How do you translate what drives you into a clear professional direction — and what does AI add to that process?
In this hands-on workshop, design researchers and design practitioners explore the Ikigai framework: a Japanese concept for finding the overlap between passion, expertise, societal contribution, and what the market values. Through analogue reflection, group activities, and three structured rounds of interaction with a generative AI chatbot, participants map where their qualities and ambitions converge — and surface career, entrepreneurial, or development directions they may have overlooked.
The workshop has been developed and evaluated across multiple iterations since 2023 in design education and professional practice contexts. The underlying research has been peer-reviewed and presented at the DRS2026 Conference (June 2026, Edinburgh): IkigAI: Co-Reflection with AI to Enhance Career Direction Clarity in Design Education (Mayer, Smeenk & Calabretta, 2026).
AI is positioned as a co-reflector: not an answer engine, but a dialogue partner that structures vague input, surfaces blind spots, and reveals unconventional connections. Participants curate and critically evaluate all AI-generated output. The session combines pen-and-paper reflection with digital AI interaction, and closes with a plenary reflection and concrete call to action.
As part of ongoing research, anonymous data will be collected via a short pre- and post-workshop online questionnaire. Please bring a pen and your own charged device (laptop preferred, alternatively smartphone).
Key learning questions
- To what extent does the combination of human reflection and GenAI interaction contribute to clarity about your professional direction?
- Where do your strengths, values, and market opportunities meet — as an employee or entrepreneur — and how do you translate that into concrete next steps?
Session facilitated by: Claudia Mayer, Researcher, Societal Impact Design Research Group, Inholland University of Applied Sciences
