GREETINGS

tsukuba & rakuten

Professor Toshimasa Yamanaka,
PhD Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Comprehensive Human Sciences

In April 2016, we started collaborative research with Rakuten Institute of Technology. The University of Tsukuba was founded 44 years ago with a vision to become an open academic institution. The philosophy of the university has been inherited over nearly half a century and now we have an environment where we can research beyond the boundaries of our majors and research fields. As a result of discussions on what we can do in such an environment and how we will use the organization to realize what we want to do, we decided to embark on joint research.
To achieve our goal of conducting advanced research and development based on real consumer experience in stores, we developed the “Future Store Design Laboratory” on the campus of the University of Tsukuba where we work with Associate Professor Soh Masuko, PhD, from Rakuten Institute of Technology. We distributed a joint press release when we finished setting up the laboratory and received a lot of positive responses.
The research has just started but as you can see on this website, we already have some great fruits from our research. Leveraging the potential of our university, we will continue to pursue innovative activities and research. Please look out for future research results from our lab.

Soh Masuko, Senior Manager, Rakuten Institute of Technology, Rakuten, Inc. / Professor, Faculty of Art & Design, University of Tsukuba

Rakuten Institute of Technology, together with the University of Tsukuba, which carries out research and education at a high international standard, established the Future Store Design Laboratory in 2016.

Thanks to remarkable advances in science and technology and the emergence of high-functioning computers, we enjoy convenient lifestyles, but also have a real sense of the importance of people’s organic connections and communication. The same thing can be said of store design.

The name “Future Store Design” refers not just to methods of buying and selling; it also encompasses the design of communication for all people involved in transactions.

At the same time, the concept incorporates Rakuten’s idea of not simply mediating sales and purchases, but of emphasizing the enjoyment of shopping and trading. Future Store Design also represents the creation of new customer experiences as one major focus of Rakuten’s scope of research.

Since setting up the e-commerce site Rakuten Ichiba in 1997, Rakuten, Inc. has forged connections with merchants and currently enjoys the participation of over 45,000 stores. We hope that our research will be something that helps the owners and employees of these stores that are also our important partners. To that end, through the design of technologies and experiences, at times we also confront the challenges that stores have with regards to working style.

Looking ahead, in years to come we will also rise to the challenge of developing new initiatives that maximize use of all our stores’ knowledge and experience, so we can make interaction through trade enjoyable.

This joint research combines research and development knowledge with design concepts in order to cover everything from prototypes through to verification tests. While using an educational approach called problem-based learning as our basis, the research brings together expertise and perspectives from various fields regarding serious social challenges, aiming to constantly present solutions that evoke fun.

Please look out for new methodologies of social implementation that we will create in partnership with the University of Tsukuba.