Students at Visual Arts Major discover the 'charging challenges' of university life! Proposing solutions to Jackery

Education/Research
Social and community collaboration
College of Performing and Visual Arts
university

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In College of Performing and Visual Arts 's Fumihiro Kosaka Seminar (Graphic Design and Marketing), as part of industry-academia collaboration, we proposed a project to Jackry Japan Inc., which operates the world-renowned portable power station and solar panel brand "Jackery." Aiming for practical proposals based on consumer insights, the students worked on discovering "charging issues" in university life and proposing scenarios for their solutions.

The company's "Power Bank & Charging Station" used this time is a set of five portable mobile batteries and chargers, developed for free-address offices and educational settings. Reflecting on their own campus life, the students devised concrete scenarios to see how this product could solve the "charging challenges" of student life.

Workshop to identify "charging challenges"

Through workshops led by experienced promotional planners, we reflected on the inconveniences of charging in daily university life and discussed what can be solved by improving the environment. At Visual Arts Major, many creative activities were conducted using PCs, and issues such as "work stopping" or "being unable to submit works" when the battery was low often emerged. Although the Tokyo Hinatayama Campus has power outlets throughout and the environment is relatively well-maintained, creative activities on PCs can still be conducted outside the classroom. In such active activities, it was concluded that portable batteries are expected to play a significant role.

Filming and proposing a video that realistically portrays student life.

To more concretely communicate the charging challenges they identified, the students divided into teams to discuss "in what everyday situations would it be necessary" and "what kinds of uses are anticipated," and then produced four explanatory videos for different scenarios. The students themselves appeared in the videos, expressing the anxiety they felt when faced with insufficient battery power and the emotional changes they experienced when the problem was solved.

The completed video has been submitted to Jacuri Japan Co., Ltd., and they plan to use the students' ideas as inspiration to develop more detailed product descriptions on their product website.

[Comments from those involved]

• Jacuri Japan Co., Ltd. Contact Person:
"Having students offer realistic challenges and suggestions on how to appeal to them from their own perspectives has given us a wonderful opportunity to consider more persuasive promotions. Most importantly, the fact that our target audience, the students, have experienced the benefits of our product will be a great reference for our future direction."

• Fumihiro Kosaka Professor:
"By encountering actual corporate promotional challenges, I was able to experience realistic planning rather than self-centered planning. It was a valuable opportunity to consider how to apply the expressive skills I learn in regular classes in real life."

At Visual Arts Major, we will continue to deepen practical learning that connects with society through industry-academia and regional collaborations.

Proposal videos created by students

Inquiry

J. F. Oberlin University and Affiliated Schools General Planning Department, Public Relations Section

e-Mail: webadmin@obirin.ac.jp

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