Conceptualization of meaning in design-driven innovation and value in service innovation, seem to be sharing some core characteristics that are essential but have not yet been integrated. Thus, this paper explores design-driven innovation and its conceptual relevance for service innovation within the framework of service-dominant logic (S-D logic) by examining interrelation between meaning and value. Design-driven innovation is defined as a strategic framework that enables radical innovation through change in meaning relying on Krippendorff’s (1989) notion that people interact with artifacts because they make sense to them. On the other hand, S-D logic’s core concepts evolve around resource integration for value co-creation among multiple stakeholders addressing important complexities of service innovation. Both meaning and value share some conceptual commonalities. By exploring and interrelating them within their conceptual frameworks, this paper aims to open new ways for understanding and operationalizing service innovation and the role of service design within it.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of meaning as a relevant but missing link in understanding the building blocks of service innovation informed by service-dominant (S-D) logic. In exploring the role of meaning in service innovation, especially related to new value propositions, resource integration and new value cocreation, the authors suggest using the conceptualization of meaning within human-centered design, which has an established body of knowledge on addressing how actors engage and interact. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds an actionable conceptual framework that relates meaning to central tenets of service innovation, such as resource integration, value propositions and cocreation of value. It delineates the central building blocks of service innovation and conceptually integrates them with meaning to explain the underlying mechanisms of service innovation related both to its development and adoption. Findings The findings highlight how and why meaning precedes value creation and directs resource integration. Indicating that meaning is driven by experience of earlier interactions it delineates its relationships with new value formation and positions resource interpretation as a driver of this process. Originality/value This paper extends the understanding of service innovation in relation to S-D logic, with meaning as a conceptual link to aspects of S-D logic that claim a phenomenological nature. Meaning contributes to S-D logic by providing an understanding of how beneficiaries form intentions to engage in value creation and resource integration. Additionally, by integrating service and design research domains, this paper suggests possibilities for multidisciplinary contributions in future research.

While service design has been accepted as a human-centered and cocreative approach to service innovation, its role in technology-driven contexts, specifically technology startups, has been largely unexplored. Previous research suggests that technology startups tend to focus on technical aspects of innovation, neglecting the value cocreation potential of service innovation that service design can facilitate. Focusing on value propositions as the main mechanisms of service innovation, this study explores how service design facilitates service innovation in technology startups. This longitudinal study examines the opportunities and challenges of introducing service design for the purpose of service innovation in five technology startups over a period of 11 months. Results reveal how service design facilitates the creation of new value propositions that expand the previous technology-driven focus towards a human-centered and cocreative one. Additionally, findings suggest that there are two levels of how service design becomes embedded in technology startups that are contingent on their life cycle stage. This contributes to the service innovation literature that views innovation as development of new value propositions and describes the key role of service design. The study also discusses managerial implications of the findings for technology startups and service designers and provides directions for future research.