Designing Tourism Futures (5cr)

Objective

After completion of the course the student is able to
- recognize central theoretical discussions on foresight and service design in general and within the field of tourism in particular
- critically evaluate the role of foresight and service design in developing service concepts that are better informed for facing future challenges
- critically appraise the combination of foresight and service design methods for the development of tourism service concepts that are economically, socially, culturally and environmentally responsible
- conceptualize, plan, coordinate, implement and assess a tourism service design process that takes into account different stakeholder groups as well as broader foresight issues.

Content

Service design, service design methods, socially responsible design, value co-creation, human-centered design, stakeholder-centered design, co-design, service interface, customer journey, service development, innovation, future thinking, strategic foresight, foresight methods.

Qualifications

Intermediate Studies in Tourism Research, especially Producing and Consuming Tourism Experiences or Experience Design

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Fail: Performance is highly deficient or erroneous. The work may be based on serious misunderstandings.

Sufficient and satisfactory (1-2): Performance is lacking in scope, superficial, or corresponds poorly to the assignment. The author merely lists things out of context or addresses them one-sidedly. The work may contain errors or obscurities.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good and very good (3-4): Performance corresponds to the assignment, manifesting comprehension and a skill to analyse and justify. The author has addressed the issue comprehensively. The work may contain some deficiencies.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5): Performance delineates an extensive whole and the author can apply knowledge in a multifaceted way or place it in various contexts. The work manifests independency and insight, and it is a flawless entity that involves justified thinking or critical contemplation. The work is well written and implemented.

Materials

Reading package including peer-reviewed articles will become available at the beginning of the study unit.

Hiltunen, E. (2013). Foresight and innovation: How companies are coping with the future. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stickdorn, M. & Schneider, J. (2012). This is service design thinking: Basics – tools – cases. Wiley.
Stickdorn, M., Edgar Hormess, M., Lawrence, A. & Schneider, J. (2018). This is service design doing: Applying service design thinking in the real world. O’Reilly Media.

Further information

Max 25 students.

Execution methods

Lectures, workshops, independent work.

Accomplishment methods

Active participation in lectures and workshops.
Individual work.
Group work, report, and presentation.