Master of Design (Smart Service Design) (SSD)
Hung Hom, Hong Kong
DURATION
1 up to 3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
HKD 223,200 / per course
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Introduction
The Master of Design (Smart Service Design) (SSD) is an interdisciplinary specialism focusing on designing at the intersection of business, technology, and human ingenuity to create meaningful service interventions for broader societal and business challenges. This specialism expands the scope of design beyond the current commercialized and compartmentalized professional practices by orienting it towards the "socio-technical dimension of design" with a critical, systemic, and human-centered perspective within the context of service.
The specialism is designed to nurture students and develop their theoretical and practical knowledge of service design. SSD fosters the extension of students' abilities through a deep understanding of the technological, commercial, societal, and organizational contexts, presenting the transformation of design opportunities into new and sustainable service experiences.
Aims
The aims of this specialism are:
- To deepen the understanding of end-to-end service journeys and design service ecosystems across multiple services;
- To identify how the centrality of users' needs and interests of different groups of stakeholders in the human-centered design process is complemented in business and organization in the broader service industry, and apply the same in practice;
- To develop and apply service design to a range of business, societal, and environmental challenges through studios, collaboration with stakeholders, partners, and experts across multiple disciplines, and using service design at a strategic, operational, and systems level; and
- To accelerate new service design practices and ways of systems thinking to advance skill sets and practices for service innovation.
Objectives
PolyU is the first university in Hong Kong that offers both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in service design education in response to the rapidly increasing global demands for service. The focus of Smart Service Design is beyond the scope of user experience design, information design, product design, or any other single output of design application; rather, it focuses on a broad design spectrum that integrates design, business, technology, and human needs to create service solutions of tomorrow and bring new value to the service industry and society at large.
Through advanced service design methodologies, SSD offers a unique interdisciplinary educational environment that meets diverse learning needs and provides students with opportunities to reshape their design practices. This specialism offers students the to work and involve themselves in the creation of transformations and evaluations of service products and content across both digital and offline channels through lectures, studio learning, workshops, and their industry research projects.
Our graduates will be equipped with the necessary professional skills to meet the demands of careers in the service industry. They will play different roles not only in conventional design-related professions but also in management and strategy in various service sectors, such as consumer electronics, mobility, healthcare, tourism and hospitality, finance, public service, and so on.
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Fellowships for Local Students
This specialism under Master of Design is an eligible program of the Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme (the Fellowship Scheme) in the 2024/25 academic year. MDes Scheme has been allocated 26 fellowship places. Each fellowship subsidizes HK$120,000 of the program tuition. Details about the Fellowship Scheme are available on the University Grants Committee (UGC) website. For information on eligibility, assessment criteria, and application procedure, visit PolyU eProspectus. Local applicants are expected to be informed of their MDes admission and Fellowship application results simultaneously.
PolyU reserves the right to change or withdraw the fellowships/ scholarships at any time. In case of any dispute/ disagreement, PolyU’s decision is final.
Financial Aid
Extended Non-means-tested Loan Scheme (ENLS), administered by the Student Finance Office (SFO) of the HK Government, offers interest-bearing loans to eligible residents (who have the right of abode in Hong Kong or have resided or have had their homes in Hong Kong continuously for three complete years before the commencement of the program) to settle tuition fees. For details of the scheme, eligibility, and application, please refer to SFO's official website.
Curriculum
The programme begins with subjects that offer foundational knowledge of service design and advanced research skills through a combination of lectures, studios and multidisciplinary project collaboration.
The programme is followed by subjects that provide a detailed and analytical perspective on the latest socio-technical developments that have an impact on the service economy. The Studios and Lab Studies subjects articulate diverse perspectives on service factors and service design approaches that students can use to evaluate, transform and create future services in the service sector.
The final stage of the study is where knowledge, skills and practice integrate through either a self-directed or an industry-sponsored project in each student's area of interest. A Capstone Project, which is a significant and integrative final service project, synthesises students' learning in a real-world setting.
