The Role of Gamification in Service Design Thinking Workshops: Developing Service Design Capabilities

Maria Theresa Cabrita Matias Ramos Gelies

Key information

Authors:

Maria Theresa Cabrita Matias Ramos Gelies (Maria Theresa Cabrita Matias Ramos Gelies)

Supervisors:

RUI MIGUEL BEJA SARDO DE SOUSA PATRÍCIO (RUI MIGUEL BEJA SARDO DE SOUSA PATRÍCIO); Joana Serra da Luz Mendonça (Joana Serra da Luz Mendonça)

Published in

December 4, 2024

Abstract

Services have gained more importance in the global economy, with customers looking for unique user experiences. Service Design Thinking (SDT) has been earning attention in the design innovation space as an approach focused on the user, which allows the building of services more tailored to the final user’s needs. Simultaneously, gamification is being adopted to enhance and complement SDT approaches by improving goal setting, structure, and user engagement. However, the lack of studies to compare gamified and non-gamified approaches inhibits the understanding of gamification’s value added to SDT. This dissertation aims to understand the impact of gamification on service design capability development. Two groups were used to develop a real-world context SDT workshop: one followed a non-gamified design approach, and another followed a gamified design approach. Expert interviews were conducted to understand better the implications of gamified approaches for developing service design capabilities. This study results show that game-based approaches have the power to enhance specific service design capabilities related to building a logical framework, modelling the service concepts, creating empathy, and switching between abstract ideas and hands-on activities through their structure, game language, and tangible elements. However, results were unclear about other capabilities like fostering open problem-solving, engaging stakeholders, and vision building. This study contributes to the innovation management field by demonstrating how gamification can enhance service design capabilities, providing a structured and tangible approach to SDT that addresses challenges in task coordination and team dynamics, and offering actionable prepositions for using gamified tools in SDT workshops.