This publication is the second in the Research in Design series. Design is an effort that enjoys a growing attention in the academic world. At Delft University of Technology design is a recognized part of science. Like other technical universities, Delft is rooted in the engineering field. And in spite of questions like 'what is design', 'what is engineering' and 'what is science', which can be debated in long sessions, and differences that are hard to explain, it is possible to feel the differences. In this book the authors contribute to the development of a design language for the service domain. In general the engineering discipline is expanding into a field that embraces perspectives of more disciplines and actors, next to the engineer who is responsible for the artifact. The first volume in this Research in Design Series stresses the stakeholder oriented approach in the domain of architecture and urban planning (Binnekamp, van Gunsteren, & van Loon, 2006). The domain in this volume is services. This is a field in which the involvement of different stakeholders with different interests in the design process is particularly a critical success factor.
