For students
This page is for those considering the seminar or graduate study at the Graduate School of Media and Governance.
Seminar “Service Design (tentative)”
In this seminar we understand “service” in the sense of S-D logic, namely the application of one’s knowledge and skills for the benefit of another or of oneself. On that basis we understand service design through four scopes (customer experience, backstage business processes, actor networks, and service ecosystems) and approach it through three theoretical perspectives: HCI, innovation management, and service ecosystem design.
As of the fall semester of 2026, the director is engaged in the following two projects.
Low-income countries and service design
With the Philippines as the main field, we aim to address nutrition and environmental problems in the Global South through the development and diffusion of products and services that make use of local resources. The work is supported by the Suntory Foundation and the Kyushu University interdisciplinary program in the humanities and social sciences.
Space and service design
In collaboration with Oita Prefecture, we investigate the readiness of the region and the design of related services for the use of Oita Airport as a spaceport.
What you can do here
Turn discarded things into resources
Starting from unused resources in developing countries and rural regions, you design product and service concepts and their acceptance. We have fields in the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Laos.
Help robots and AI settle into the workplace
In care, hospital, and facility-management settings, you decide through research and prototyping what to entrust to machines and what to keep with people.
Study the boundary between generative AI and professionals
You interview designers and planners about what they delegate to AI and turn the findings into guidelines and metrics. You also learn to make your own use of AI in research auditable.
Local communities and Web3
You study local DAOs and relational-population policies across three layers (community managers, digital residents, and physical residents) and translate them into design principles and tools.
Build service design methods
You learn the end-to-end process from interview design to an implementation roadmap and study its adoption by companies and governments.
Children’s learning and museums
You design AR games for science museums and role-playing games for disaster education, and evaluate them together with children.
Whom we are looking for
- We welcome people who are willing to go into the field, listen to people, and observe.
- The lab suits people who want to do both qualitative research and hands-on prototyping. Skills in programming, 3D, or video can be put to use.
- We welcome people who are motivated to present in English.
- Your faculty and background do not matter. We welcome crossing the boundary between the humanities and the sciences.
Methods you will learn
Through the new course “Service Design” (winter semester 2026) and the seminar, you experience the following methods.
| Stage | Methods |
|---|---|
| Explore | Interview design, semi-structured interviews, observation, probes, diary studies |
| Analyze | Qualitative content analysis, thematic analysis, goal-directed personas, auditing LLM-assisted analysis (independent runs, quotation matching, line-by-line adjudication) |
| Define and develop | Customer journeys, service blueprints, co-creation workshops, concepts, storyboards and role play |
| Extend and implement | Service ecosystem analysis (micro, meso, macro), visualizing the three institutions, digital touchpoints, implementation roadmaps |
How supervision works
- The weekly seminar centers on reading groups and project meetings.
- Undergraduates aim to present at domestic conferences (the Japanese Society for the Science of Design, the Society for Serviceology, the Human Interface Society, and others), master’s students at international conferences (ServDes, CHI-related venues, DIS, and others), and doctoral students in journal papers.
- There are opportunities to join fieldwork abroad (the Philippines, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and others).
- Students can take part in joint research with companies and local governments.
How to apply
| Track | Procedure |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate seminar | The selection procedure and deadlines are announced each semester on K-LMS. |
| Graduate School of Media and Governance | Please consult us before applying. Send an outline of your research plan (about one page) and your CV through the contact form. We accept both master’s and doctoral students, and supervision in English is available. |
Frequently asked questions
- Participating in English only
- This is possible. At the master’s level and above, discussion and supervision in the lab are also conducted in English.
- Entering from another faculty or university
- This is possible. Our members come from diverse backgrounds such as design, engineering, management, and anthropology.
- Use of research funds
- Some research, travel, and equipment related to lab projects can be covered by research funds. We discuss this case by case.
- Career paths
- Because the lab has only just opened, there is no record yet at Keio. Graduates of the previous labs at the Faculty of Global and Science Studies, Yamaguchi University, and the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, have joined companies such as NEC, Kyocera, Taisei Corporation, Panasonic Homes, and the Yamaguchi Bank.
Examples of student work
These are papers published since 2019 with a student as first author.