Service Design as Formgiving: Breaking Free from the Marketing-Dominant Logic

Abstract This article presents a critique of Vargo and Lusch's service-dominant logic (SD Logic) and proposes an alternative basis for service design. The proposed approach builds upon the formgiving tradition outlined in Maldonado's definition of industrial design. More specifically, the article questions SD Logic's neglect of service materiality and emphasizes the need for a deliberate reevaluation of formgiving, taking into account the unique materiality of services exchanged in face-to-face interactions.