The key idea behind ACTANT’s activity is “co-creation.” Thus far, consumers have been treated solely as agents of demand for services and products. However, the time has come to actively interpret their individual role as designers and creators. ACTANT contributes to and supports their individual process of value creation. This is when the comparatively new field of “service design” plays a crucial role.

Traditionally, services are those values or skills provided on behalf of others. We all rely on the help of others in our daily lives; society is structured based on these mutual relationships. The exchange of services plays a fundamental role in daily life and in the backbone of society itself.

In this context, products are a medium through which services are exchanged at a remove of space and time. Through industrialization, many products have become commonplace in our lives, and we have been able to exchange a wider range of services with each other. However, in today’s complex society, values and functions are moving towards a phase of increased fluidity. There are now new opportunities to create even stronger value through never-before-seen combinations of services.

In order to develop innovative forms of personal expression and transform the existing market, as well as resolve the range of social issues faced by various regions, we must take a comprehensive approach to the design of ecosystems that incorporate products, things, and people in one system, rather than as standalone items. By tying together the values and abilities inherent in diverse people and products, service design creates new value together and taps into new potential.

ACTANT acts as a holistic design firm in Japan focusing on service design under the aegis of “co-creation” to support corporations, organizations, and startups in solving a range of issues.