Generative AI in Service Design: An Explorative Diary Study in Discovery Process

As AI technologies advance, service design practitioners should consider their role in the field, including how to integrate generative AI (GenAI) into their workflows. This study explored how service design practitioners engage with GenAI tools in the discovery phase; it was intended to enhance service design research with regard to GenAI and highlight its potential and future applications. Through a diary study, 26 service design practitioners participated in three design activities using a variety of GenAI tools and recorded their experiences and perceptions in diaries. The findings indicate that participants perceived the GenAI tools as effective for data collection, processing, task guidance and content generation, while also revealing certain limitations and risks in their use. This study provides empirical insights into the role of GenAI in early-stage service design and offers a foundation for future research, particularly efforts to generate quantitative support for these useful perceptions of GenAI users.