Celebrating Excellence in Service Design: A Recap of the Service Design Award Ceremony 2024

The Service Design Award Ceremony 2024 was an unforgettable celebration of creativity, innovation, and the best of what service design can offer. Held on October 3, at the Service Design Global Conference (SDGC24) in Helsinki, the ceremony marked the culmination of months of hard work, collaboration, and excellence from service design professionals and students across the globe.

The evening kicked off with a breathtaking light show and dynamic dance performance, setting an electrifying tone for what was to follow. The room was filled with excitement as attendees from around the world gathered to celebrate the 14 shortlisted projects that had reached the finalist stage of the Service Design Award 2024.

Luis Alt, Head of Jury, took the stage to lead the ceremony. His inspiring words highlighted the exceptional contributions of this year’s finalists, who have set new benchmarks in the field. With 14 remarkable projects spanning three categories—Professional Commercial, Professional Non-Profit/Public Sector, and Student—this year’s competition was more fierce and inspiring than ever.

Before the awards presentation, the ceremony continued with a special segment featuring the Award Ceremony Partners, Siili Solutions. Eliisa Sarkkinen and Juha-Matti Kosonen from Siili Solutions delivered a brief presentation, sharing their vision and commitment to advancing the service design community. Their words resonated with the audience, highlighting the power of design to create impactful, meaningful change.

As the audience eagerly anticipated the announcement of winners, Luis Alt unveiled the three exceptional projects that earned top honors this year. The winners represent groundbreaking solutions that not only exemplify design excellence but also make a significant impact on businesses, public services, and communities worldwide.

Winners of the Service Design Award 2024:

• Professional Commercial Winner:
  Absa ChatWallet by Absa Bank (South Africa)
  A revolutionary solution in banking services, enhancing customer interactions and making financial services more accessible.

• Professional Non-Profit Winner:
  Modernising Singapore’s Employment Pass Legacy Systems to Deliver Seamless Customer Services by Ministry of Manpower (Singapore)
  This project transformed a critical public service, delivering a seamless and user-centered experience for customers.

• Student Winner:
  Service Design for NORCS by Mia Mo, Robyn Carino, Samiha Essakhi, NORC Innovation Centre/University of Toronto (Canada)
  A remarkable student project that reimagines support services for older adults living in naturally occurring retirement communities.

Adding to the excitement, the Public Choice Award was introduced for the first time this year, giving the public a chance to vote for their favorite project. This year’s Public Choice Award went to Nimisha Priya for her impactful project, What Can I Do!?.

The Service Design Award concluded with warm congratulations to all the finalists and winners, as well as a heartfelt thank you to the jury for their diligent work in reviewing submissions. This year’s international jury, led by Luis Alt, included service design luminaries Birgit Mager, Cathy Huang, Satu Miettinen, Brian Gillespie, Damian Kernahan, and Service Design Award Project Lead Sonja Jazic.

Throughout the conference, the finalist projects were showcased at the Award Exhibition, offering attendees the chance to explore and engage with some of the most innovative service design solutions of the year. The exhibition attracted significant attention, with many conference attendees taking the time to view and be inspired by the outstanding work on display.

On October 4, the winners returned to the stage to present their award-winning projects to an eager audience. These winner presentations were a highlight of the conference, providing deep insights into the creative processes and design strategies that led to their success. For those unable to attend in person, the Award Ceremony and Winner presentations were broadcasted live across the Service Design Network's social media channels, ensuring that the global service design community could join in the celebration.

The Service Design Network once again showcased the transformative power of service design and its potential to shape the future. The winners and finalists of this year’s award have demonstrated that service design is not just a practice, but a force for meaningful and lasting change.

As we look ahead to next year’s competition, we celebrate the incredible work that was honored this year and look forward to the continued evolution of service design excellence.