Designing Organizations as Service Ecosystems Using Speculative Service Design

Organizations today face increasing uncertainty driven by complex internal and external dynamics, requiring continuous and adaptive transformation. However, traditional transformation models, which rely on predictability and certainty, are inadequate for addressing contemporary organizational change. This article explores how service design enhances its transformative potential by integrating critical and future-oriented (speculative) approaches. Adopting a service-dominant logic perspective, this study conceptualizes organizations as service (eco)systems and uses service ecosystem design to facilitate the reconfiguration of resources and the emergence of new forms of value cocreation. Through an explanatory case study of four design projects, we investigate how speculative design approaches foster reflexivity and engage actors in transformation. We propose five design principles that offer operational strategies to leverage integrative design approaches in organizational transformation. The study findings provide practical guidance for designers and managers navigating these changes and also contribute to the theoretical discourse on the role of service design in systemic transformation.