Creating a transition pathway for retail food and beverage toward collaborative consumption future
Year
2025
Role
Service Designer
Design at
Royal College of Art
Design For
Independent Research Project
This Independent Research Project (IRP) was developed as part of the MA Service Design programme at the Royal College of Art, by Plu Phumchumphol[Me] in collaboration with Miran Jurisevic and Madeline Mai, under the guidance of tutor David Evan-Eveleigh.
The aim of the IRP is to apply service design methodologies within a complex real-world context, in this case, the UK food retail system, and to critically examine both their potential and their limitations. Through a transition design approach supported by speculative design, this project explores how food retail can evolve toward a more circular and collaborative future in response to rising co-living trends and growing food waste.
By navigating constraints such as industry inertia, territorial food behaviours, and systemic misalignments, the project interrogates how service designers can not only adapt methods to context but also stretch the boundaries of the discipline itself, advancing service design as a tool for long-term societal transition.