Tiny participation, giant changes : Improving participation through micro-participation formats in service design

Sammanfattning: This research aims to explore alternative participation formats to give people that are not usually participants a chance to express themselves in the service design process. Participation is a cornerstone of the service design process, which aims to organise experiences that meet the needs of the business, its users, and stakeholders. Participation is often organised around workshop formats and rarely experiments with alternative formats. This research revolved around the case study "Helping students cope with winter darkness in the Nordics" through an iterative and experimental approach, following the two stages of divergence within the four stages of design based on the double diamond process: Empathise and Discover, Frame and Define, Ideate and Develop, Prototype and Test.This research allowed me to gain a rich and nuanced understanding of the factors and practices that enable or hinder the cultivation of deeper engagement and reflection in collaborative design participation. My findings suggest that the participants’ interest, engagement, and the qualities of their contributions are impacted by the participation format. They also hint that not all potential participants should become participants.This master thesis opens the field of experimental (micro-) participation formats in service design.