The SDN Accreditation Programme is an independent certification confirming that you have met established criteria and competencies within the field of service design.

  • Validates your competency in service design

  • Elevates your profile in the marketplace

  • Lends credibility to your practice

  • Supports your career in the field of service design

  • Showcases your commitment to bringing transparency and an established standard to the practice of service design

  • Helps your employer to get ahead of the competition by building the best service design teams

SDN Accredited Practitioners

Service Designer

Claire Hartley

As part of the SDA team, I teach design process and methodologies to support and encourage understanding, inclusion and innovation. Working with various diverse community groups, public, private and third sector organisations, I positively contribute to people development and the transformation of business projects through building capacity for service design practice.

Service Design Consultant

Alvin Schexnider

Alvin has focused his career on design for social impact. He began to build capacity in human-centered design as the first Director of Operations at Greater Good Studio LLC, a global social innovation & human-centered design firm. Currently, he is the Chief People Officer of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Service Designer

Kim Anderson

Kim is a service design consultant and trainer at SDA UK. She focuses on user-centered design and inclusive design. She studied design Thinking and has applied her approach to design products and digital platforms. Alongside she builds design capacity in organisations by delivering service design training.

“In today’s market it is vital for self-employed professionals like me to be able to prove one’s expertise.” – Innovation Consultant, Netherlands.

“Demand is already strong for Service Design in Ireland. Talented designers with practitioner accreditation will help accelerate the impact it can have nationally.” – John Lynch, Founder & Director at Context Studio, Ireland.

What it means to be an SDN Accredited Service Design Practitioner

You have fundamental knowledge and some initial practical application of service design principles, processes, methods and tools. Along with that, you are engaged within the service design community.

Pre-requisites

  • 1+ year of experience practicing service design in a professional capacity and/or completion of service design education/training at academic or non-academic institutions that amounts to a minimum of 32 hours (single or cumulative courses)

  • Completion of 1 service design project or capstone/training case

  • Meet core competencies as a service design practitioner

➝ Review our competency checklist for each accreditation level here.

➝ Don't meet the pre-requisites already? Build your skills in service design by taking part in the newest SDN Academy course Service Design Practitioner Curriculum (Training + Accreditation) with high-level SDN Accredited Trainers that will guide you to become an accredited service design practitioner. Get to know more about the starting dates and details of the course here.


The Accreditation Process

  • STEP 1. REGISTRATION

    Create an account on our accreditation platform (Thinkific) and pay the accreditation fee via credit card or Paypal to access your SDN practitioner accreditation process dashboard.

  • STEP 2. APPLICATION

    Upload and submit for review: 1) your professional CV and/or certificate(s) of your education/training in service design; 2) your service design project or capstone/training case (following a provided case study template).

  • STEP 3. ONLINE EXAM

    Take an online exam consisting of 35 multiple-choice questions covering fundamental knowledge within the field of service design (you have the chance to retake the exam if the minimum score of 90% is not achieved).

Investment

Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the Forefront

Our new financially inclusive pricing structure considers the global disparity in currency value between countries. 


Using the World Bank's country income index as a guiding framework, the accreditation fees are based on where you live and fall into one of the following economic categories, as termed by the World Bank:

Income Categories
Practitioner Accreditation Fees
High income
 €460.00
Upper middle income €305.00
Lower middle income €150.00
Low income €100.00

*To learn more about where your country falls within the World Bank’s country designations, please click here. Please note that a supplemental list can be found here for countries not registered within this index due to being territories of other countries or smaller independent nations.

The accreditation fee is billed at registration (step 1) and includes: your access to the accreditation process dashboard, the review of your documentation by the SDN, the provision of your SDN accreditation benefits for 24 months and a two-year SDN Professional membership with all connected benefits.


Get your official SDN accreditation and enjoy the many benefits:

  • EXCELLENCE

    Earn your 'SDN Accredited Service Design Practitioner' title that validates your competency in service design for two years and showcases your commitment to bringing transparency and an established standard to the practice of service design.

  • CREDIBILITY

    Receive your SDN accreditation certificate that demonstrates you have successfully completed an industry-recognised accreditation process. Hang your accreditation certificate on the wall, include it on your website and be sure to reference it on your LinkedIn profile.

