About

As a design research company with teams in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, mct inc. uses human-centered research methods, creativity, and teamwork to uncover fresh insights and enable our clients to succeed. mct is a Daishinsha Group company.

Services

Take a look at our services and approaches below to learn more about how we work or contact us us for a discussion about your needs.

Organization design
Training and support to organizations that want to introduce design thinking, improve teamwork, and develop a customer centric culture.

Customer experience (CX)
Product and service development, from concept creation through prototyping, user testing, and development.

Global insights
Design research to support product and service development for global markets, led by our team and supported by our network of partners.

Business design
Support for innovation and R&D activities from design thinking through exploration of business opportunities, and validation of ideas.

Qualitative research
Application of human-centered methods to develop fresh insights and perspectives into consumers, healthcare professionals, and business customers.

Partners

We are proud of our global partnerships with thought leading designers, researchers, academics, and consultants:

The Division
The Division is a London-based design studio with extensive experience of working with Japanese companies. The Division designs products and user interfaces, and helps companies to understand future business opportunities. Through its Masterclass Programs, The Division advises and educates teams. You can read more information here.

CSA Research
CSA Research is the leading, independent research and consulting firm specializing in business globalization, internationalization, localization, translation, and interpretation. CSA Research offers insights that help business and technology leaders create value while profitably growing their global businesses across borders, languages, and cultures. Learn more here.

Methodologies and advisors

We are always looking for opportunities to learn from the creators of robust, repeatable methodologies that we use to provide value to our clients. Here are some of the advisors that we have cooperated with and learned from:

101 Design Methods - Vijay Kumar
Vijay Kumar (professor emeritus at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design in Chicago) described 101 design methods across seven distinct modes of the innovation planning process. These methods are the basis for many innovation-related projects.

Co-creation - Liz Sanders PhD.
Liz Sanders (associate professor at The Ohio State University, Department of Design) developed generative design research approaches that bring users directly into the design process. These approaches enable organizations to bring together customers and other stakeholders to co-create better products, services, and experiences.

Playful Thinking - Nobuyuki Ueda
Nobuyuki Ueda (professor at Doshisha Women’s University) has developed the concept of playful thinking as an approach for individuals and organizations to think more flexibly, collaborate more effectively, and work more creatively.

ZMET - Gerald Zaltman
Gerald Zaltman (professor emeritus at Harvard Business School) developed the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) which explores people's non-literal or metaphoric expressions to gain insight into their conscious and unconscious thoughts. This approach gives marketers and designers fresh insights into customers' conscious and unconscious motivations and feelings.

Clue Scan - Lewis "Lou" Carbone
Lou Carbone (founder of Experience Engineering, a Minneapolis-based consulting firm dedicated to CX and EX management) developed the ideas outlined in the book Clue Scan to help companies to audit existing customer experiences and design new experiences that lead to better customer satisfaction and loyalty.