What is it like to study service design, SID graduate Corey L’Esperance?
Interview with Corey L’Esperance, who just graduated from the Service Innovation and Design Master's program at Laurea.
Laurea's English-language master’s programs offer an international study environment that brings together students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives on global challenges. One of the programs is Service Innovation and Design (SID), which focuses on service design and service development. Next, we meet Corey L'Esperance, a Canadian who has settled in Finland and just graduated from the program.
What is service design?
“Throughout my career, I have always been interested in how I can help improve internal processes in companies. Service design is a great way to do this, because it connects different kinds of people together: creative types, engineers, business experts," Corey L'Esperance summarizes.
In SID studies, service design is integrated into the learning process so that students acquire the skills to innovate, design, and manage services that offer sustainable competitive advantages in a service-driven business environment. Service design emphasizes the importance of collaborative innovation and encourages companies to take a genuinely people-centered, empathetic approach.
“Today, as we increasingly operate in digital environments, service design is more important than ever. The service design process is strongly linked to connecting people and trying to navigate through problems towards solutions together”, Corey explains.
“I wouldn’t call myself a service designer, but I definitely do use service design methods in most of my working activities these days.”
What is it like to study at Laurea?
"Studying at Laurea combines theory and practice very well; during classroom days, we first learn the theory and then utilizing the skill sets within the classroom in practical group work," L'Esperance explains.
Studying at Laurea’s master’s degree programs requires at least two years of relevant work experience in the field, which is why sharing experiences among the student group provides a key addition to the studies. Corey L’Esperance also recognizes this:
"We have had a really diverse group of students with experience in different fields and at different stages of their careers. It has been great to step out of my own 'bubble', meet new people, and challenge myself and my own views."
Corey also highlights alumni as one of the strengths of the SID program. The courses were often visited by graduates of the master’s program or others working in the field of service design, who offered their own perspectives on the topics studied and how they apply what they have learned in their work.
How to utilize master’s degree studies in the workplace?
Corey L'Esperance, who previously worked in television and film, currently works at Wärtsilä as a Senior Brand Specialist. In his work, he is responsible for ensuring that the visual style of Wärtsilä's global media productions is consistent throughout the organization.
In his master's studies, Corey has strived to combine as many of the course assignments as possible with his work and, on the other hand, to examine the theory he has learned from the perspective of a company such as Wärtsilä. He took the same approach in his thesis.
"I can say that I use a lot of what I learned at Laurea in my work every day," he sums up.
"All in all, I am proud of the work I have done during my studies and of Laurea's education; studying was both challenging and really fun."