Addressing social needs through remote based design thinking

• Main Authors: GOI, Hoe-Chin, TAN, Wee Liang, HARA, Yuki, TAKAO, Shuichi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Design Thinking; Social innovation; Aging; Gerontology; Strategic Management Policy; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6218; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7217/viewcontent/ACSS2018_41942__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

With ageing as the coming and increasing phenomenon in Japan, there is a need for innovative solutions for seniors to lead active lives in their residing communities. Little research has been conducted on the use of design thinking as a means to develop social innovations, especially with the designers not being present on-site from a distance. This paper reports the study on the effectiveness of employing a remote based design thinking in a university course with the goal for participants to develop social innovations that elderly, as stakeholders, would be engage to adopt and implement. The study involved two cohorts of participants in a design thinking course at the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, where the participants were asked to employ design thinking to develop social innovations for two regional communities in Japan without them visiting. Findings from the comparison of the two cohorts show that higher social innovation occurs if the participants have clearly identified target users and addressed the needs of seniors. Future research is needed to better understand how cultural differences enhance or hindered the design process especially as the users come from a Japanese culture while most of the designers are international.