 | ServDes'25: Service Design and Innovation Conference 2025 Organized by TCS Research & IIT Hyderabad Venue: IIT Hyderabad, Kandi, Sangareddy, India, October 6-8, 2025 |
| Conference website | https://servdes25.org/ |
| Submission link | https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=servdes2025 |
| Student Service Design Competition Registration Deadline | February 15, 2025 |
| Full Paper/Short Paper/Workshop Proposal Deadline | March 1, 2025 |
| Submission deadline | March 1, 2025 |
| Student Service Design Competition Submission Deadline | June 15, 2025 |
ServDes, the Service Design and Innovation conference, is the premier research conference for exchanging knowledge within Service Design and service innovation studies. Born as a yearly Nordic conference, ServDes has now become a bi-annual international event with the aim of bringing researchers and practitioners together to discuss, share and evolve the emerging discipline of Service Design, and design-related service innovation. The papers are peer-reviewed in a double-blind review process and published in the conference proceedings.
ServDes’25 marks the first-ever edition of the Service Design and Innovation Conference in India. Organized by Department of Design - Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, and TCS Research.
Empowering Diverisity, Nurturing Lasting Impact
The theme, “Empowering Diversity, Nurturing Lasting Impact”, is highly relevant in today’s global context. It highlights the importance of embracing diversity in service design processes and fostering inclusive practices that empower diverse communities. By empowering individuals from all walks of life, the theme advocates for service designs that cater to the unique needs and experiences of diverse user groups. It underscores the importance of nurturing long-term relationships and sustainable solutions within service interactions. Through inclusive service design practices, the theme promotes collaborative efforts towards positive societal change. It encourages dialogue and co-creation among stakeholders to drive lasting impact in service delivery.
The theme embodies the essence of service design as a catalyst for innovation, equity, and meaningful engagement. It seeks to inspire actionable strategies that enhance the quality, accessibility, and inclusivity of services for all. It emphasizes the journey from envisioning a better future (aspiration) to taking concrete steps towards achieving it (action) through the lens of diversity empowerment. Ultimately, the theme aims to cultivate service experiences that leave a lasting, positive imprint on individuals and communities alike.
ServDes 2025 in India perfectly aligns with the conference theme. India’s ‘unity in diversity’ spans cultures, languages, and geographies, offering a rich backdrop of tradition and rapid technological growth. It offers participants a chance to experience a blend of traditional heritage, dynamic socio-economic growth, and rapid technological advancements. As digital transformation accelerates, service design plays a vital role in shaping customer experiences and societal well-being, making India an ideal setting to explore how diversity can drive lasting impact.
Topics of Interest for Submission
We welcome submissions that explore the following themes, but are not restricted to:
Paper Track 1: Diversity Drive
This track highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion in service design, exploring how to create services that cater to the needs of diverse user groups and foster inclusivity.
Paper Track 2: Community Catalyst
Community Engagement and Co-creation are at the heart of this track, emphasizing the role of community involvement in designing services that address local needs and empower communities.
Paper Track 3: Equity Expressway
Equity and Social Justice take center stage in this track, examining how service design can be used as a tool for promoting equity, addressing systemic inequalities, and advancing social justice initiatives.
Paper Track 4: Human-Centered Horizons
This track encompasses a broad range of topics related to service design that may not fit neatly into the other categories. It offers space for exploration of emerging concepts, interdisciplinary perspectives, and innovative approaches to human-centered design.
Paper Track 5: Ethical Endeavors
Ethics and Responsible Design are the focus of this track, delving into ethical considerations in service design, such as privacy, transparency, and sustainability, and exploring strategies for designing ethically sound services.
Paper Track 6: Skills Scaffolding
Capacity Building and Skill Development are emphasized in this track, offering sessions and workshops aimed at enhancing participants’ skills in service design methodologies, tools, and techniques.
Paper Track 7: Innovation Intersection
Business Innovation is explored in this track, showcasing innovative approaches to service design that drive business growth, foster entrepreneurship, and create value for both customers and stakeholders.
Paper Track 8: Impact Insights
Measuring Impact and ROI are the key themes of this track, providing insights into methods and metrics for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of service design initiatives and demonstrating their impact on business outcomes and societal goals.
Paper Track 9: Tech Trends Terrain
Future trends and the role of emerging technology are examined in this track, exploring how technologies such as AI, IoT, blockchain, and AR/VR are shaping the future of service design and transforming user experiences.
Paper Track 10: Dare to try
Track to celebrate and learn from the failures of complex design projects, including those related to design methodologies. Highlight challenges such as time overruns, implementation hurdles, adoption issues, and situations where implementation did not produce the desired impact, despite serious efforts to overcome obstacles. A platform to discuss how lessons learned from these failures are being, or will be, applied in reattempts to strengthen the design. While success stories often take centre stage, it is equally important to provide a platform to discuss failures and lessons learned from them.
