Marja Kuronen, Mari Suoheimo, Rosana Vasques, and Christoph Stahl
Services form a cornerstone of modern society, accounting for a large share of gross domestic product and offering potential for sustainable growth. Buchanan’s (1992) four orders of design present a framework for understanding design problems from various perspectives, ranging from graphic to systemic. This study explores the research question: What is the role of service design across the different levels of Buchanan’s four orders of design, using funerals as an empirical context.
Through three workshops in Finland, Brazil and China with twenty-one designers from diverse design backgrounds, we explored how Buchanan’s four orders of design can be investigated through the various applications of service design. The data were analysed using a thematic, data-driven approach.
The findings suggest that service design operates across all four orders, but with varying roles and influence. It supports the interpretation and communication of meaning at the visual level, ensuring that symbols and visual artefacts are meaningful and appropriate for specific user groups. It integrates products within service systems at the second level, and most strongly shapes experiences, interactions and processes at the third level. At the systemic level, its role is more indirect, focusing on informing and guiding change within institutional and cultural structures. Overall, the findings position service design as a systemic practice. While a systemic perspective involves all levels, meanings and appropriate applications vary across cultural contexts, particularly in the domain of funerals. The findings also highlight the limits of service design, especially at the systemic level, where influence over governance and regulation is limited. It is the interaction between policymakers and service designers that needs further exploration. These results contribute to service design research by clarifying its role within Buchanan’s framework.
Keywords: Buchanan Four Orders, Service Design, Systemic Design, Funeral Design