Refashioning Service Design - Designing for popular cultural service experiences

In my PhD, Refashioning Service Design, my work explores how meaning is shaped within service ecosystems through the lens of popular culture. Using a research-through-design approach, I’ve collaborated with lifestyle brands within food and fashion to investigate how the service designer can use visually rich and expressive design methods to translate cultural signals into new service opportunities.

A key outcome is the Trendslation framwork, which transforms cultural trends into innovative service concepts through a structured semantic process. The thesis also introduces the experience-centric service journey, a visual tool for mapping meaning across touchpoints to maintain coherence and depth over time.

Overall, it positions the service designer as a cultural intermediary; someone who encodes services with symbolic value that resonates with contemporary life and evolving cultural narratives.