Paper Track 11: Other
This track is designed for papers that may not align with any of the ten designated tracks but resonate strongly with the overall theme of the conference. It provides a home for unique contributions that challenge conventional thinking and add fresh dimensions to the discussion.
Submission Guidelines
All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. The following paper categories are welcome:
Long Papers
We invite submission of advanced and high-quality papers of up to 6000 words (including abstract, tables, references, and figure captions) that address the Conference theme. The papers should offer original insights, contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of Service Design, and spark new directions for research and practice.
Papers must be written and presented in English only.
Refer to https://servdes25.org/papers/ to download the template.
Short Papers
We invite concise, thought-provoking contributions (up to 3000 words including abstract, tables, references, and figure captions) that explore the conference theme in exploratory, speculative, and/or provocative ways. This track welcomes works that are still in progress, offering a space for discussion and feedback. These papers should present new ideas, challenge existing assumptions, or explore novel methodologies–aiming to provide opportunities for lively and respectful discussion.
Short papers should be written and presented in English only.
Refer to https://servdes25.org/papers/ to download the template.
Workshops
We welcome workshop proposals that engage with the conference theme through hands-on, participatory sessions. Capacity Building and Skill Development are emphasized in this track, offering sessions and workshops aimed at enhancing participants’ skills in service design methodologies, tools, and techniques.
Workshops submitted should address one of the conference themes. We invite workshop proposals that explore concepts, theories, processes, frameworks, practices, and pragmatics through a smaller workshop format. Workshop duration should be maximum 120 mins. Venues will be provided but please include specific requirements, such as materials, facilities, and technologies in your proposal.
Workshop proposals should be written and conducted in English.
Refer to https://servdes25.org/papers/ to download the template.
Student Service Design Competition
The competition aims to leverage students’ creativity and service design skills to address real-world challenges faced by India’s social sector. Solutions must be innovative, actionable, and culturally sensitive, motivating NGOs to implement them effectively.
Participants will choose one of the curated 12 problem statements, which address pressing social issues such as rural healthcare, climate-resilient farming, digital literacy, and reskilling for the unorganized sector. These problem statements are designed to align with the needs of NGOs operating in India.
View more at https://servdes25.org/student-service-design-competition/
Important Dates
26 January 2025: System open for submissions
15 February 2025: Student Service Design Competition Registration
1 March 2025: Full Paper/Short Paper/Workshop Proposal Deadline
15 June 2025: Student Service Design Competition Submission
1 April 2025: Conference Registrations Open
1 June 2025: Accept/Reject Notifications to Authors
1 August 2025: Camera ready papers deadline for accepted submissions
15 August 2025: Announcement of finalist teams
5 October 2025: Pre – Conference events
6 – 8 October 2025: Conference dates
Review Process
All submissions will be blind peer-reviewed by an international review panel, according to evaluation criteria set by the scientific committee. Once reviewed, all authors will be notified of acceptance, conditional acceptance, or rejection. Submissions that are accepted conditionally will be required to address the feedback by the camera-ready resubmission date. Long Papers that are unfortunately rejected will have the opportunity to re-write and submit as Short Paper. The review process will include concise feedback, suggesting modifications and the best path forward. Note: The time for resubmission to another track is limited, so please plan accordingly.
All submissions must be anonymous to ensure a blind peer review process. Please ensure that no author names, affiliations, or any identifying information are included in the manuscript (this includes file names, document metadata, captions, and references to institutions).
Acceptance of notification will be sent by e-mail. Those accepted will be required to attend and present, discuss questions, and engage with the conference program. This means at least one author must register for the conference for the submission to be included in the proceedings. All accepted and revised submissions must be formatted in the ServDes’25 template and submitted to the conference system.
Publication and Indexing Information
ServDes25 is proudly endorsed by the Design Research Society (DRS). All accepted papers—both long and short—will be published in the DRS Digital Library, ensuring global accessibility as open access publications.
Each paper will be assigned a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), enhancing discoverability and citation tracking. Additionally, we are applying for Scopus indexing of the conference proceedings. While the Scopus indexing process typically takes six months post-conference and cannot be guaranteed, we are optimistic about meeting the criteria based on the high-quality standards of the ServDes series.
We look forward to your contributions to this globally recognized platform for advancing service design research.
Venue
The conference will be held on the campus (Convention Centre) of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad.
Contact
Please reach out to us for questions about submissions at servdes2025@des.iith.ac.in
ServDes'25 Committee
Conference chairs:
- Ravi Mahmuni, TCS Research, India
- Prasad Onkar, IIT Hyderabad, India
Organizing Committee:
- TCS Research: Bhaskarjyoti Das, Shivani Ganwani, Sylvan Lobo
- IIT Hyderabad: Dr. Deepak John Mathew, Dr. Saurav Deori, Dr. Shahid Mohammad, Dr. Shiva Ji, Prof. Srikar AVR