  • RECOGNITION

    Receive your official SDN accreditation badge to promote your SDN accredited status on your website, social media channels, portfolio and any other promotional materials, thus increasing your value within the marketplace.

  • AMBASSADOR FOR SERVICE DESIGN

    Be recognised as an ambassador for service design and the Service Design Network in your region, city and country, showing your commitment to global growth, development and innovation within the practice of service design.

  • BELONGING

    Become a member of an esteemed group of SDN accredited service designers. Be recognised as an outstanding actor within the service design industry.

  • MEET-UPS

    Gain access to exclusive virtual meet-ups organised twice a year to share your experiences and learn from other SDN accredited practitioners.

  • DEDICATED COMMUNITY

    Gain access to an online community of SDN accredited practitioners on dedicated channels (Slack, LinkedIn), enabling you to connect globally and engage in meaningful conversations with your peers.

  • SDN MEMBERSHIP

    Receive a two-year SDN Professional Membership (worth €360) including all member benefits. Gain access to our network, events, discounts and valuable resources like the Touchpoint Journal and the Case Study Library.

  • VISIBILITY

    Gain prominent visibility with your SDN accredited title, badge and profile page featured on the SDN website, a platform that welcomes over 200,000 visitors per year, 51% of those being new visitors every day.

  • SPACE TO SHOWCASE YOURSELF

    Showcase who you are, your best projects and your contact details on your SDN accreditation profile page, so potential clients and employers can easily reach out to you.

  • SPACE TO PUBLISH YOUR WORK

    Gain access to publish your case studies and articles on the SDN Community Knowledge online platform, helping you to highlight your accomplishments and opinions with the community.

  • CAREER PROGRESSION

    At the end of your two-year accreditation period, be invited to renew your accreditation at a reduced rate or upgrade to Professional level. To support your career progression, you receive an exclusive 25% off discount on your upgrade.

FAQ

  • Does SDN offer service design training that supports the accreditation?

    You can participate in a variety of online and onsite training courses offered by the SDN Academy. SDN Academy is an educational initiative committed to advancing practitioner knowledge by sharing insights on the latest tools, methods, and techniques. The successful completion of SDN Academy courses is recognised with a certificate, as well as a discount code for you to apply for the practitioner accreditation. Learn more and register for the training courses offered by the SDN Academy at www.sdn-academy.org.

  • Does SDN offer group discounts?

    If your company is seeking to secure accreditation for you and more practitioners, please contact us to discuss other invoicing options and group-rate discounts. The accreditation can be a great starting point for newly established service design teams involved in the transformation of your organisation.

  • How should my case study looks like?

    As part of your accreditation process, you need to upload and submit for review a case study as a proof that you have completed a professional service design project or capstone/training case. The case study should describe a service design project where you have applied service design principles, methods and tools to solve a problem with (potential) positive outcomes to both the business and the users. The case study should follow the SDN case study template (download template here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RciFzokoJVlKQJPFidByDE7LQWQjKeqHPQoZLt6La44/edit). Case studies are an incredibly valuable tool to share your knowledge, build your profile in the network, and grow the practice of service design. Primarily, your case study will only be shared with the SDN as part of your accreditation application. We encourage you, nevertheless, to give us the permission to potentially publish your case study on the SDN website after your successful accreditation.

  • How is the review process of my documentation?

    The SDN cross-check the provided documentation and make a triangulation of your qualification, experience and project work in order to approve or reject your documentation.

  • What happen if my documentation is not approved?

    In case your documentation does not meet the established criteria, you will receive an email message with feedback about your submission and recommendations for a future accreditation.

  • What happens if I don’t pass the exam?

    You can retake the exam if the minimum score of 90% is not achieved. After taking the exam, you will see an overview of which questions were answered correctly and which were incorrect. That will give you the opportunity to critically reflect and deepen your fundamental knowledge in service design before trying it again.

  • How long it takes to get the SDN accreditation?

    After you submit your documentation for review and pass the online exam, you will be notified and receive either your official accreditation or further recommendations for future accreditation within a two-week time frame.

Further questions? We are here to help! Contact us at [email protected]

Get recognised by the SDN for your knowledge and initial practical application of service design.

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