Leading transformational change in Innovation Department at Philips D2C
Established the new way of working model that allows efficient idea generation and concept validation
The new way of working detailed model adapted for Philips D2C Innovation department
Client
Philips D2C (via frog)
Year
Aug 2021 - Dec 2022
Role
Strategy, research, experimentation, service and product design
Impact
The new way of working allows fast idea validation therefore leadership is now more open for bolder propositions to be explored to address the growing demand of health-tech services.
Challenge
Fix processes of Innovation department that runs never ending projects which started as innovation and became business as usual.
Outcome
Established the innovation model and the new way of working processes. Trained the team while developing new offerings.
Evaluation of the current state and the plan forward
Understanding the current situation
I interviewed all Innovation department team members and business stakeholders to understand team dynamics and existing strategies on multiple levels.
There were 7 projects running with no clear process or even purpose. The team was overstreched and demotivated.
All aspects were evaluated as "behind the curve" - not meeting expectations
Identified 6 main flaws
I got management team's buy-in for the process change by showing that the department can play an impactful role in achieving Philips vision to "become a daily destination for a healthy generation."
My frog colleague and I have layed out six areas that needs fixing:
- Asks focus on business goals rather than on consumer goals
- Lack of shared process allow: a) the asks pile up and overstretch designers; b) asks are for optimization rather than innovation; c) asks become business as usual and remain in deptartment
- Business categories are unaware what the Innovation department can do for them
- Team members interpret department's purpose differently and work towards different goals
- Impact is limited by the lack of innovation mindset and education
- Validation outcome irrelevant to propositions being developed due to stakeholder agreements
During the workshop defined the Innovation department's purpose and reason for being
Aligned with leadership on a reason for being
Through a series of listening and interactive workshops together with the department's leadership we clarified positioning statements.
Mission: "Accelerate towards the consumer". This means that the department will become an advocate of the consumer and develop offerings based on the consumer needs.
USP: "the only cross-business category innovators at Philips". Most of Philips business categories have their own venture department but they are limited to their own field. Innovation department can operate across business categories creating unique offerings for consumers.
The condensed version of Innovation model
Designed the Innovation model
I relied my past experiences in innovation departments and adapted the model, processes and best practises to Philips political landscape, inherited agreements and business stakeholder expectations.
Innovation model was layed out in detail phase by phase
Structured the new way of workning and tools
New way of working was introduced together with the new Innovation model. Teams are now using standardised tools that were adapted for Philips to create deliverables for each phase.
Daily, weekly and bi-weekly ceremonies help to keep team focus and cadence as well as make our leadership aware of the progress and impact.
A couple of canvases - Business model canvas and Idea Concept canvas - that were adjusted to our needs and are now a significant part of team's process
Planning the first project to test the model
Chose a project for pilot by reviewing the existing initiatives and identifying the overlapping directions in three initiatives.
Agreed on timelines for kick-off, length of phases, sprint length (2 weeks) and amounts. The three initiatives had 20+ people working on them hence we had to agree how everyone will be informed on the progress.
Defined core team of six people, coached them on the new process and innovation mindset.
Several projects successfully applied the new way of working
The concept canvas with the winning solution of the ideation workshop - Healthy routines for the family
Consumer data flow blueprint shows when and what kind of data consumers will share with Philips which with permission can be used to personalise consumers' experience when shopping at philips.com
Project 1
Healthy routines offering to create and maintain healthy habits for the whole family
The pilot project to test the new way of working set out to find the reason why would Philips consumers engage with Philips long-term and how Philips can learn more about its consumers.
The outcome was Healthy family routines app. This solution stimulates behavioural change for better wellbeing of all family members while Philips experts share their knowledge and coach the ones in need.
Team got used to write experiment cards before each research effort
MVP of Healthy routines starts with sleeping habits. The concept has been validated with primary care givers from UK and US who were very excited that the concept brings the whole family together as a crew towards one goal. The concept is now part of the Philips Membership program.
One of the first design critiques of Healthy routines screens
Project 2
Sensory gallery for "trying on" a wearable breastpump online
The ask from product team was to enrich Product Page with an experience that would familiarise consumers with wearable breast pumps. We had to find a way how to create a feeling of trying a breastpump online because business stakeholders were planning to offer it only on philips.com.
