Day 2 of the Advancing Service Design conference explored the intersections of design with systems, data, and communities, leaving me with fresh ideas and deeper reflections on the evolving role of service design.

Stefanie Owens: Optimizing for Outcomes—Transformation Design in Systems at Scale

Stefanie shared how designers are increasingly embedded in areas beyond traditional roles within the government services she works on. She advocated for the importance of layering designers into business and technical teams, where they can bring human-centered thinking from the start (yes!).

Her emphasis on service design as a lever to shift culture resonated with how service design evolved at Capital One. There, we tackled challenges far beyond customer screens—working on DEI initiatives, corporate responsibility, internal processes, employee programs, and enterprise systems. It was inspiring to hear Stefanie’s team pushing design in similar ways.

Lais de Almeida & Maria Izquierdo: Designing Data Services

This talk highlighted the power of embedding service design early in the creation of a data services platform. By mapping the data flow, they were able to “make the infrastructure human scale,” a phrase I loved. Framing human-centered stories and use cases sparked better strategic conversations, better boundary definition, and made the technical landscape more accessible.

This approach reminded me of my work with Capital One’s enterprise data team, where journey maps were essential for understanding complex data interactions—and uncovering efficiencies.

Alexia Cohen & Adriane Ackerman: Increasing Health Equity for Underserved Latine Communities in Arizona

Alexia and Adriane presented an incredible case study on community-centered design. They emphasized that deeper engagement with communities requires more participatory practices, which demand both trust and time. On the time front, they needed to double their timelines to truly achieve the required community engagement.

They also shared an optimistic insight: government agencies are increasingly hungry for human-centered design (I want to believe this!). Their work earned them a Core77 Social Impact Design Award for 2024.

Liz Ebengo: The Burden on Children—The Cost of Insufficient Post-Conflict Services in Uganda

Liz’s talk on post-conflict design challenges was profoundly moving. With 1.5 million refugees in Uganda, her work with HNST Design Studio emphasizes redemptive design.

Her approach—“From the future to the future”—starts by understanding what people want their future to be and then facilitating tools to help them get there. Of her work co-creating the future, she said: “You have to become this facilitator of hope.”

Josina Vink: Navigating the Pitfalls of Systems Thinking in Service Design

Josina invited us to think critically about the designer’s role in systems thinking. While capturing hyper-complexity with maps can be powerful, they warned against the illusion of capturing everything. Maps often reinforce the authority of those who create them—prompting me to reflect on whether our maps are, in some ways, a designer’s power grab (what do you think?).

It was comforting, in a way, to hear them say you don’t have to go after large change. Their advice to start small—tuning into patterns at a local scale while keeping a larger vision in mind—felt grounded and actionable. It reminded me of Nabeel Hamdi’s The Spacemaker’s Guide to Big Change: Start small, where it counts, now, to achieve desired futures.

Panel with Christian Bason, Amanda Woolley, Luke Roberts, Ben Reason

I was a big fan of the reflective panels at the end of each day. This one was full of gems, like Amanda’s “Try to not shoehorn the humanity back in” after creating systems or services that were not human-centered from the start. To Christian emphasizing that we need to induce hope, because “that’s what we as humanity need” in this moment (and perhaps always). To Luke’s provoking question—which I am still pondering—“What are we advancing service design to?”

Overall Takeaway

If I had to sum up the two days in two words, I’d say trust and power. Both are huge and multifaceted, constantly pushing and pulling service designers—and those around them—in their work. I’m left feeling both optimistic and overwhelmed. It’s inspiring to see how service design is influencing broad systems and hear the growing maturity of discussions within our community. At the same time, the scale and complexity of these systems can make you feel powerless. But as was said during the conference, keep hope. “Hope is not passive, hope is very proactive.“

One thing I didn’t hear much about that I wish I had: journey management tools and their impact on shaping organizational processes and systems.

I also noticed a critical air within our design community: We can do more. Be better. Fight power. Be more inclusive. Yes…and…while these challenges are important, I think it’s equally vital to recognize how much we’ve achieved.

So, to all the designers out there: You’re doing great work. Keep it up. Have hope. Trust in yourself, in each other, in your partners, and in the process. Give it time. This is a long game (with no end?) that’s worth it. And it may not always feel like it, but you’re winning!