Also known as a Doctor of Philosophy degree, a PhD confers students with the title of “doctor” upon completion. PhD programs are usually heavily research focused and may require students to submit and defend an original thesis.

What is a PhD in Service Design? These advanced programs tend to prepare students for academic positions or advanced careers within the service design world. Students typically utilize a multidisciplinary perspective to understand how services, such as those of healthcare or hospitality, are rendered and how they can be improved to increase customer satisfaction while boosting business productivity. Students usually survey a wide range of social sciences and work on real-world research projects, where they may be charged with identifying service design needs and delivering advanced solutions for clients both public and private.

Studying service design from an advanced level teaches students how to produce viable and client-ready prototypes, how to design both physical and virtual service experiences, and how to integrate their designs with multiple disciplines. Students with these abilities may gain an edge over the competition for many desirable positions.

Fees associated with different PhD programs are contingent on a variety of factors, such as that of the student’s attendance and residence status. Prospective applicants should research each program’s unique fees and schedule to determine if the program is a good fit for their budget.

Students with a doctoral degree often pursue scholastic or research-based positions where they can work directly as faculty within universities teaching service, product, industrial, and user experience design. Other potential positions include those of user experience designers, customer experience designers, interaction designers, retail designers, and design strategists. Since service needs are found globally, so too are career opportunities.

Many PhD programs are available from universities around the world and may allow students the opportunity to coordinate their thesis work online. Search for your program below and contact directly the admission office of the school of your choice by filling in the lead form.