Mercari’s R&D Organization R4D and Yamagata University to Launch Collaborative Research Project on “Personal Design”
Students and Professionals to Work Together With the Help of Specialized Generative AI and Aim to Publish Open-Source Results
Mercari, Inc. (“Mercari”) research and development organization R4D and the National University Corporation Yamagata University (“Yamagata University”) School of Collaborative Regional Innovation and Data Science Co-Creation Prototyping Lab (Mitsutomi Lab) will launch a collaborative research project on “personal design,” exploring service design that starts from personal experiences.
Project overview: Creating services that start from personal experiences
This project aims to create services from experiences that are personal to each individual in their daily lives, from things they’d like to create to problems they’d like to solve.
Project process
- Starting from personal experiences: First, with the help of specialized AI, project members will work individually to verbalize personal experiences in their daily lives and the relevant actions they can try, starting from small steps. They will then share their ideas with others to dive deeper into understanding their latent needs.
- Collaborating on shared experiences: Members with similar experiences will form groups and merge their ideas into one shared experience. Based on this shared experience, members will design specific and feasible services and actually test them out on a small scale.
Project traits
It can be difficult to imagine how a circular economy relates to us on a personal level. That’s why a key feature of this project is exploring and developing ideas from personal experiences that connect to a circular economy. With the advancement of generative AI, it is also easier than ever before to generate images, videos, and code, making it possible for anyone to create their own service. However, additional help is still needed for non-professionals to refine their ideas into polished services. Therefore, in this research project, specialized generative AI will assist project members in verbalizing, expressing, and prototyping their ideas.
Comments from R4D Researcher Koki Kusano
The goal of this research project is to achieve a world in which even those without design expertise can design services from their personal experiences with the help of specialized AI and the right environment. We believe that working together in a shared space to create and test services from personal experiences can lead to diverse insights not obtainable from the traditional service development process. We especially welcome students and professionals with an interest in the use of marketplace apps, reuse, and the circular economy to join us. We look forward to envisioning new forms of value circulation unique to Yamagata and working together toward achieving Mercari’s group mission to “circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people.”
The venue and program coordination for this project will be provided by Yamagata Creative City Center Q1.