What are the benefits of gaining a Professional Development Award in Service Design?

Perhaps you are curious about the value of supporting your employees to use service design to improve your service offering?  

Service design helps you design services well.

It equips you or your team members with the tools and knowledge to solve problems by taking a human-centred design approach. 

Our Professional Development Award (PDA) in Service Design, which is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), is a training programme designed to empower learners to grow as confident service design thinkers and leaders in order to transform the organisations they work in.  

Who is the PDA in Service Design for?  

The PDA in Service Design is ideal for someone who:  

• Wants to become a service designer. 
• Has been in service design roles and wants to consolidate their knowledge by obtaining a qualification.  
• Is looking to empower and enable their team to develop their skills to innovate and problem solve. 
• Is in a job role where they want to adapt their current service offering to better suit what customers and colleagues need. They want to create impact by making things work better with the improvement of team processes and working environment.  
• Is looking to enhance their future job prospects by upskilling in service design. 

It would suit someone who already has a basic understanding of what service design is but wants to be able to use it to create positive change in their workplace. Learners join us from many different roles including digital transformation, organisational development, project and change management. 

What’s unique about this PDA in Service Design? 

• It is delivered part-time and online, offering you flexibility with your work and the opportunity to build collaborative skills in remote environments. 
• Our online and interactive learning labs give you a safe space to practise new methods and techniques with other learners on a relatable design challenge. 
• Across the 4 units in the course, you'll apply everything you learn straight back in the workplace, with your practical assessments based on challenges you or your business are facing. 
• On completing the course, you'll be able to demonstrate that you have the skills, experience and confidence to drive change.

8 Benefits of the PDA Service Design Course 

Here are the 8 main benefits of undertaking the PDA in Service Design with the Service Design Academy: 

1. Skill Enhancement 

The PDA in Service Design involves training and learning experiences that improve your skills in areas such as user research, prototyping, customer journey mapping, and other relevant aspects of service design. 

2. Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills 

Service design focuses on solving complex problems related to user experiences and service delivery. The PDA can enhance your ability to identify, analyse, and solve problems in innovative ways to help your business or organisation thrive. 

3.Stay Updated with Industry Trends 

Service design is an evolving field, and staying current with the latest trends, tools, and methodologies is crucial. This course provides insight into emerging trends and best practices to set you up to be the best service designer you can be. 

4. Validation of Expertise 

Completing this accredited training course in service design can serve as a validation of your expertise. It provides a formal acknowledgment of your skills and commitment to staying current in your field.

5. Cross-functional Collaboration 

Service design often involves collaboration and co-designing across various disciplines, including business, technology, and user experience. The PDA can equip you with the ability to co-design and work effectively in cross-functional teams.

6. Increased Job Satisfaction 

Contributing to the improvement of services at your place of work or business with your enhanced skills learned through this PDA can not only increase the employee experience for your team but also create job satisfaction for you. The ability to make a positive impact on user experiences and business outcomes can be very rewarding.

7. Entrepreneurial Opportunities 

For those interested in entrepreneurship, a background in service design can be valuable for creating and optimising services, whether launching your own start-up or contributing to innovative projects within existing organisations.

8. Career Advancement 

Acquiring new skills and knowledge through the PDA can improve your career prospects. Employers often value employees who actively invest in their professional growth and development.  

 

Our next PDA in Service Design cohort starts on Monday 4th March 2024. Find out more and book your place here: https://www.sda.ac.uk/pda-service-design/