89040 Design for Services: Enabling Relations

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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

Description

Services are regularised interactions between people from which both parties benefit, though not always toward the same end – the recipient gets help with something they need to do, whereas the provider might just be earning a livelihood. Service interactions are most valuable when they enable people to relate to each other as people and not just functional roles, even though their interests may not be directly aligned. This subject explores ways of designing the conditions through which services can be enacted as more equitable relations between people. Counter-intuitively, this two-way freedom allows services to be more predictable. The focus is on understanding services as co-ordinated sets of promises. The subject ends by exploring the wider value services provide beyond for those directly involved in the service interaction. Students explore concepts through applied research exercises, observing a diverse range of service relations around them.