JVCKENWOOD Design's designers work together, combining their expertise to create new products

JVCKENWOOD Design practices a wide range of design, focusing on product and brand design, and strives to create a diverse workplace when working on projects that transcend the boundaries of specific fields.Five designers discussed the diversity embodied at JVCKENWOOD Design, including career paths that challenge new design fields, information sharing with members with different specialties, and collaborations between designers from a diverse international background.

Finding commonalities in design across different fields

JVCKENWOOD Design practices a work style in which employees can acquire different specialties within the company through their career paths. Watanabe-san, you are currently practicing design in a broad sense, such as vision design, but what kind of career path have you had?

Watanbe　I was originally hired as a product designer when I joined the company, but in my third year I was put in charge of designing the operation screens for video cameras, and since then UI design has become the core of my work. I feel like I am putting my UI design knowledge to good use in the technology research and development and new business development projects that I am currently in charge of.

Did you have any difficulties moving from product design to UI design?

Watanbe　When I was assigned as his successor, I had to start from scratch, so it was quite difficult. However, as a designer, I have a competitive side, so I managed to get through it by learning about interface design from a senior colleague who was in charge of designing the TV products handled by Victor at the time. Looking back now, the iPhone had just been released at the time, and smartphone app development was becoming more and more interesting, so I'm glad I was able to be involved in UI design from that time on.

One example of the broader concept of design that JVCKENWOOD Design is working on is a design thinking workshop. The facilitators for the workshop are designers with experience in a variety of fields. What is your mindset when you work on this project?

Arimoto　While we do conduct design thinking workshops for external companies and organizations, the workshops we regularly hold in collaboration with the Human Resources Department at JVCKENWOOD headquarters feature designers as facilitators. As part of the JVCKENWOOD Group's efforts to promote design management, we also have a policy of utilizing design thinking in our work, so each designer is researching and practicing workshops.

In these meetings, we often talk about how UX is important in workshop design. I feel that there is a commonality with product and service design in that you have to consider what value you can provide to participants while keeping the goal of the workshop in mind. Recently, volunteers have begun to create forums for sharing knowledge about workshop design, where people discuss the methods and ideas they have put into practice in their own workplaces and use them in the design and facilitation of future workshops.

Numano　In addition to the training sessions we hold jointly with the Human Resources Department at our headquarters, we also plan workshops and help put into words the concerns and problems faced by people in our business divisions and affiliated companies, and are involved in a variety of other activities to solve problems through the power of design.

For example, in the "Communication Skills Enhancement Activities" workshop, which developed from organizing presentation materials, we provide opportunities for in-depth interviews to confirm what kind of people the project is aimed at and what it aims to communicate. Simply arranging materials neatly will not lead to fundamental problem solving, so we place importance on a co-creation perspective, involving the other party in the process, in which we find the seeds of a solution together through discussion.

Design practices born from an international workplace

One of the features of JVCKENWOOD Design is that it has not only domestic but also foreign designers on its roster. Hyunjun is from Korea and Alwa is from India. What led you to join the company?

ヒョンジュン　I studied industrial design at university, and I participated in an industry-government collaboration program run by a Korean design education institution, where I had the opportunity to work on a project with people from JVC Kenwood Design. During that time, I was exposed to new design processes and learned a lot. I felt that there weren't many design companies that had in-house designers from such a diverse range of fields, so I decided to join the company after graduation.

Alwa　I studied industrial design at university and graduate school, and it all started when I participated in a three-month internship at JVC Kenwood Design during graduate school. During that time, I was involved in a project to come up with ideas for cameras, and talking with various team members every day, I found the experience of being exposed to not only JVC Kenwood culture but also Japanese culture to be very interesting, so I decided to move there and find work after graduation.

By the way, what kind of jobs do most Korean and Indian designers aim for?

ヒョンジュン　It's hard to generalize because each person has different goals and fields of study, but among the people around me, some people choose to become in-house designers in line with their own career plans, while others find employment at specialized design companies.

Alwa　Recently, there has been an increase in domestic manufacturers producing "Made in India" products, so many people are aiming to become in-house designers or working for creative agencies.

Do you find any stimulation from working with people of different nationalities?

Alwa　I think so. We often exchange opinions not only in everyday work conversations but also in casual interactions outside of work, so I think the experiences I gain from learning about different cultures and ways of thinking in those situations are useful in my work.

ヒョンジュン　I sometimes work with Alwa on marketing research for overseas projects, and every time we have a meeting I often notice differences in values ​​and cultures that I had previously taken for granted, and it feels like my preconceptions are being overturned.

