Part 2 of this feature focuses on the workshop’s outcomes and how to build on them going forward. Businesses are normally somewhat remote from ordinary consumers. What emerges when the two engage with each other at a human level and discuss what a better future might look like? Let’s find out.
How to make tech talk personally relevant
Tomioka (Hitachi): When designing this workshop for dialog between businesses and consumers, the first thing we wanted to do was identify new directions in technologies for improving and enriching society. What further solutions can the technologies in Hitachi’s portfolio deliver to the challenges facing our world? That’s the question we wanted to consider, without leaving ordinary consumers out of the discussion.
Tech talk on its own just doesn’t click with most people, though. The workshop took up the subject of anonymization technology for making information secure. But if all we’d done was describe the technology, the reaction would have been, “Yeah, right.” And that would have been it.
Instead, the other team members and I asked ourselves how to have a dialog. In the process, the idea emerged of taking up the subject of personal data closely connected to the various services you encounter every day. That way we could expose people to the potential of such data. The result was a topic that all kinds of people could brainstorm about based on what they were personally familiar with. They could develop their own narrative around it in dialog with others.
One insight I gained was that when defining a topic, you need to leave room for discussion to emerge from the multifaceted emotions and values of everyday people.
TOMIOKA Yukari discussing the challenges of a dialog about technology
Okada (Hitachi): Leaving room means giving people space to become engaged, right? Consumer challenges may seem remote from R&D, but depending on the approach you take, the two can be brought together. Dialog is possible. This initiative proves it.
Dialog fosters trust between people
Tamura (UoC): I think the topic of the workshop was genuinely challenging. To put it bluntly, here was a company saying to ordinary consumers, “Let’s consider the advantages of our using your personal data.” That would put anyone on their guard [laughs]. There’s an inherent divide between the user of the data and the person it relates to. Yet on the questionnaire that participants completed afterward, one teenager wrote, “I thought companies were scary, but everyone was nice.” There was a big change in people’s perceptions. The company came to be seen as a partner you could talk to and work alongside in the quest to change society.
TAMURA Hirotoshi described how the participants’ perceptions changed.
Okada: Somebody said after the workshop that they’d be willing to entrust Hitachi with their personal data. I guess that’s what it means to communicate in a way that nurtures sympathy and trust, as opposed to blaring out a one-sided message about how you’re going to change the world.
Both company and participants, of course, took part out of a desire to learn from each other. But what was even more valuable, perhaps, was the process: taking an initial interest in each other, learning from each other, finding common ground, wanting to engage. Of course, not everything could be covered in a single workshop. Still, hopefully this forum will motivate people to think more about the subject and give rise to a community of people working together.
Ono (UoC): Take data on medical checkups. It’s generally seen as being used by health insurance associations to cut healthcare costs. People have a negative perception of it, like it’s going to be used to deprive them of their right to medical treatment. But the workshop succeeded in painting a picture of the exciting, enjoyable future that lies beyond cuts in healthcare cost. You’re going to have a longer healthy life expectancy. You’re going to be able to go on trips with your grandkids well into your eighties. And I think that was a good thing.
Okada: One researcher said they gained an insight in that regard. Say, for example, the client is a local government seeking to reduce healthcare costs by extending healthy life expectancy, and a researcher develops a technology designed to do just that. That’s the right things to do. But when the researcher told a senior that, they replied, “Well, I’m not going to be careful about what I eat just because someone tells me to in order to extend my healthy life expectancy.” The researcher was taken aback. Only then did he realize that a technology will never trigger a movement that mobilizes society unless the beneficiaries can visualize exactly how it will make their life happier. For researchers, then, the workshop was an opportunity to add a new perspective to their current approach to research.
OKADA Ryotaro described how feedback from participants had a motivating effect.
Tomioka: Say you’re a researcher and develop a system that lets people obtain a medical report generated using their data because you figure that would be beneficial to their health. Well, the person on the street doesn’t want to be handed a report and told to abstain from things they enjoy for the sake of their health, right? It’s a good thing we became aware of that gap.
Sato (Hitachi): By exposing our researchers firsthand to the values of ordinary consumers, the workshop would, I hoped, prompt them to ask themselves questions. What are we doing research for? Is it proceeding in the right direction? Is there a better way to approach it? So, I’m pleased.
A catalyst for building new networks
Tamura: In terms of lessons learned, it was good that people from different walks of life were able to build a mutually educational relationship where each gave insights to the other.
Okada: One possibility would be to nurture networks like that.
Tamura: The discussion at the workshop needn’t be the end of it. Instead, wouldn’t it be great if the people who met there started doing various stuff of their own accord? Creating an ever-widening circle like that is, I believe, one of the missions of a forum of this type.
SATO Kouji is eager to bring other researchers to UoC.
Sato: Hitachi has over a thousand researchers on staff who are developing all kinds of technology. I’d like to bring various researchers to UoC.
Tomioka: The researchers who took part in the workshop all say it was a lot of fun. It piqued their interest in things that were somewhat outside the scope of their regular job.
Ono: I’m delighted that they found it stimulating.
ONO Katsuhiko wants Hitachi to show people the exciting future that sharing data can bring.
Sato: They now have free play to take an interest in areas beyond what they research on the job. It’s like a steering wheel: there needs to be some play.
