A design lab established in 2018 at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. We address issues of:
Name: Hongyi Zhu PhD Title: Designing Gamified Entrepreneurial Support: A Service Design Tool for Prisoners PhD Abstract My PhD research explores how gamification can be integrated with Service Design and examines the practice potential of this combination within highly constrained carceral environments. The research is grounded in a practical challenge: while employment is widely recognised…
Name: Jia Ying Chew PhD Title: The Role of Design in Transdisciplinary Higher Education PhD Abstract: As complex global challenges resist single-discipline solutions, universities have turned to transdisciplinary approaches — yet we still lack empirical understanding of how to teach these competences effectively. This doctoral study addresses implementation gaps through a two-part enquiry, investigating how design’s…
NameZiwei Lin (Zoey) PhD TitleFrom Co-design to Co-governance: The Role of Service Design in Supporting Social Governance in Rural China Short abstract:This PhD looks into how service design might evolve from co-design to co-governance in rural China. Rather than focusing on one-time workshops, the study investigates the initial effort required to allow design to enter…
Name: Crystal Zhang (Zhang, Lezhi) PhD Title: Design Education for Eco-social Justice: Developing Object-based learning in Classroom Learning and Teaching (Working Title) Short abstract: This practice-based doctoral research examines how artefacts can be designed and embedded in classroom teaching and learning to support engagement with eco-social justice (ESJ) in higher education (HE). Situated within object-based learning…
(Repost of Paul Clarke’s blog post from https://sociodigitalfutures.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2026/01/21/design-futures-and-collaborating-with-london-college-of-communication-watch-our-new-film/) In 2025, the Centre for Sociodigital Futures (CenSoF) at Bristol University collaborated with MA Service Design at London College of Communication (LCC), setting briefs for students on the Design Futures unit. The outcomes were presented in an exhibition in London, June 2025, which showcased a diverse range of speculative prototypes that explored emerging sociodigital challenges through the lens of critical service design. We have also produced a short film about the…
Spotlight on Ziwei (Zoey)Lin’s PhD in Progress Project Description This project focuses on the application of service design in rural governance and revitalisation in China, with Pujiang County in Chengdu as the primary field site. Integrating co-design, participatory design, design for policy, and speculative design methods, the project explores how design can empower grassroots governance…
Dr Lara Salinas has been awarded an AHRC Innovation Scholar grant to advance design excellence in the public sector. Lara will be seconded to London Borough of Camden’s Strategy and Change team, from where she’ll collaborate with the national Local Government Service Design Network to co-create a Design in Local Government Playbook. Research question Playbook…
Purpose SoRA is a framework to support reflexive assessment and improvement of Societal Readiness. SoRA has been created in collaboration with experts, innovators and policy makers. The assessment consists of four dimensions that relate to carbon reduction, social justice, social good and alignment with preferable future systems. SoRA facilitates alignment with carbon reduction targets, better…
Design Pedagogy for Changemaking What do we mean by changemaking? How can design research and design practice catalyse changemaking? And how to teach or train for changemaking via design or using design and creative methods? In this lecture Dr Silvia Grimaldi and Dr Malé Luján Escalante, respond to these key questions using examples to their…
Image: Student work This is an international collaboration of UAL: LCC and UAL: LCF and two Indonesian Universities. In this challenge MA students responded to a brief to co-create an intervention (workshop, activity, session, etc.) that will be part of the Transition Living Lab, a training program for displaced people interested in becoming change-makers and…
Making Connections is a 9-month research project exploring how staff voice can be more effectively embedded into decision-making and governance at the University of the Arts London (UAL). Conducted between January and September 2025, the project was commissioned by UAL’s Social Purpose Lab in collaboration with the People & Culture Group, and delivered by the…
Two projects involving Service Futures Lab members won the Knowledge Exchange Awards at University of the Arts London in September 2024 We won: People’s Prize in the Equity and Diversity category for Transition Living Lab Team: Malé Lujan Escalante, Silvia Grimaldi And: Special Commendation in the R&D Innovation category for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:…
Image: cover of the final report, photo courtesy of Lucy Kimbell The collaborative, cross-disciplinary research network organised workshops and engagement sessions to consolidate and better articulate the emerging relations between research and practice in design and public policy processes. Research contributions include a novel, evidence-based and contextual understanding of the potential for design in relation…
