Designing Innovative Remote Internships Through Service Design Methodology: A Case for Educational Transformation

The remote internship is an important on-the-field learning opportunity for university students, suitable to prepare them for relevant changes in working scenarios. However, it must be properly structured to result in a successful learning experience. In this regard, existing studies have emphasized the roles of university tutors and company mentors while overlooking that the remote internship process should be centered around the needs and expectations of students. By referring to the principles of the Service Design Methodology (SDM), this study reimagines experiential student learning in an increasingly changing work environment through a structured, co-creative, and user-centered design process for remote internship experiences. Specifically, the aim is to elaborate the Remote Internship Blueprint (RIB), which is a detailed visualization of the remote internship process, including frontstage (student-facing) and backstage (behind-the-scenes) activities to align the intern delivery with student expectations. This study contributed to existing studies as it refers to the well-established SDM to provide a scalable, replicable methodology for universities seeking to innovate internship programs within broader digital transformation agendas in education and training. Further, it emphasizes the importance of training in skills and attitudes relevant to remote working to make the process smoother for interns, universities, and companies.