self pacedUPSKILL

Service Design: Elevate

Pay-in-full online
from $3,150*(RRP $3,500)
From $67.31 per week

Elevate your career with end-to-end Service Design skills, so you can immediately design business systems and processes that support exceptional customer experiences.

*Save on our Elevate courses when you pay in full!

We’re launching a subscription model for all Elevate courses.

Academy Xi students now have the option to subscribe to our entire range of Elevate courses across all our portfolios for a monthly fee. Use this as a way to gain a wider digital skillset and give yourself an advantage as you compete for roles in the ever-changing employment landscape.

Our graduates are now the driving force behind some of Australia’s most innovative brands

Why choose this course?

No prerequisites or previous experience required

Launch your Service Design journey today, no matter what level of experience you have! Our beginner-friendly approach will help get you up to speed in no time.

Flexible and self-paced

With 6 months access, the speed at which you tackle online course content is up to you. Study at your own pace and fit learning into your busy lifestyle.

Created for Upskillers

Our Elevate courses help you boost your career with sought-after Service Design skills. Unlock higher salaries and job growth potential.

What your curriculum looks like

Upskill in Service Design within 6 months. You’ll work through interactive online course content at your own pace, and have the support of an industry mentor when you need it.

  • Module 1
  • Module 2
  • Module 3
  • Module 4
  • Module 5
  • Module 6
  • Module 7
  • Module 8
  • Module 9
  • Module 10

Module 1

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Intro to Service Design
Understand the basics of service design and its value in solving complex problems. Learn about the nuances that differentiate the closely aligned disciplines of Service Design, CX and UX.

  • What is Service Design?
  • Service Design minds
  • What Service Design is and isn’t
  • Value of Service Design
  • Perform desktop research for your project

Module 2

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Design brief and project scoping
Kick off your service design challenge that you’ll work on throughout the course. Question the brief and define the scope as the first step towards executing your project.

  • Introduction to your design challenge
  • Unpacking the brief
  • Reverse brief, Trend mapping, Stakeholder map

Module 3

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Planning and conducting research
Learn about the different types of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Plan and carry out field interviews to support your project.

  • Introduction to research techniques
  • Planning primary research 
  • Contextual inquiries and observations
  • Interview 3 people about your design problem
  • Gain insights on the problem space
  • Capture interview data

Module 4

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Making sense of data
Synthesise your research and derive data-driven insights about customer motivations, needs and opportunities. This stage helps you to empathise with the customer and people involved in the service.

  • Coding & organising data to find insights
  • Synthesising data using affinity maps
  • Defining & aligning on the problem(s)/opportunity
  • Mapping human needs: empathy maps, personas, archetypes and jobs-to-be-done
  • Mapping customer journeys

Module 5

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Creating a service blueprint
Understand how service blueprints can empower your organisation to optimise service processes. Get familiar with the elements of a service blueprint and use a blueprint template to put it in action.

  • Why blueprint
  • Strategic vs operational forces
  • Advanced synthesis & analysis frameworks
  • Prepare your current state Service Blueprint

Module 6

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Ideation, aligning & envisioning
Use ‘How Might We’ questions and creative matrices for ideation to step beyond the obvious and generate innovative potential solutions. Develop a service hypothesis and prepare a storyboard to communicate your vision.

  • Setting a service vision
  • Alignment through workshops
  • Ideation & inspiration
  • Service Design principles
  • Communicating ideas
  • Present your current state Service Blueprint
  • Prepare ‘How Might We’ questions
  • Crazy 8s & creative matrix
  • Concept cards & posters
  • Service hypothesis
  • Storyboarding

Module 7

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Prototyping
Bring your ideas to life and test their practicality with early and inexpensive prototypes. Learn about the different forms of prototypes and how to build them rapidly.

  • Introduction to prototyping
  • Types of prototyping
  • Rapid prototyping 
  • Role play
  • Communicating concepts
  • Value proposition

Module 8

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Testing and experimentation
Let your users experience the prototype. Build and validate hypotheses based on user feedback and prioritise features that add the most value.

  • Introduction to testing 
  • Testing methodologies
  • Some frameworks for testing
  • Usability testing
  • Ruthless prioritisation
  • Prepare a hypothesis test card
  • Create a test plan
  • Testing and prioritising

Module 9

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Roadmapping the future
Build a strategic roadmap for your service that includes a desirable, viable and feasible goal and the major steps or milestones needed to achieve it.

  • Introduction to roadmapping
  • Curating your own design process
  • Dealing with ambiguity
  • Revisiting project progress
  • Aligning to the DVF framework
  • Prepare your future-state Service Blueprint

Module 10

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Selling it
After finalising the future-state service blueprint, you’ll learn how to communicate your vision, get stakeholder-buy in and make it a reality.