To receive the award of Master of Design, students must successfully attain a total of 36 credits from the following subject categories: Compulsory Common subjects for 6 credits, Compulsory Specialism subjects for 15 credits, Elective subjects for 15 credits (12 credits from Elective Pool A and 3 credits from Elective Pool B).
Compulsory Common subjects (6 credits)
- SD5008 Research and Analysis for Design (3)
- SD5009 Research and Academic Writing (3)
Compulsory Specialism subjects (15 credits)
Specialism Major subjects
- SD5412 Advanced Service Design Methods and Tools (3) or
- SD5413 Socio-technical Service Ecosystem (3) or
- SD5414 Systemic Innovation and Designing Future Services (3)
Lab Studies subjects
- SD5432 Lab Studies in Data Driven Service Design (3)
Specialism Studio / Project subjects
- SD5438 SSD Specialism Studio (3)
- SD5439 SSD Capstone Research Project (6)
Elective subjects
Elective Pool A (12 credits)
Foundation subjects
- SD5114^Design Methods (Advanced) (3)
- SD5115 Design Project Management (3)
- SD5116 Design for Transformation (3)
- SD5511 UX Design Fundamentals (3)
- SD5512 Prototyping and Scripting (3)
- SD5411 Designing Services (3)
- SD5711 Design for the Biosphere (3)
- SD5712 Design for Change (3)
- SD5713 Design Systems Thinking (3)
Specialism Major subjects
- SD5117^Innovate with Lifestyle and Culture (3)
- SD5513 Theories in Interaction Design (3)
- SD5514#Advanced Visualisation and Interaction (3)
- SD5412 Advanced Service Design Methods and Tools (3)
- SD5413 Socio-Technical Service Ecosystem (3)
- SD5414 Systemic Innovation and Designing Future Services (3)
- SD5716 Regenerative Ecosystems Design (3)
- SD5717 Territories, Societies, and Spatial Complexes (3)
Elective Pool B (3 credits)
Interdisciplinary Studio / Project subjects
- SD5131^Interdisciplinary Project (3)
- SD5431 Interdisciplinary Studio (3)
- SD5731 Regenerative Environments Design (3)
Lab Studies subjects
- SD5132 Lab Studies in Human Cyber-Physical Systems (3)
- SD5531 Lab Studies in Systems Design (3)
- SD5532# Lab Studies in Intelligent Systems Construction (3)
- SD5432 Lab Studies in Data-Driven Service Design (3)
- SD5732 Lab Studies in Applied Technologies for Territorial Design (3)
Remarks:
# denotes subject containing pre-requisite requirement.
^ denotes subject containing co-requisite requirement.
ng co-requisite requirement.
Program Outcome
Objectives
PolyU is the first university in Hong Kong to offer both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in service design education, a move made in response to the rapidly increasing global demands for service design. The focus of Smart Service Design (SSD) goes beyond user experience design, information design, product design, or any other single output of design applications. Rather, SSD focuses on a broad design spectrum that integrates design, business, technology, and human needs to create service solutions for tomorrow and to bring new value to the service industry and society at large.
Through advanced service design methodologies, SSD offers a unique interdisciplinary educational environment that meets diverse learning needs and provides students with opportunities to reshape their design practices. Through lectures, studio learning, workshops, and industry research projects, this specialism enables students to be involved in creating, transforming, and evaluating service products and content in both digital and offline channels.
Our graduates are equipped with the necessary professional skills to meet the demands of careers in the service industry. They play various roles not only in conventional design-related professions but also in management and strategy in various service sectors, such as consumer electronics, mobility, healthcare, tourism and hospitality, finance, and public service.
Program Tuition Fee
Program Leaders
Program delivery
Full-time and part-time students follow the same timetable and attend classes together. Classes are normally held during the day on weekdays.
For full-time students, the normal duration of the programme is 1 year; for part-time students, it is 3 years. One academic year contains three semesters (including the Summer Term). A full-time study load is 36 credits in a year, and a part-time study load is 6–9 credits in a compulsory semester (Semesters 1 and 2).