Technology
Consumers today take for granted that new technology will be beautiful and easy to use. But they increasingly scrutinize whether new technology matters to them – they question how it will bring value to their lives. In a time when technology is increasingly the lens through which we experience the world, our clients’ biggest concerns are not about better fit, but about value: What new technologies will be meaningful to people? Why do tablets matter? Will wearables have any lasting impact? Are people becoming bored of smartphones? What is the social value of the Internet of Things?
Together with our clients we look at the relationship that exist between people and technology. These relationships are what helps set the commercial agenda for large technology companies as well as companies in other industries that need to digitize.
Some of the key areas ReD works on together with our clients:
New Category Development
New Platform Definition
Digital Strategy & Innovation
New Category Development
With the rapid innovation in the tech industry, our clients are increasingly taking into account what’s actually useful to people rather than focusing only on what's achievable. ReD works with management and R&D to define and focus the “smart” element of technology to meet the needs that matter to people in their everyday lives. Together with our clients we take a step back and look at what’s not "smart" about the product today –why do people use it, what role does it play in their lives? Where is the relationship broken, and how can smart lighting fix that and play a new role in our lives?
“Together with our clients we take a step back and look at what’s not “smart” about the product today –why do people use it, what role does it play in their lives? ”
The recommendations from the projects are delivered to our clients as core value propositions, innovation vectors, and opportunity areas that will drive a roadmap for innovation. On one engagement we set the long-term commercial agenda for their ‘Smart TV’ division’ identifying the offerings Smart TV should and should not provide and developing the concepts for offering.
New Platform Definition
Alongside new product categories, new platforms - such as the Internet of Things and wearables - are emerging to redefine how services are delivered. ReD assists clients looking to make sense of these new platforms, and helps them shape the next generation of products and services.
Since many devices and products can live within a single platform, we look when scoping our projects with clients for methods to anticipate maturity, searching for unmet needs that already exist today. Connecting with people over distance; working remotely; learning and developing new skills; all are existing challenges that people face – how can we help people solve them in meaningful ways through new platforms?
“Connecting with people over distance; working remotely; learning and developing new skills; all are existing challenges that people face – how can we help people solve them in meaningful ways through new platforms?
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Using recommendations from the clients' working groups, we develop perspectives and foundational insights on how to think about new platforms, guidelines for use cases, and a vocabulary for how to talk about them in a meaningful way. On an engagement for a leading processor and microprocessor we defined the ecology of wearable products and data management tools. Using this as a foundation, we identified spaces in the market for new offerings, and defined principles for how new products, existing hardware, and data should work together.
Digital Strategy & Innovation in adjacent tech-dependent industries
Rapidly evolving technology has touched all major industries. From toymakers to carmakers to producers of athletic gear and luxury items – nearly all companies are looking to develop a deep understanding of their customers' goals and challenges in order to best provide value through new digital advancements.
Focusing on the current struggles and aspirations of the end customers enables our clients to get a clear sense of where digital can be an asset and not just another app. For example, for one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers, we started with seeking to understand the world of children’s play. From there we developed a strategy for combining physical toys and digital offerings and a number of concepts for getting the mixture right. In the healthcare space, we have helped develop digital tools for helping people take, and stick to taking, their Type II diabetes medication. Here, we first sought to understand what it feels like to live with a disease on an everyday basis. Our work starts and ends in the world of people; our goal is to help companies evolve the human experience.
“Our work starts and ends in the world of people; our goal is to help companies evolve the human experience.”
Relevant cases