  • Finalising the future blueprint
  • Developing a compelling narrative
  • Storytelling - value proposition and communication
  • Submit your presentation for mentor feedback

Outcomes

Need more details about our Service Design courses?

Our course guides contain everything you need to know about our Service Design courses, including…

Work 1:1 with an industry expert

All Elevate students have access to an industry mentor as they progress through their course. Your mentor is an expert in the field and can provide insider tips and guidance on-demand.

Why study Service Design at Academy Xi?

Fees & payment options

We offer a range of flexible payment options so you can achieve your goals today, and pay at your own pace.

No deposit

Study Now, Pay Later

Choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments over a repayment term of up to 6 months, with no deposit and 100% interest-free.

Weekly repayments from
$67.31/week

PAYMENTS

From $55 /week

No deposit

Study Now, Pay Later

Choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments over a repayment term of up to 12 months, with no deposit and 100% interest-free

Weekly payments from

$68.92/week

PAYMENTS

From $55 /week

DISCOUNTED

Pay upfront

Pay for your course upfront to receive a discount on the full amount, and be eligible for any additional special offers.

Total cost of course

$3,150

TOTAL COST OF COURSE

$TBC $TBC

Student success stories

Our students come from different walks of life and have supercharged their careers, landing coveted jobs in the Design, Tech, and Marketing fields.

From Fine Art to Service Design

Cilla De Nadai

A firm believer in the benefits of lifelong learning, Cilla decided to add a new dimension to her design process by upskilling with Academy Xi. Reads about how she decided to deepen her problem-solving skills by connecting with the customer and enrolling in the Service Design: Elevate course.

Cilla De Nadai, Service Design Elevate

From Architect to Service Designer

Tobias Robinson

Instead of staying in a job that failed to satisfy and bring him fulfillment, Tobias went out in search of a new field, industry, and career. He landed at Academy Xi and took both the part-time Service Design (SD) course and the full-time User Experience Design (UX) course.

Tobias Robinson, Westpac

From Project Management to Service Design

Elle Beaumont-Bilsby

After climbing the industry ladder into a management role, Elle felt an urge to step back into design practice. Find out how Service Design is helping Elle approach her role with newfound creativity and optimise the accessibility of a university’s student services.

Elle Beaumont-Bilsby, Service Design Elevate

Some frequently asked questions

Service Design is the discipline of creating an optimal end-to-end service experience across all touchpoints, by ensuring customers are central to all processes.

Service Designers look holistically at a service experience, map out and orchestrate all aspects of it to deliver a fantastic experience:

  • The “front stage”: the elements that a user interacts with, such as an app, a website, an email or a conversation with an employee. 
  • The “backstage”: the behind-the-scenes activities a user doesn’t see, such as systems, processes, staff training, etc.

In today’s saturated marketplace, providing an amazing customer experience is critical to building brand differentiation, loyalty, and long-term business value. Leading organisations, such as Apple, Google, Uber and Disney, have embedded Service Design into all their processes to design smooth and personalised experiences that people will remember and talk about.

If you want to upskill or land a job right away, studying Service Design online can quickly get you to where you want to be. At Academy Xi, we offer intensive online programs that equip you with the full spectrum of theoretical and practical skills required in a well-rounded Service Designer.

The Service Design Elevate course is part-time and ideal for time-poor professionals who want to learn immediately applicable, practical Service Design skills. This course is designed to help with professional development, exposure to problem-solving skills using service design principles, and a chance to showcase skills with a service design portfolio built over the course. Learners walk away with a current and future-state Service Blueprint to showcase their skills and service vision to a current or potential employer.

In this course you’ll experience flexible and self-paced learning, where students cover course content independently and browse material on our engaging learning platform. You’ll learn through a combination of:

  • Readings
  • Pre-recorded videos
  • 1:1 support sessions
  • Hands-on activities and practical project work
  • Q&A via chat and discussion boards

Our online courses come in three formats. No matter your learning preferences, work or life commitments, or support levels you require – we’ve got you covered.

To choose the right course format, pick your desired career outcomes:

  • Are you studying to transform your career? Our TRANSFORM courses will equip you with the latest industry skills and have you graduating job-ready, with an included Career Support Program.

  • Do you want to complement your existing skillset? Our ELEVATE courses will expand your expertise in a social and supported environment.

  • Do you just want to learn the fundamentals? Quench your curiosity, at your own pace with our FOUNDATIONS courses.

Have questions? We’re here to listen.

…and any other concerns!

Download course guides

Get detailed information on what to expect from our online courses