Designing a Digital Service System for Sustainable Social Value Creation: A Holistic Design Method Based on Socio-Cyber-Physical System Perspectives

Recently, data utilisation and digital service offerings are becoming primary methods of value creation. In this context, designing and offering ‘digital service systems’ (DSSs) that integrate physical elements (e.g., products, facilities, and physical infrastructure) and digital service elements (e.g., digital services, data, apps, and cloud systems) are important to create sustainable social values and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 11. In this study, we propose a novel method for designing a DSS that simultaneously consider three system domains, namely social, physical, and digital domains. Specifically, we developed design models and a design process to support the DSS design. The proposed method was applied to an actual DSS design case. The results revealed that the proposed method could effectively consider components in the social system domain in addition to those in the digital and physical system domains in the DSS design. In particular, we identified that the proposed design models were useful for enabling the systematic management of a long-term collaborative design process among various stakeholders. They also enabled value-oriented thinking in DSS design and encouraged designers to consider different types of value in the DSS.