This thesis investigates how co-creation can use emotional user journey mapping to support the design process and the creation of a (new) service. Thereto, the thesis also aims at contributing to an extended understanding of the service design discipline and its value when co-creating new solutions across different mindsets of both expert designers and regular users. The thesis draws conclusions from a design case, in which the design process explores the challenges of mentally vulnerable students enrolled at Aalborg University. The case results in a report highlighting both the insights and the opportunity spaces on how to develop and improve support services available to (mentally vulnerable) students.

The design case employs the four phases of the Double Diamond methodology and is structured around activities that ensure a co- creative approach. The research suggests alternative methods, such as conversation cards to extensively involve participants in a co- creative service design project. The approach reveals the importance of the cards, especially in relation to a sensitive topic such as mental health, where the cards provide a common ground, a tangibility, and a foundation for dynamic and honest discussions. Orchestrating and facilitating a workshop containing the card element clearly stressed the importance of the role of a service designer, as there was a need for having an overview and progression of the workshop. Furthermore, the research shows that everyone involved in the design process is to be understood as an expert – the participants as the experts of the theme, and the designers as the experts of supporting others in designing and developing the process.

The thesis reveals that relations between participants in a service design project that are characterized by trust, sensitivity, and empathy are beneficial for a co-creative research process, as they ensure engagement and contribute to mobilizing participants’ reflections, making them think and act in ways that are more beneficial for them. These relations can be fostered by building safe, open, and informal design environments by the means of warm-up exercises, ice- breakers, etc. Thus, the thesis expands the understanding of service design as not only being a way to design services but shows that the design process in itself is valuable, as it contains a transformative power. Based on the research, the thesis reflects and concludes the design case and offers a solution proposal as well as a foundation for future research.