Image: Alice Blencowe, UAL Climate Systems mapping project, Collaborative Mapping Session, 2024 This pilot research project is motivated by the commitment to net-zero emissions in UAL’s Climate Action Plan and UAL’s Strategy 2022-32 and, beyond science-based targets, UAL’s commitment to social purpose and justice. UAL – like all HEIs and organisations – will be challenged…
Refugee Transition Network (RTN) – AHRC International Networking Project and The Service Futures Lab, partnered to create a participatory experience that brought together the Lab’s stakeholders, UAL scholars and researchers, NGO’s organisations working in social purpose, refugee partners and participants from the RTN network, PGT students and MA Service Design Alumni, around ideas, music, rituals, magic,…
Purpose Climate Emergency Action Plans are highly complex, involving multiple actors from across sectors. The most immediate challenge, to enable collaboration both inside the local government and with external organisations, is to communicate the multiple lines of actions and operational objectives. This information is held in different parts of the organisations, and in documents with…
Links: Report Tool Pack Manifesto University of the Arts London Academic Development, Services Delivery and Course Support approached the Service Futures Lab to upskill the teams in service design methods as well as deliver mindset change that would affect the teams’ ways of working, with the aim to make the way IT services are developed…
The third event in this year’s Service Futures Lab Public Event series is a roundtable discussion chaired by Dr. Silvia Grimaldi, focussing on how we design for social justice. Speakers from industry and academia will present short case studies of their work and explain how they adjusted their design approaches, practices and methods to focus on…
Camden Family Changemakers was a co-design project carried out in 2021 between Camden Council’s family services team, parents and family members residing in Camden, London College of Communication (LCC) MA Service Design and MA Data Visualisation students, two MA Service Design alumni, five academic staff members, the Service Futures Lab at LCC and the UAL’s Public…
1st February 2024, London College of Communication, London. Starting with a historical lens this lecture will explore the nature and emergence of service to contextualise key developments that have come to define it. Different perspectives on service design will then be presented to explore its role and contribution to contemporary challenges. This first talk from…
UAL Climate Studio is a 6-months collaboration between three UAL colleges to develop an urban network of citizens, organisations and government to support collaborative place-based climate action.
PNK Garden is a local gardening project in South London, on a land that had previously been disused for over 30 years. PNK Garden is fully independent, self-managed, self-funded, shared and free to access.
Partners: Government Digital Service (UK Cabinet Office) Date: 2023 Funder: Government Digital Service (UK Cabinet Office) Team: Dr Lara Salinas Marion Lagedamont Digby Usher Laura Yarrow (GOVUK) Marina Filliba (GOVUK) Publications: https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/20978/ Find out more: https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2024/09/05/how-gov-uk-is-supporting-new-ideas-and-helping-the-next-generation-of-service-designers/
CoDesign4Transitions is a four-year doctoral network (2024-28) that brings together eight universities in seven countries (Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, UK) who will recruit and supervise a cohort of 13 transdisciplinary Doctoral Candidates (DCs).
A series of community events to support cross-pollination between UAL student communities and local communities.
“Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI): Future-Proofing Your Workforce” was funded by UKRI through the Transforming the Foundation Industries Network + project (TFIN+). The purpose of the project is to model an approach to EDI learning and development that enables each Foundation Industry (FI) partner to benefit from a uniquely bespoke development package that responds to…
This is a framework for people in any role within a design-driven organisation or within product and digital teams, focussing on both Inclusive Design and on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Designed by Dr Silvia Grimaldi with Veron Lai, Meghana Shailendra and Yini Zheng, together with a group of co-designers, this framework is meant to be…
The programme prepares young people (<30) to be changemakers, designers and leaders in regenerated areas. During 18 months of intensive, educational and practical workshops, we designed and implement two services supporting the urban renewal by social inclusion, created a publication and a handbook, and hosted a conference and workshops. Project Handbook: Grimaldi, S. et al.…
This EU Horizon 2020 project is a collaboration involving five biotech SMEs and four academic institutions across Europe. The LCC team, led by Prof. Alison Prendiville and including Dr. Silvia Grimaldi, Dr. Rosie Hornbuckle and Dr. Lara Salinas from UAL and SFL, worked with St George’s University on the public engagement work package, using participatory…
Service Futures Lab 