On May 20, a group of very interesting people got together for the fourth SF Service Design Drinks. Unlike the previous events, which were held in bars, this one was hosted at Adaptive Path, who graciously provided the venue plus beers and snacks for the attendees (it helps that I work there). The turnout was the best ever, and I was really happy to meet new people interested in service design, all of them with really good questions and really smart things to say. In attendance were folks from EA, Cooper, Hot Studio, RIM, and Apple to name a few.

Taking advantage of the space, I solicited feedback from attendees to find out what they called themselves (titles), why they were there, and what they wanted to see for future events. My biggest takeaway was that people still don’t know much about service design but are very curious about it. Many people called themselves UX designers, but weren’t sure if that was the right term for the work they did or wanted to do. “Could service design be it?” some wondered.

I also heard, not surprisingly, that people wanted more hands-on service design learning. While it seems it’s great for people to have the opportunity to get together to chat with others who are interested in service design and have some drinks, they want more than ad hoc conversation.

Which brings me to planning an SF Service Design Thinks event (example). I’m shooting for the end of July. More details to come, but it seemed like something folks would be in to.

If you have any thoughts on what the SF SD Thinks event should be or who you’d like to see speak, I’d love to hear them.