The outcome was "Sensory Gallery" that allows women to enter "See, Hear and Feel" sections to get a really good feeling how it is like to use a wearable breastpump in different life situations.
According to quantitative research of 300 participants "Sensory gallery" had a 20% uplift in purchase intent in the UK, NL, France and Germany.
Final desktop user flow of the Sensory gallery
Our design research showed that women feel strongly about brands demystifying breastfeeding and showing real life women using their products. Therefore we adviced marketing team to do a photoshoot of women wearing the breatpump with and without outer clothes.
Project 3
Good night routine for parents and their baby
The ask from the business stakeholders was to come up with the offering that helps to sell products from different business categories.
The outcome was "Good Night Routine" package for parents and their baby. The routine address the activities before going to bed, during the night when a mother wakes up to feed the baby and needs to fall back to sleep.
Glyer that comes with the products in the package
Sticker on the packaging box
The impact was that Wake Up light sales increased during the summer months in Scandinavia. Normally the light is being used in winter month to wake but actually it is very useful to keep the baby half asleep during the feeding time and helps to fall back to sleep for both: a baby and a mom.
Design research showed that the best product combination of Good night routine package is a WakeUp light, pacifier that glows in the dark.......
Innovation department assessement after a year
Conclusion
Innovation deparment has improved in many aspects within a year
Significant progress has been made in three areas: Purpose, Process and Enablers. Purpose - established department's mission and innovation mindset allowed to evaluate the relevance of new asks. New processes allowed standartisation of tools used and outcomes that saved time in discussions about process. Enablers - established approch gave the team language to express the need for research if consumer need is unclear; or talk about projects in terms of phases that they are in.
Innovation model and the way of working established designers as strategic partners for business stakeholders.
Feedback from the team
"Throughout this year Vaiva has shown up steadily as an experienced designer who is very driven to collaborate and bring the project at hand to the best result possible. An example of this is the Healthy Routines concept for the Membership value stream. Working with her on that project I saw her skillfully defining the problem, setting up user interviews, organizing and running ideation sessions with the team and presenting results to stakeholders with great skill.
I am really impressed with her abilities to keep an eye for detail, relevance and not being afraid to question. Or to remind when important information is missed or overseen. This is a sign of her experience and helps to work towards actual value and keep projects on track. Her ideation sessions are fun and she facilitates those in a way that keeps people engaged. When she in stakeholder or team meetings, she might have her own opinion to how to best move forward, but stays flexible and open to collaboration or pivot when needed. She always keeps stakeholder needs into account, by sharing in alignments to ensure the business value in projects. Vaiva’s new way of working condensed model has really given our team a concrete foundation on how working together in this team can/should work."
Veronique de Koning
UX/UI Designer @Philips
"At Philips, I had the pleasure to work with Vaiva building long-term strategies & early-stage ideas. Vaiva is our strategic designer from Frog- she has a sharp mind that identifies, sifts, and cultivates relevant ideas, like a miner who spots and sharpens creativity to unlock its full potential. Vaiva is also a good moderator who guided users/ team members to build useful products together, without hinting at directions. This is a critical strength to help teams navigate through the complexities."
Jessie Hui-Chieh Chen
Global product owner @Philips at the time
Team operations
Team setup
Healthy family routines project
1 Strategy Designer (me)
1 UI Designer
1 Business Stakeholder from consumer engagement and care
1 Business Stakeholder from Memberships dept.
2 Software Engineers
1 Data analyst
Sensory gallery project for wearable breastpump
1 Designer (me)
1 Product manager
4 Software engineers
1 Blockchain engineer
1 Security engineer
1 Solutions architect
1 Stakeholder
Good night routines project
2 Designers (me and a colleague)
2 Product managers
2 Software engineers
6 Stakeholders
Methods and practises
Qualitative interviews
Usability testings
Design studios
Design reviews
Wireframing
Prototyping
User journey mapping
Personas definition
Card sorting
Experiments
UX/UI design
Service design
Strategy
Workshop design and facilitation
Tools
Figma
Airtable
Usertesting.com
Miro