Okada: The feedback we got from ordinary consumers was great as well. Just ask our researchers. When they unveil a technology in-house, the reaction is, “That makes sense.” But at the workshop, the reaction was, “I want that!”, which they said was gratifying. Being told “I want that!” and having some leeway in your research must be big motivators. Holding a dialog with consumers is of great significance in that regard too.
What’s more, our researchers found the ideas that emerged valuable in themselves. They felt they were getting traction. It was like they could maybe start working on a whole new research topic after a few more workshops like this. Or the ideas could be gradually input into their current research.
Ono: I’m delighted to hear that. We don’t just want to scribble down a bunch of stuff here and leave it there. We want to discover new vistas together. Maybe the biggest reason we decided to work with Hitachi was our expectations of you. We figured that maybe you would turn the scribblings made here into something real.
Finding more partners and opening new vistas together
Okada: Going forward, we want to keep working on initiatives like this, whether that means expanding outward by signing up new participants or delving deeper with the same participants.
Tamura: I’ve said this before, but why don’t you do a seminar here? It’s challenging, but it’s fun.
Ono: A workshop is inevitably a one-off. After just a single session, the participants are hardly going to team up and start doing something together. But that does happen with a seminar. Spending time pondering a specific topic while being bombarded with various types of stimuli can surely produce its own value.
Tamura: Here’s my own personal take on things. While UoC is run as a nonprofit, we of course expect a return on our investment. After all, we’re a business. Though it’s hard to convert the return UoC generates to monetary terms, we’re still nowhere close to breaking even. We need the returns curve to go up sharply from here on in. By teaming up with an innovation center like Hitachi, we sincerely hope for a decent return in the form of deployment of technology that will open up new vistas for society.
Ono: Which is the same as the objective behind the launch of UoC. We believe that what’s going to make the world a more enjoyable place isn’t just technology but creativity and ideas. We’d love to continue working with you in order to boost their prominence.
Sato: When it comes to this particular workshop, the aim is simple: to solve the future of personal data by deploying technology in the real world.
Okada: It would certainly be nice to give something definite shape.
Tomioka: We shouldn’t stop here. We should go on to the next stage. The next step, I guess, will be to get other researchers and units involved in communications efforts like this.
This project was a lot of fun. We look forward to partnering with anyone inside or outside the company who identifies with our aims.
Okada: It’s like making a snowman. It’s no fun rolling a ball of snow all on your own. You just get your hands cold. But if you gleefully start rolling a ball of snow anyway, someone is bound to come and help you once it reaches a certain size. And that keeps repeating itself. As the ball of snow gets larger and larger, more and more people will join you in rolling it. There may be only a few of you rolling it now, but you’re having so much fun that eventually you’re bound to give rise to a major movement. Of that I have no doubt. Thank you for your time today.
What new things will emerge from this dialog?
Profile
Note: Titles and affiliations are as of the date of this talk session.
ONO Katsuhiko
Producer, UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY (UoC)
Born in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1969, Katsuhiko Ono graduated in economics from Kyoto University before joining Hakuhodo in 1994. After working in sales, he transferred to new business development in 2010. He was involved in M&As in the Corporate Strategy Division and was then seconded to a newly affiliated company as Director & Executive Vice President. He has been with the Business Development Division since 2018, serving concurrently as Producer at UoC since 2022.
TAMURA Hirotoshi
Producer, UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY (UoC)
After thirty years working in sales at Hakuhodo, Hirotoshi Tamura was transferred to the UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY launch team, where he helped get the new organization up and running as head of administration. At UoC, he has acted as leader in the industry field, focusing on driving next-gen economic growth by coordinating social solutions with business. On a personal note, he has developed an interest in nature education and community through his involvement in a wide range of activities over twenty years ever since he sent his two children to a nature-oriented unlicensed preschool.
SATO Kouji
Design Lead, Strategic Design Department, Design Center Research & Development Group, Hitachi Ltd.
After joining Hitachi’s design arm, Kouji Sato worked on consumer electronics product planning, as well as delivering business presentations at Kansai Branch Office. He then embarked on designing communications to inform various stakeholders of Hitachi’s initiatives. He works in a wide range of fields relating to different aspects of the Hitachi Group’s operations, including branding, promotion, and presentations. Currently, he handles messaging for the Research & Development Group.
TOMIOKA Yukari
Senior Designer, Strategic Design Department, Design Center Research & Development Group, Hitachi Ltd.
After joining Hitachi, Yukari Tomioka handled a wide range of projects as a member of the new business development team, focusing mainly on graphics. She designed presentations showcasing business concepts, display panels for events, and screens for medical and nursing care systems. Currently, she works on various communication design projects, including studying approaches to emotionally engaging internal and external stakeholders by informing them of how Hitachi aims to evolve as a business, with the focus on corporate purpose. As a designer, she provides support with various messaging efforts from the Kyōsō-no-Mori research & development facility in Kokubunji, Tokyo.
OKADA Ryotaro
Senior Designer, Strategic Design Department, Design Center Research & Development Group, Hitachi Ltd.
Ryotaro Okada began his career as an artisan at a small factory tucked away in a corner of town while working at a design agency. He later engaged in product design and planning and new business development at a lighting manufacturer and a maker of office supplies. He joined Hitachi in 2020, where he works on communication design in the areas of social solutions and open innovation. He is now embracing a new challenge: broadening the scope of his design work from products to experiences to comprehensive frameworks. Among other accolades, he has won the German Design Award Gold, been named to the Good Design Awards Best 100, and netted the Good Design Award.
