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Adapting to change

The Service Design Days 2018 focused on 'Adapting to change'. Change is here to stay. A growing number of new service concepts are entering traditional markets. Customers are more demanding and their needs and habits change rapidly. Climate change and scarce natural resources are heavily impacting the daily life of individuals, businesses and societies. And new technologies require different skills from employees.

So, organisations and individuals cannot sit still, wait and see what is next. They all need to adapt constantly to these dynamic micro and macro environments. But, although human beings are used to change, we’re not experts in anticipating and coping with new situations. Employees are used to their way of working and to the processes inside their organisation.

Hierarchical layers and barriers in the value chain hamper close contact and personal interaction with customers and do not support a proactive, innovative culture. But to stay relevant organisations, of all sizes and sectors, must play the game.

So, how to adapt to change? How to listen, empathise and understand new human behaviour? Filter signals to respond to customers’ and users’ unarticulated needs? How to facilitate processes and make your company ready to address the challenges posed by the speed of change? And how to move innovation forward and make change happen? SDD2018 was all about challenging your organisation, your team and yourself, and getting ready for change.

The 2018 program

The Service Design Days 2018 offered interactive masterclasses, future-focused keynotes, and  insightful case talks. We introduced new program items such as round table sessions and lectures by professors at renowned universities from all over the world.

Each day around 300 enthusiastic attendees - strategic thinkers and doers - from over 30 different countries throughout the world shared their experiences with each other. Like in 2016 and 2017, over 90% of the audience rated the 2018 conference good to excellent.

A great line-up

At the Service Design Days 2018 a mixed group of international experts entered the stage. Their fields of expertise span across the entire range of disciplines under the Service Design umbrella and beyond.

These experts work at agencies and consultancies such as McKinsey, Forrester, Fjord, Continuum, DesignThinkers and Livework, and brands like IKEA, PepsiCo, Zalando, Spotify, Oracle NetSuite and N26.