As a field in practice and academia, service design is moving out of its formative phase. In service design research, the realisation of service transformation from idea to service practice and the ways that design(ers) can contribute to this process are topics that are not well understood yet. The work presented in this thesis contributes to improving this understanding.

A programmatic design research approach was used to explore service transformation. This resulted in the formulation of two ways of framing and addressing the topic: type 1 service transformation, which frames the realisation of service transformation in terms of assembling a service delivery system, and type 2 service transformation, which views the realisation of service transformation as enabling value co-creating relationships between service actors.

Type 1 service transformation builds on the assimilation perspective on service innovation where service transformation is realised by implementing service concepts. Service Design contributes to this by facilitating the development of desirable service experiences. Trained designers can apply implementation strategies and support the handover of service design projects to contribute to the realisation of type 1 service transformation by. Design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) is a generative construct for addressing type 1 service transformation. DFMA is central to the program implementation during design, which was used to explore type 1 service transformation.

Type 2 service transformation builds on the synthesis perspective on service innovation, which adopts a service-dominant logic. Service transformation is the shaping of value co-creating relationships between service actors and is realised by enabling service actors to enact roles that make the envisioned value co-creating relationships possible. Designing contributes by helping service developers to improve their understanding of value co-creating relationships and the way that realising service transformation is expected to affect those relations. Trained designers contribute by supporting this inquiry. The concept of roles, including Role Theory vocabulary, is a generative construct for addressing type 2 service transformation and is central to the program enabling enactment, which is suggested for the study of type 2 service transformation.

The main contribution of this thesis is the articulation of these two perspectives on service transformation. The articulation of these two framings helps service developers and researchers in their efforts to study and work on the realisation of service transformation.