Bringing Design to Services Science Shelley Evenson, Stefan Holmlid, Cheryl Kieliszewski and Birgit Mager Abstract. Design methodologies and principles have long been used by companies in product development. Innovations through design have resulted in more effective production, improved delivery of products, and the creation of more desirable products. We foresee a similar future for services, where service design will become an integral part of service innovation and development. Service design practice helps an organization understand where an offering idea resides in the organization's product- service ecology, how it can shift in the space, and how to make it desirable and sought after because it delivers value and meets a need. However, service design is still in its infancy and there is much to be explored. This paper proposes a definition for service design, provides an overview of service design practice, and discusses research challenges for service design and services science. Topics addressed include the need to (1) bring an understanding of the design objects of service and develop design methods that make human-centered service design possible, (2) bring an understanding of the variation among service cultures for the international marketplace, and (3) develop clear specification and design languages for designers to use in services research, service interface co-production and implementation. Introduction In the early stages of the industrial age, individual or regional manufacturers drove product design and development. Over time, as markets began to mature, a demand for more rigorous methods and systematic design grew. Since the 1940s, design has strongly contributed to economic success through the focus of desirability and, more recently, of usability and usefulness. Innovations arising from product design methods and engineering have contributed to more effective production and improved product delivery. However, the same can not necessarily be said about service delivery. Although investments in research, design and development are an integral part of nearly every industry, services have not been object to the same systematic approach. In general, if investments were made in service, the focus has been on marketing activities versus service research, design and development efforts. The growing economic influence of the service sector in the last three decades has brought new scrutiny to this deficit in the world of service. Services today are moving from manufactured to industrialized solutions and the need for design methodologies and principles is obvious. (1) We see a future when service design will become a central function of every organization’s service innovation and implementation efforts. This will happen when the theoretical framework and methodologies of service design and successful service design practice become an integral part of the field of service science.