll über 2026 hinaus bleiben?

🎙️Gäste: Dr. Felix Kosok (Felix Kosok),Lead Design Discourse, World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026 (DDC Deutscher Design Club e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -forschung (DGTF)) und
Barbara Lersch, Chief Programme Officer, World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026.

🎙️ Moderation: Genevieve Brechel – gensuniverse Senior Service & Experience Design Consultant, CX Researcherin & Facilitatorin – GB | Genevieve Brechel Consultancy SDN Ambassador · Community Lead bei Service Design Drinks Berlin · Gründerin von KREATIV UNTAPPED

📅 Fr 28. August
⏰ 12:00 CEST | 06:00 EDT | 18:00 AWST
📺 Live auf LinkedIn & YouTube
LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/diddjyjh
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/4Nzu_QVFbBs?si=EbaQ7FRwDicgGTOx

💬 Bringt eure Fragen mit – wir nehmen sie live (Link in Bio)
🎟 SDGC26-Tickets über den Link in Bio

Get to know the Service Design Network Academy Masterclasses Series.

The SDN Masterclass Series is an 8-week journey into practice, taught by expert trainers and designed to deepen your skills through a series of focused modules.

Curious about the program? Here’s a closer look at:

🙋 Who is the Masterclasses Series for?
🧩 How do we learn?
📚 What does the module structure look like?

📅 11 September – 23 November 2026

Register today — seats are limited.

Explore the full program and meet the trainers: https://www.sdn-academy.org/masterclasses-series-autumn-2026

💭 Does the public sector need better services or a new operating system?

In our latest SDN Community Voices SDGC26 Special nº004 | The Public Sector’s Next Operating System, six practitioners working across government, policy, civic design, consultancy and community practice challenged some of the assumptions shaping public services today.

⚙️ Are we redesigning services or digitising old systems and teaching people to cope?

🧪 Why do pilots succeed while lasting change disappears?

🧠 If systems change takes decades, are we measuring design impact the wrong way?

🤝 And is human-centred design still enough?

Here are a few ideas and quotes from the conversation that stayed with us. 👆

🎥 Rewatch The Public Sector’s Next Operating System

🔗 LinkedIn: https://zurl.co/TR3Vn
🔗YouTube: https://zurl.co/ILxoV

💬 What would you KEEP, DELETE or INSTALL?

Every great journey starts with a strong connection! ✈️🌍

We are incredibly proud to announce Fraport, Frankfurt Airport as an official sponsor for SDGC26 and the host of our Exclusive Opening Event!

As one of Europe’s leading aviation hubs, Frankfurt Airport places a seamless and enjoyable passenger journey at the heart of its customer experience strategy. With intuitive wayfinding, efficient digital processes, and comfortable, human-centered spaces, every touchpoint is designed to make travel easier, more convenient, and more memorable.

As our partners at Fraport shared: "We are proud to be part of this network and look forward to collaborating with fellow partners to drive innovation and shape the future of passenger experience together."

🥂 Join us at the Exclusive Opening Event!
Please note: This special kickoff celebration is a members-only event.

Not an SDN member yet?
No problem! You can easily purchase your Service Design Network membership as an add-on for a special rate of €120 directly via the SDGC26 website when securing your conference ticket.

🔗 Grab your ticket, add on your membership, and join us for an unforgettable opening night in Frankfurt RheinMain: https://zurl.co/5cquX

Last call! Your brilliant project deserves its moment in the spotlight.✨

There’s still a little time to polish your story, showcase your impact and enter the Service Design Award 2026.

⏰ Submissions close tomorrow, August 21 at 23:59 CEST.

This is your final chance—submit today https://zurl.co/tf3BW

What does it take to apply design in an increasingly complex world? 🌍✨

We are deeply honored to announce Cecilia Brenner, Managing Director of Design for Good, as a Keynote Speaker for Service Design Global Conference 2026.

With over 25 years of design leadership focused on health, wellbeing, and innovation, Cecilia is a passionate advocate for life-centred design. Through her work at Design for Good — a global alliance dedicated to the UN SDGs — she has mobilized thousands of creatives to co-design alongside NGOs and communities worldwide, creating lasting, measurable impact.

In her keynote, Cecilia will share real-world stories from across the alliance, reflecting on how designers can collaborate across organisational, disciplinary, and sector boundaries. Her session will challenge us to address today’s most pressing social and environmental issues, creating the conditions for meaningful and lasting change for people and the planet.

Explore the full Conference Program and secure your ticket to join us in Frankfurt RheinMain this October 28–30: https://zurl.co/E8gh2

🌟 Meet our SDN Community Voices SDGC26 Special guests: Adam StJohn Lawrence and Maria Wan on Service Design Takes the Stage 🌟


Two practitioners. Different journeys. One unusual intersection between design, facilitation, play and performance.

And perhaps a question worth carrying into our own practice:

Are we designing services for the audience… or stepping onto the stage to experience them?

Drop your question in the chat and join us LIVE 🙌

This may be one of our more unexpected Community Voices pairings.

Adam StJohn Lawrence, transformation and design educator, Partner at WorkPlayExperience, co-author of the bestselling This is Service Design Doing, and This is Service Design Methods, co-initiator of the GlobalJams, educator, facilitator… and, unusually for a service designer, a comedian and director.

Maria Wan is a Team Lead and Business Designer at Eficode in Finland, working at the intersection of business, design and organisational change.

Put those perspectives together, and an interesting question emerges: 
What can performance arts teach us about becoming better service designers?

Service designers don’t only need to become better researchers or strategists.
Perhaps we also need to become better performers, directors, ensemble members and audiences.

📺 Live on SDN’s LinkedIn & YouTube. Link in bio
📅 Friday, August 21, 2026

⏰ 13:00 CEST | 07:00 EST | 19:00 AWST

🎙️ Hosted by Sudeshna Mahata (Sudeshna Mahata | Ecosystem Builder), SDN Ambassador Program Lead & Lead Community Voices Host

Get your SDGC26 tickets and membership today.

This year, we are hosting SDGC at World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026 (World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026) in collaboration with the World Design Organisation.

💬 What could theatre teach YOUR service design practice?



Like, Share, and Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

💭 How do we balance AI's speed with the complexity of human decision-making?

🌟 Highlights from our SDN Community Voices | Contextual Guardrails & Insights: AI in Organizational Pathfinding featuring Saxena 🌟

Extracting actionable signals from stakeholder research requires more than throwing raw transcripts into a prompt. In this insightful session, Siddhartha Saxena unpacked why effective AI integration relies on treating the designer as an information curator, designing input boundaries and contextual guardrails that protect the integrity of human research while accelerating organisational pathfinding.

🎙️ Hosted by Kumari, Lead Community Voices Host & Experience Designer

🎟 REWATCH the full Fireside Chat on 👇

🔗 LinkedIn: https://zurl.co/RzQsN

🔗 YouTube: https://zurl.co/PnLK4

🔗 More on Siddhartha's work: https://zurl.co/iw0Xu



Join us in our weekly series, where our community of innovators comes together to learn, share, inspire, and create.

Like, Share, and Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Good news, you have a little more time to shine! ✨

We’ve extended the Service Design Award 2026 deadline to August 21.

Polish your story. Showcase your impact. Upload the project that deserves international recognition. These extra days give you another chance to put your best work in front of our international jury—but the best time to submit remains today.

🏆 Be a winner, submit today!

Complete your entry: https://zurl.co/JWj8H

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