Master’s Degree in Product Service System Design

The master's degree in Product Service System Design trains professionals able to lead complex innovation processes that integrate products, services and digital ecosystems, with particular attention to sustainability and social impact. The curriculum addresses socio-cultural and business contexts, user experience and team dynamics, with lab projects ranging from small scale to complex service ecosystems. It includes courses on innovation theories and data-driven service design models, on systemic design for sustainability and optional courses on economic, social and cultural dimensions. The methods used include ethnographic research and participatory design. The combination of products, services and digital ecosystems is at the centre of what contemporary companies offer, and the programme teaches how to design it coherently, starting from an understanding of contexts and users and arriving at sustainable service models, with tools that include ethnographic research, participatory design and data analysis.

The programme lasts two years, is held in person in Milan and is delivered in English. In the first year, foundation courses and labs that help to understand the context are presented; in the second semester, innovation theories and data-driven models are addressed; in the third semester students work on systemic design for sustainability with elective courses; teaching alternates theory courses and intensive workshops. Admission requires a bachelor's degree in Design, Architecture, Fine Arts or related fields (classes L-4, L-17, L-21, L-3) or a first-level academic diploma, with a minimum grade of 23/30 for Polytechnic University graduates and 25/30 for others, portfolio, CV, motivation letter and an English certificate of at least B2 for international candidates. Selection is merit-based and includes portfolio, curriculum and motivation letter, and this helps form a class of students with strong motivation and design skills already under way, encouraging a lab environment in which exchange and teamwork are an integral part of the experience.

Related professions include the UX/UI designer, the design researcher, the project manager, the design lead, the strategic designer, the service designer, the brand designer, the art director, the business designer, the trend analyst and corporate image coordination roles. The page gives the programme high ratings and does not state credits, hours, cost, class size or dates. The programme is aimed at those who wish to build a profile as a strategic designer, able to work between research, design and the management of product and service systems in companies, design studios, public bodies and international organisations. The programme prepares students for roles ranging from research to the organisation of complex projects, and the possibility of choosing optional courses on economic, social and cultural dimensions makes it possible to build a profile oriented towards strategy, digital design, branding or innovation management, in an international setting made possible by the use of English.