Service Design in Practice

Do you want to design better services in the public or not-for-profit sectors? Services which work and genuinely meet user needs?

Service Design in Practice is an eight-month accredited training course for people with little or no previous experience in service design.

Through a combination of training, development, and coaching, the programme will challenge the way you develop services, build skills in a wide range of service design approaches, and change how you work for good. You’ll learn through practice by applying new thinking, behaviours, and tools to a real-world problem—and take a new mindset back to your organisation, which will impact all your future work.

“I learned tools and techniques that I now put into practice in my real-world environment. It’s changed my work forever.” — Stephen Read at Ofsted

Four sessions in Cardiff, the remainder are online via Teams.

Who it is for

This course is for people who are fairly new to service design and work in public or not-for-profit organisations.

You might be looking to transition into a service design role or have recently taken on new responsibilities. Or maybe you work closely with service designers and want to understand their approach and incorporate some of the ways of working into your daily practice.

The course is specifically designed for people working in councils, housing associations, government, charities, and other non-profits.

Accreditation

This training course is a pathway to Service Design Network Service Design Practitioner Accreditation.

It is the only UK-based SDN Accredited Service Design training course specifically created for public service and not-for-profit organisations.

Accreditation is not included in the cost. It is an option at the end of the programme. We will provide you with a 50% discount code for Practitioner Accreditation.

What you will learn

You’ll be guided through three service design projects while developing self-awareness and insight into influencing and supporting people through complex change.

You’ll learn how to:

• frame challenges and question assumptions
• research and understand user needs
• generate ideas beyond obvious solutions
• plan, create and test prototypes cost-effectively
• create sustainable change in your organisation’s culture and practice
• form effective teams
• influence stakeholders

See full description.

Your Commitment

10 full days equivalent

Attending the intro session, workshops and coaching sessions virtually and face-to-face at Tramshed Tech, Cardiff. Spread over eight months.

In addition to the taught sessions:

+1/2 day each week: teamwork

Working collaboratively with your peers, putting your learning into practice, preparing for sessions and doing user research activities.

+1 - 2 hours each week: individual work

Individual self-guided reflection, reading and watching videos.

Course Schedule

Course starts: 23 September 2025

Course ends: 30 April 2026

Please follow this link for the full schedule of dates

Four sessions are in central Cardiff on 23 September, 27 November, 15 January and 30 April; the remainder are online.

We keep the group small to give you the best support.

Testimonials

"I really would recommend others to do this training course without a shadow of a doubt. I really enjoyed it - the learning, the making connections with peers and the individual coaching expertly combined to make a huge difference to me and my work." — Owen Burgess, Sport Wales

"As a marketing professional, I was a bit suspicious of Service Design, to begin with.

It's an absolutely brilliant programme. I've learned a hell of a lot from it. I'm now an advocate for service design. The combination of theory, practice and how to influence others has already helped me in my job." — Dave Madge, Cwmpas

“It's really changed my mindset. I came from another organisation where I knew something was wrong but didn't know how to fix it or influence people in the right places - to say that users need to be at the heart of service design.

If I had my time again I would now be able to do things differently. Everything I'm learning here I can see how we can put into practice. I'm already having conversations with colleagues - the future is looking bright!” — Jane Lewis, Welsh Government

Your trainers

Jo Carter, Service Design Lead

Founder Director of Service Design, Jo is an Accredited Service Design Master.

She works exclusively with public service and not-for-proft organisations, helping them to adopt and develop the right skills, tools and culture to solve the difficult challenges the 21st-century presents.

Katie Driver, Collaboration Partner

Formerly a UK Senior Civil Servant, Katie is an experienced trainer, a qualified coach and Strengths Profile practitioner, and an active Time to Think Collegiate member.

Katie helps teams think better together, using their rich experiences and ideas to generate new and better ways to make progress on the work that matters.

In-house option

Looking to train your entire team?

We offer in-house programmes tailored to your organisation's needs.

Contact Jo Carter for pricing and details.

• Book a call: Calendly - Jo Carter
• Email: jo@weareserviceworks.com

Questions?

Visit our FAQ's

Book a call with Jo

Email Jo - jo@weareserviceworks.com

Visit the website for further details.

Price

Early Bird £3,750 + VAT - expires 18 July (or when sold out)

Standard £4,100 + VAT

Discount: 5% for multi purchase

I want to pay by invoice

Contact lisa@weareserviceworks.com and we will enrol you and raise an invoice.