This year, in the 10th year of our existence, it’s time for celebration! We are rounding up a decade of continuous evolution, leading to the launch of a bold new chapter under our new name: Beyond the Map, which highlights our mission to expand the boundaries of service design and brings together driven minds to tackle big challenges side by side, with the aim of achieving deeper, more lasting impact beyond the conference itself; creating a ripple of impact, insight, and innovation. Beyond the Map builds on the rich legacy of Service Design Days to bring together the changemakers of today and tomorrow. Rooted in a decade of thoughtful dialogue and bold experimentation, this event challenges designers to step beyond what they already know.
On October 8, 9 & 10, we will return to the heart of Barcelona, one of Europe’s most vibrant creative hubs. But this time, we’re not just returning — we’re reinventing. We are breaking boundaries and exploring uncharted territories in design and innovation; venturing beyond the grid on a transformative journey. We focus on making meaningful connections between challenges and solutions, priorities and impact, technology and people. In an increasingly complex world, success depends on how well we connect different perspectives, disciplines, and moments along the way.
How do we bridge the gap between customer needs and business goals? How do we link short-term decisions with long-term impact? How can we use technology to support, rather than dictate, human-centred solutions? How do we ensure that what we measure truly reflects the experiences that shape people’s choices? How do we actually lead positive change, today and into the future?
By taking an outside-in approach and understanding relationships between people, systems, and decisions, we can design solutions that don’t just fix individual problems but create seamless, relevant experiences over time. When we empathise with others, we see patterns, uncover frictions, and align priorities to create lasting value.
Join us in Barcelona for talks, workshops and discussions that help connect the dots; turning fragmented efforts into cohesive strategies, and ideas into action. As part of Barcelona Design Week 2025, this milestone edition will be an unmissable experience. Keep an eye on this website or register now on our new conference website!
In 2024 we continued focusing on designing a better future for all. Designers and other creative thinkers possess a unique mindset and toolkit to empathise, pinpoint pain points, connect the dots, tell the story, visualise future scenarios and contribute to positive transformation by designing valuable products and services for people and the planet. We should feel a responsibility to restore and regenerate, to change our game, and contribute to a more promising tomorrow. It’s time for us, designers, to act and get out of our comfort zones; the future really needs us now.
We want to keep the spotlight on this topic, as we believe much needs and can be done to improve upon this urgent issue. And the best way to do so, with as many perspectives as possible, is by letting the discussion take place both online and physically on all continents. Today it's all about putting ideas into action. We cannot sit still anymore. We can dream about what the world could be, but we need to be activists and enablers of what the world should be.
To push ourselves beyond our limits and explore new possibilities, we are bringing this important topic to diverse communities. We hope to spark new perspectives and fresh ideas that will enrich our collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities we can create.
The 2023 host cities were: Milan, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Cardiff, Eindhoven and Nairobi. Read more here.
By hosting events in different parts of the world, we can learn from a wider range of experts and gain insights on how service design can be applied in different contexts for the long run. This will enrich the discussion and bring new views and insights to the table, ultimately leading to a powerful action plan on how to design for a better future. The 2024 host cities were: Nairobi, Buenos Aires and Eindhoven.
The Service Design Days conferences have been organised since 2016.
Previous editions have focused on how to ‘stay fit for the future’ (2016), ‘deliver value and be valuable’ (2017), ‘adapt to change’ (2018), ‘innovate for sustainable futures’ (2019), ‘a blended tomorrow - expanding design horizons with technology’ (2020), ’new perspectives - breaking out of the design bubble’ (2021), 'shifting the paradigm - tackle short-termism and create value for the long run’ (2022, 2023) and 'Embracing change, leading purposefully, shaping tomorrrow's landscape' (2024).
As people’s needs and demands evolve, it is becoming more difficult for organisations to live up to the expectations of their customers, their employees, and society as a whole. Coping with continuous change, solving problems, and staying valuable are permanent challenges. A mixed group of international experts has addressed these challenges. Their fields of expertise span across the entire range of disciplines under the Service Design umbrella and far beyond.
Watch a video impression below and read more about the past editions.
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The Service Design Days conference is part of the Service Design College. Connect with design-driven innovators, service designers and other design thinkers & doers at our online Campus.
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