AIC Holds Workshop for AIC Student Interns

On Saturday, July 5, 2025, AIC held a workshop for AIC student interns titled “Thinking Innovatively without Bias through ‘System & Design Thinking.’” 11 student interns attended. With the guidance of AIC representative Professor Yakoh, Associate Professor Ioki, Project Assistant Professor Nakada, and Project Assistant Professor Itoh from the Keio University Graduate School of System Design and Management, students were able to learn the fundamentals of “System & Design Thinking,” developing their ability to solve problems in creative ways.

Participants were divided into two teams and practiced through multiple exercises where they collaborated with other students from a variety of backgrounds. By challenging conventional wisdom and adopting different approaches, students were able to become aware of their biases and engage in innovative thinking. The workshop also served as a platform for student interns to interact with peers who have different experiences and work duties.

Experiential Learning Exercises

The workshop was structured to advance students’ thinking in stages through multiple exercises such as team building, creative thinking practice, and deep dives into value exploration. Each exercise was designed to stimulate communication among team members and develop their ability to think flexibly while under certain conditions.

The exercises also provided an opportunity for students to understand their frame of reference and expand their perspectives by structuring and visualizing ideas freely in response to given issues. When thinking in terms of value creation, students examined how stakeholders would view the meaning and significance of different actions while simultaneously analyzing the connection between social, economic, and emotional values, thereby gaining a multidimensional understanding needed to implement their ideas.

At the end of the workshop, participants delivered brief presentations on the ideas they had refined through the exercises and their underlying values. The teams also provided mutual feedback, gaining inspiration and gleaning new insights in the process.

Participant Feedback

“Since there have not been many opportunities for student interns to interact with each other, this workshop was extremely valuable and motivating for me. Using Customer Value Chain Analysis to visualize the flow of value among stakeholders was completely new to me, and I was amazed at the volume and speed at which ideas were being generated.”

“It was a very good experience for me to be able to practice a systemic approach to generating ideas and brainstorming, where previously I had been doing without putting much thought into it. I think this event helped me understand the process that leads to innovation a little better. The workshop was so engaging and full of content that eight hours seemed to fly by in a blink of an eye.”

Summary

Through this workshop, participants grasped the basic concepts and methods of “System & Design Thinking” via experiential learning and acquired the capacity to approach issues creatively without being constrained by bias. Through teamwork and discussions, student interns were able to build deeper relationships with each other, thereby facilitating smoother AIC operations going forward. The insights gleaned through this workshop will be applied to future research activities at Keio as well as AIC’s work.

Finally, AIC would like to express its sincere appreciation to Associate Professor Ioki, Project Assistant Professor Nakada, and Project Assistant Professor Itoh from the Keio University Graduate School of System Design and Management for lending their support to make this workshop possible.

Group photo