From vision to reality: How service design processes shape Mobility as a Service offerings

Paper i proceeding, 2022

The term service design refers to a collection of techniques, methods and activities that, among other things, aim to ensure that services are developed according to a clear understanding of what users want. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has been pitched as a user-centric approach to resolving problems related to passenger transportation, and yet service design is an unresearched topic within the MaaS field. This paper seeks to address this gap by exploring the way in which service design was deployed in association with four field operational tests (pilots) of MaaS, all of which took place in Gothenburg during the last decade. In addition to describing the varying forms and focus areas for service design activities, the study examines the reasons for variance across cases and deliberates on the ways in which shortcomings may influence MaaS developments more generally.