The SDN Academy is an educational initiative introduced by the Service Design Network (SDN) in 2019. Offering a series of education courses for both seasoned practitioners and those new to service design, our Academy is committed to advancing practitioner knowledge by sharing insights on the latest tools, methods and techniques shaping the future of our industry. Since its founding, the SDN Academy has run both public and in-house training for more than 1.100+ students, across more than 24 different course offerings. Course participants come from a range of backgrounds and experience levels.

The SDN is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 and is the only community of its type world-wide. In addition to the SDN Academy, the SDN runs a series of annual Global Conferences, publishes the journal 'Touchpoint', recognizes best-in-class work through its Award program, supports a large network of local Chapters, and supports up-and-coming service designers through its Young Talent Board and associated activities. You can learn more about the SDN at www.service-design-network.org.

Yes, all participants who successfully complete the course (based on lecture progress, as well as completion of quizzes and assignments) will receive a course completion certificate.

Yes, we offer time-limited discounts to everyone, and fixed discounts to some people, such as paid SDN members, mailing list subscribers, past SDN Academy course participants, and those who have previously acquired Practitioner Accreditation.

Please note that some discounts are non-transferable and cannot be shared. For example, if you hold Practitioner Accreditation from the SDN and received a personal invitation to take this course, your discount cannot be used by anyone else. In cases where discount codes are not transferable, we will check eligibility post-purchase.

In addition, across all its initiatives, the SDN offers income-based discounts based on the country of the purchaser. This helps support the organization's mission of raising the awareness and application of service design world-wide. A limited number of discounted seats are available per course edition. Refer to the World Bank list for the classification of countries. The eligible discount is as follows:

To enquire if you are eligible for an income-based discount, contact us at academy@service-design-network.org. You will be asked to demonstrate proof of your country of residence.

Discount codes are only applicable to the normal price of the course (they cannot be combined with Early Bird or SDN Member discounts). If you hold a discount code, please choose one of the two "Non-member price" options in the "Normal ticket" section, on the purchase page.

After clicking 'Buy now' next to either option, you will see an option on the next page which says "Have a coupon?". This is where you can enter the discount code or coupon you hold.

Please note that some discounts are non-transferable, and your eligibility will be checked post-purchase.

We accept the following means of payment: Credit/debit cards, PayPal, SEPA Direct Debit or payment via invoice. The availability of means of payment may be affected by your location. If you would prefer to pay via invoice, please contact us at academy@service-design-network.org. Payment must be settled at least one week prior to the course start date.

We work with the course platform Thinkific. Once you purchase your ticket you can login to the course platfrom and get access to the on-demand content.

No Refunds After Access

Once you have accessed or started watching the video content, refunds will generally not be provided.

Technical Issues

If the content cannot be accessed due to technical problems on our side, we will provide assistance to resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved within a reasonable time (e.g., 7 days), a refund or alternative access (such as extended time or download options) may be offered.

Accidental Purchases

Refunds for accidental purchases may be issued if the user has not accessed or downloaded the content. You must request a refund within a specified time frame (e.g., 48 hours from purchase).

Yes, this course is fully on-demand, so there’s no requirement to participate in live sessions. However, we provide a discussion forum on the course platform where you can share your thoughts and engage with other participants or trainers.

Additionally, we regularly organize live online Q&A sessions with the trainers. You’ll receive an invitation to these sessions, which are free to attend and completely optional.

The course language is English. We are committed to expanding the reach of our educational offering and are considering offering multilingual courses (via AI-supported translation). If this is relevant for you, please contact us to express your interest: academy@service-design-network.org.

Yes, subtitles are available in English. We are committed to expanding the reach of our educational offering and are considering offering multilingual subtitles (via AI-supported translation). If this is relevant for you, please contact us to express your interest: academy@service-design-network.org.