As a part of Beta’s mission to change Panasonic Japan’s innovation culture and to contribute to the company’s diverse product portfolio, I led the conceptualization and development of a collection of innovative IoT products and an devised a agile hardware product design process.
Backstory
The creation of Panasonic Beta in 2018 was a Japan headquarter initiative with the goal of understanding and incorporating Silicon Valley’s innovation culture and design emphasized methodology into Panasonic Japan.
The performance of the members at Panasonic Beta were evaluated on how much an individual expanded Beta's sphere of influence through product collaborations obtained from business units associated outside of Beta's organization.
My role
As an individual contributor, I performed the responsibilities of a Product Manager and Product Strategist which when combined with my design skill set, allowed me to fully take product ideas into working product prototypes
I spearheaded multiple product innovation projects to to improve Beta's reputation where I identified product opportunities, establish stakeholders and collaborators, then strategize, and carry out development.
Results: Panasonic Beta (2018-2020)
Established a position where I could freely self-start projects after building a strong reputation as a full stack creative.
Expanded Panasonic's patent portfolio for several business units by inventing new technology applications and consumer product's for their respective markets.
[Primary author of 3 patents]
Established/stimulated relationships between my Panasonic branch other Panasonic organizations which resulted in two acquisitions and two collaborations.
Projects from 2018-2020
All of the following projects below are those I conceived, led, and made an impact with as a Product Manager and Product Designer. I was responsible for gathering stakeholders, providing product vision, securing budget, managing engineering resources, and all design related deliverables including but not limited to user interfaces, hardware mockups, and video.
Tilt: Smart Light Switch (May 2018 - Dec 2018)
Because Panasonic is predominantly a hardware company, I knew building something physical leave a stronger impact upon possible collaborators. Because Beta had established a relationship with Panasonic's lightswitch division, I decided to build something within that domain. My motivations for this project was to showcase product innovation in what many deemed to be a saturated market.
LifeSwitch: Updatable IoT Home Panel (Jan 2018 - May 2019)
In exploration to bring an idea to market, I structured a project around directly collaborating with a business unit that already established a product in the market. Utilizing their technology, I created an invention that satisfied the business narrative of both
divisions. The project itself established an inter-company partnership which resulted in Beta acquiring the business unit.
Design Workshop: Light Switch BU (July 2019 - Aug 2019)
To educate and establish ties with a business unit’s design group, I designed a workshop with the intention of emphasizing the importance of proper design process as they group had been skipping vital design steps. The workshop strengthened the relationship between our groups and led to a funded collaboration.
Home Sensing Business Proposal - Heathcare BU (Aug 2019 - Oct 2019)
Spurred on from my personal interest and organizational slogan “Back to Humanity”, I proposed a product and business solution to Japan’s systemic problem of “Death from Isolation (孤独死)” The proposal drew interest from Panasonic’s internal technology groups. This concept spurred collaborations with
other business divisions.
Agile Hardware Innovation Process (Oct 2019 - March 2020)
Reflecting upon all of the projects that I had undertaken up to this point, I made the strategic decision to not focus on building the product itself, but create a process that other Panasonic employees could utilize to aid in prioritizing what to build next.
My method was to create a design process that placed emphasis on the constant engagement of users to steer important design decisions that would also be applicable to hardware devices. In the end I was able to take a process that would normally take Panasonic 1+ years and reduced it down to 6 weeks.