Arimoto　Recently, there has been an increase in projects that are being rolled out globally, such as OEM products for overseas markets. As a result, rather than approaching design based solely on preconceptions, we are increasingly engaging in "design marketing," where designers from JVCKENWOOD Design are in charge of marketing, in order to incorporate the ideas of local people.

What do you think makes it different from general marketing?

Alwa　A designer's job is to consider not only trends but also what users are thinking and what they want, so I think there is a big difference in that marketing is centered around user experience.

ヒョンジュン　That's right. While there are some overlaps with general marketing, which involves strategically considering the ideal form of a product, I think what makes JVCKENWOOD Design's design marketing unique is that it begins to consider specialized aspects such as color variations from the research stage.

Sharing designer knowledge"DESIGN MIRAI""Creators Meeting"

JVCKENWOOD Design is home to designers from a variety of fields, so we hold the annual "DESIGN MIRAI" and monthly "Creators' Meeting" as opportunities to share knowledge and present the projects each designer is working on. How are each of these events run?

Watanbe　DESIGN MIRAI, held once a year, is an event showcasing original research by JVCKENWOOD Design and projects in which new design proposals have been worked on together with people from the business divisions at the head office. Since 2016, the event has served as a forum for imagining future lifestyles from a design perspective and sharing what possibilities they see through a variety of projects.

Meanwhile, the Creators Meeting, which began in the wake of the COVID-1 pandemic in 2020, provides a forum for sharing the design process we put into practice every day in various projects, and every time it sparks a wide range of discussions. It's held for an hour and a half every month, but recently it's become difficult to fit everything into the allotted time. That said, we'd like to continue holding it as a place where people can easily participate, so that it doesn't become a burden on our work.

We also use knowledge-sharing tools within the company to share information, and we use them as a place where our designers can freely write down information about exhibitions they have visited.

Alwa　By having these kinds of sharing opportunities, I can learn about the various design processes that are practiced within the company, and even if the content is not necessarily directly related to my work, I think it is a place where I can indirectly learn by thinking about whether there is a perspective that I can apply to my own work. I can also get inspiration for my work from sharing information about trend research and exhibitions.

ヒョンジュン　After all, we're all busy working all the time, and sometimes we don't know what the designer sitting next to us does, so it's nice to have the opportunity to learn about everyone's way of thinking and design process. I think it's precisely because of opportunities like these that we can truly appreciate the appeal of working at JVCKENWOOD Design, where we have designers from a variety of fields.

Taking on the challenge of working in a way that expands the possibilities for designers

Finally, please tell us what challenges you would like to take on in the future as a designer at JVCKENWOOD Design.

Numano　Listening to everyone's stories at events like the Creators' Meeting, I feel there is potential to broaden my ideas as a designer by going beyond the range of skills I had when I joined the company. Personally, through this project, I have come into contact with areas of design that I had not studied before and have had the experience of gaining various insights, so I would like to continue to work in a way that will allow me to broaden the scope of my activities.

ヒョンジュン　I think a major characteristic of JVCKENWOOD Design is that it's an independent design company separate from the head office. We learn a lot not only from working on projects for the JVCKENWOOD Group, but also from working on industry-academia projects and projects with other clients. Incorporating diverse perspectives helps to improve the quality of our products. My initial goal is to become a product designer capable of handling projects independently, while continuing to challenge myself with things that interest me.

Watanbe　I have been a designer for around 20 years, but I would like to continue being creative. To do this, I feel that I need to not only stick to my own specialty but also learn a variety of things. In my current role as a team leader, I would like to hone my communication skills and team-building abilities, while also becoming someone who can bring out the individuality of each designer at JVCKENWOOD Design.

Arimoto　Recently, there has been an increase in projects that tackle design in a broad sense, such as upstream design support for management and business, which has led to a demand for us to cover a wide range of fields. At the same time, I think that as our focus becomes more dispersed, our distinctive features as a company may become diluted. As a designer, I work at this company because I enjoy creative work, so I would like to try out various working styles while thinking about what I can do to make JVCKENWOOD Design an interesting company.

Alwa　To remain creative as part of the long-established JVCKENWOOD Group, I believe it's increasingly necessary to consider not only the perspective of manufacturing, but also what users will demand in the future. JVCKENWOOD Design is involved in various initiatives, such as its own projects aimed at achieving sustainability, like "Forest Notes," so we intend to continue applying design thinking and challenging ourselves with work that goes beyond the areas we are currently working on.