The study examines the contribution of the emerging practice of Service Design in Entrepreneurial Learning, or the creation of knowledge that supports shaping and managing new ventures. It is supported by an empirical investigation spanning a pilot study and two case studies in the contexts of enterprise education for nascent entrepreneurs and Service Design consultations with mature entrepreneurs. Three main research questions are addressed, namely what is the focus of service design activities in entrepreneurship, what types of entrepreneurial knowledge are generated through service design activities and how does the transformation of experience to entrepreneurial learning take place in Service Design.
The Service Design process in both case studies was deconstructed through a learning lens applying a framework that captures the contribution of individual activities in learning, namely capturing the domain of knowledge they relate to – ie. the current situation, a potential future situation or the implementation of a specific idea, as well as the way in which they contribute to new knowledge creation. Moreover experiential learning theory was mobilised due to its broad scope and previous use in both fields, to capture the process of experience transformation into new knowledge.
The findings of the study highlight a focus on implementation in Service Design activities, through analysis of the current situation and modelling of various aspects of the venture. The main types of knowledge generated are service specifications user insights as well as insights about being entrepreneurial, namely the importance of empathy and Service Design as an approach to opportunity development. Experience is transformed to knowledge primarily through exploitation and assimilative learning based on abstract conceptualisation.