RCA Service Design

01/06/2026

Back to Studio: Session 4 ✨
From the studio to the front lines of systems change! Our cohort spent the evening learning from two designers leading the way in national healthcare and strategic consultancy.

Our Guest Speakers:
🔵 Rosa ‘Rosikaa’ Fernández (MA 2020): Senior Service Designer at NHS England, sharing 20+ years of expertise in systemic change.
🔵 Tom Blackmore: Current RCA Product Design student and former Senior Service Designer at EY Studio+.

Huge thanks to Rosa and Tom for showing us how design scales in the real world!
seren

25/05/2026

🔵 Bridging Design & Code: RCA x Imperial

Design meets development! A group of us from our cohort recently took on a unique leadership opportunity as tutors for ‘Designing for Real People’ course.

Stepping into a coaching role, we had the chance to guide 2nd-year Computer Science teams through the complexities of human-centred design.

This collaboration is more than just a workshop; it’s an invaluable platform for us to build professional mentorship skills, share expertise, and influence the next generation of technical
innovators.

18/05/2026

In our 2nd term, we ran a series of seminars that explore and reflect on the urgent contemporary challenges that service designers can address and the strengths and limitations of service design approaches in addressing these challenges.

In our second seminar: Creative Practices, Design and Emerging Technologies, we took a deep dive into how designers are responsible for shaping interactions with the intelligent, autonomous systems transforming today’s services. The discussion delved into the practicalities of making AI trustworthy and accountable, navigating highly regulated environments, and the empowering potential of designers building their own AI tools. By bridging the gap between technical complexity and human-centred design, we examined how these emerging technologies influence societal outcomes and the future of our creative practice.

Speaker Lineup
● David Eveleigh-Evans, Design Leader, Co-founder of KEI, and RCA Service Design Tutor
● Helene Benz, Lead Conversational AI Designer at Lloyds Banking Group
● Gonzalo Maza, Oscar-winning Screenwriter and Lecturer at the University of Manchester

11/05/2026

Nothing beats good friends, a challenge, and a packed game night! 💖 Making memories and building connections outside the classroom.
Whether it’s a high-stakes round of Catan or a classic game of Backgammon, the studio energy is always better when we’re playing together.

05/05/2026

Back to Studio: Session 3 ✨

An inspiring evening welcoming back two incredible alumni to the RCA! It was a unique chance for our current cohort to bridge the gap between studio research and professional impact by learning
directly from those leading the field.

Our Guest Speakers:
🔵Becky Miller (MA 2018): Senior Policy Designer at Defra, sharing her “Design Cooking” approach to government innovation.
🔵Desiree D’souza (MA 2025): SSDC ‘25 winner and healthcare researcher at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust, focusing on cognitive wellbeing.

Huge thanks to Becky and Desiree for the firsthand insights into navigating complex systems!

27/04/2026

Scale. Complexity. Impact. 🌐

The first session of our Industry Speaker seminar series explored the realities of practising Service Design within large-scale organisations.
This student-organised initiative is all about exposure, bringing global leaders into conversation with the next generation of designers.
A huge thank you to our guest speakers for the insights and to the student team for making it happen!

-Jane Pritchard, Former & (Head of European Transformation Practice), Independent consultant

- Rebecca Brooks-Daw, Head of Group CX for the , Former CX Lead and South Western Railway

- Mark Croucher, Director of Planning and CX for , Former Assistant Director of CX in the and Head of CX for Virgin Holidays

- Joe Ferry, Former SVP Guest Experience & Design , Design Director Belmond, and Head of Design Virgin Atlantic Airways.

19/04/2026

13/04/2026

Each term, service design students run Back to Studio events where Royal College of Art service design alumni come back to share their insights as service designers in the field. Last term the second event was a panel discussion amongst designers from different contexts, giving students the opportunity to engage with them and gain valuable insights into professional practice across public sector, social impact, and industry. The session offered meaningful conversations, shared experiences, and reflections on diverse career journeys, fostering learning, connection, and community.