It really depends on where you are starting from. Service design has unique value propositions but also common inheritance with many other disciplines (design or not). Different strategies would apply to a student or a seasoned professional. My advice to students that realized early enough a calling towards service design is education. Find a good university course in Service Design, enrol, study and learn then apply your knowledge into internships, live projects and direct experience. If you are on a different education or career path you can just focus on the missing skills, update your value proposition and start working towards building your portfolio with Service Design projects. If you already practice design thinking, human-centered design, prototyping, visual design, coding or have business knowledge, customer service, user research background or other relevant skills you are more than capable to do a full switch towards service design. Try to find a local or online Service design community that you can join and learn from. You can also find a mentor to help you with your first steps. There are amazing books that you can purchase and mountains of guides from the best service design agencies in the world. In essence, the only thing you need is your desire to start.
About Dimitrios Stamatis
I am a designer of physical and digital products with a background in industrial design and visual communication. I have worked in design consultancies in London, China, and Greece. I strive to design products, services, and experiences that address pressing human needs by enabling change, challenging preconceptions and shifting paradigms. I like to prototype possibilities, simplify complexities and bring the future a little closer. I am fascinated by human behavior (mostly the irrational side) and I like to question a lot.