Designing Retail & Services Futures Colloquium 2024
14 – 15 May 2025
Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Deadline: 2 February 2025
The Special Interest Group (SIG) Designing Retail & Service Futures from the Design Research Society (DRS) was established in 2021 under the guidance of the Design Research Society. The SIG strives to gain a better understanding of the value of design in the commercial sector, including disciplines, such as interior design, architecture, retail and hospitality, branding, marketing, strategic design, design management and consumer psychology. Design and its value have been a subject of study for many years and from many different disciplinary perspectives (ranging from product design to marketing, business economics, service design, management, environmental psychology, (interior)architecture, etc.). However, these perspectives have been developed in a fragmented way with discrete research methods and results that present limitations to practically applying these findings holistically across the inter-related fields of design, retail, and services.
Recent developments, that have been accelerated by the pandemic and the current economic crisis, show that in practice, services are becoming integral to retail and vice versa. The consumers’ needs and the dedication of retailers to serve these needs have sparked new approaches that unite both service and retail design. Whether it be online or offline (or both), for a product or a service or an experience, or all together… It is only natural that the research community support the development of this field through furthering insights. This colloquium focuses on bringing together various disciplines to contribute their related knowledge and insights with the objective of calibrating terms and meanings that strive for consensus across disciplines related to retail and service design. In addition, the colloquium emphasises the importance of sustainability in retail and service design. By integrating sustainable practices, the goal is to contribute to a future where retail and service design are not only holistic and encompassing but also environmentally responsible and sustainable. The integration of sustainability into these discussions ensures that the advancements in retail and service design also address the critical need for environmental stewardship, making the field more relevant and responsible in the context of contemporary global challenges.
Submission guidelines
Papers of up to 4000 words (ex. references), with up to 6 keywords, and which may include images, will be subjected to a peer review process to be then published in the Colloquium proceedings (with ISBN number). The proceedings will be included in the DRS online library.
Papers should be submitted in a specific format.
Key dates
– Submission of papers: Midnight February 2nd, 2025 (CET)
– Notification of acceptance: February 28th, 2025
– Registration opens: March 1st, 2025
– Colloquium: 14 – 15th May 2025
Organising committee
– Katelijn Quartier (Hasselt University)
– Valeria Iannilli (Politecnico di Milano)
– Alessandra Spagnoli (Politecnico di Milano)
– Tommaso Elli (Politecnico di Milano)
– Ilse Prinsloo (University of Johannesburg)
– Rebekah Matheny (Ohio State University)
More info here.
Any inquiries about this colloquium can be directed to ICDRSFColloquium@outlook.com