Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives

In this episode of Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives, host Josh Lucas is joined by Blair Holt, Director of Experience Design at Method, and Josh Batie, VP of Autonomous Mobility at Toyota North America. Join them as they discuss: ● The challenges of developing autonomous vehicles● The importance of in-cabin experience● Fleet management● The ongoing transformation of the automotive experience. ● Toyota's cautious approach to EVs● The future of mobility ● And more!Blair Holt is the Director of Experience Design at Method. Before that, he worked as the Principal of Business Design. Blair has also worked at Bank of America, Lowe’s Companies, and Toyota. He has over twenty years of experience in defining customer-centric products, services, and experiences. Josh Batie is Vice-President of Autonomous Mobility at Toyota North America, where he has worked for over eight years. Prior to working at Toyota, Josh was employed at Nissan Motor Corporation for three years. Josh has over twenty years experience in the automotive industry. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.Episode Resources:● Blair Holt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairtholt● Josh Batie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-batie● Josh Lucas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lucas-7844401b ● Method Website: https://www.method.com Episode Highlights:● 09:20 From EV Skeptic to EV Evangelist ● 12:32 Industry Turning Points● 17:08 Future Proofing Vehicles ● 31:04 Proceeding With Caution ● 39:12 Managing Vehicle Fleets ● 51:40 The Future of the Automotive Experience Quotes: ● “I never recognized how much it meant to be able to visualize what the car was planning on doing and transitioning that to what I was feeling from the seat. And that's where that marriage of the digital and the physical will never go away. Because it was those two things put together where I was like all ‘All right, it sees that person jaywalking, and it's already made a decision here, and it's thinking about what it's got to do there. I'm good with that because I wouldn't do any more myself at this point.’ It's beyond what I would have done.” -Josh Batie● “The essence of the car is different than it was before, and so who needs to educate on it and sell it and service it might be fundamentally different.” -Blair Holt● “I think you're going to see companies start making big strides to building these cars where they have the ability to be improved in the future. And that's from a safety standpoint, regulatory standpoint, but also an experience standpoint. And so I think that's the biggest one you're going to see is that throughout generations of owning a car, just like maybe when you bought your car, you put larger tyres on it or you modify it to be something personalized. I think that you'll see a car be able to evolve over time with different owners to meet their needs.” -Josh Batie

In this episode of Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives, host Josh Lucas is joined by Bob Moesta, President and CEO of ReWired Group, and Andy Busam, Principal Consultant at Method.Join them as they discuss:- What the Jobs to be Done framework really is- The common pitfalls in implementing best practices from the framework- How to take learnings from research to implementation- Snickers as a Jobs to be Done case study- Whether ‘the pivot’ is a necessary step of product development- How Jobs to be Done fits into desirability, feasibility, and viability- And more!Bob Moesta is President and CEO of ReWired Group, who specialize in Demand-Side Innovation in the marketing world. He is also Co-Founder of Laser Ventures, Strategic Advisor at LifeWeb 360, an Adjunct Lecturer of Executive MBA Education at Northwestern University, and a Research Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute.Andy Busam is a Principal Strategist at Method and has held multiple roles with the company focused on Digital Strategy and Experience Design. Prior to his return to Method, Andy was the Director of Digital Strategy at United Therapeutic Corporation.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.Episode Resources:- Bob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmoesta- Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybusam- Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lucas-7844401b- Method Website: https://www.method.com Episode Highlights:- [01:51] Introducing the Jobs to be Done Framework - [12:19] Common Pitfalls in Implementing Best Practices- [23:14] Taking Learnings from Research to Implementation- [27:49] How Snickers Implemented the Jobs to be Done Framework- [37:20] Is Pivoting a Necessary Step of Product Development?- [47:25] Using Jobs to be Done in Desirability, Feasibility, and ViabilityQuotes:● “Jobs to be Done is this whole premise that people don't buy products, they hire them in a very specific situation to help them make progress. And what that means is that it allows us to actually understand that context that they're in and the outcome they want to actually drive them to actually buy something or to choose or to change behavior.” - Bob Moesta●  “The biggest mistake people make is they don't actually go talk to customers because they can't get access to them. And so then they assume they know what customers are talking about.” - Bob Moesta● “Perfect is the enemy of good. It's also the enemy of done, and so I think that one of our overarching principles here is simplify and go, and what we see too often is over complicating and taking too long to get off the ground.” - Andy Busam

In this episode of Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives, host Josh Lucas is joined by Tim Morey, Global Head of Method, and Evangelos Simoudis, Founder and Managing Director of Synapse Partners.Join them as they discuss:- What the ‘Flagship Experience’ is- How automakers can become mobility partners of consumers- The decision for automakers to outsource software development or keep it in-house- The driving forces behind the continued push toward automotive innovation- How automakers can create and monetize value by better understanding customers needs- And more!Evangelos Simoudis is the Managing Director of Synapse Partners, a company investing in early-stage startups developing horizontal and vertical enterprise software AI applications. He is also the author of The Flagship Experience: How AI and Software-Defined Vehicles Will Revolutionize the Automotive Customer Experience.Since 2023, Tim Morey has been Global Head of Method, the global strategic design and digital product development consultancy. Prior to joining us, he spent almost thirteen years leading Silicon Valley companies.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.Episode Resources:- Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothymorey - Evangelos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evangelossimoudis - Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lucas-7844401b - Method Website: https://www.method.com Episode Highlights:[03:08] What Is The Flagship Experience? [10:44] How Automakers Can Become Mobility Partners of Consumers[17:12] Should Automakers Outsource Software Development Or Keep It In-House[24:27] Driving Forces Behind Continued Push Towards Automotive Innovation[31:38] How Automakers Capture and Use Data[38:20] How Automakers Can Create and Monetize Value From Understanding Customers[43:46] Where Do Dealers Come in?Quotes:“I think there have been many attempts recently, in the last couple of years, to create an analogy between the smartphone and the software-defined vehicles, and at a high level, the analogy holds. But we should not forget that I cannot kill somebody if I throw my phone at them unless I was very strong, whereas the vehicle is a heavy piece of machinery that can create a lot of problems.” - Evangelos Simoudis“I think an awful lot of incumbent carmakers don't give themselves permission to be a mobility partner. They're looking at sulfur-designed vehicles and electrification and new energy sources as really a linear move in technology.” - Tim Morey“For the incumbent automakers, partnering is an attractive option because you get ready-made access to expertise. But with that choice comes the challenge that you're now no longer fully in control of the overall experience that you're offering.” - Tim Morey

We're back with part 2 of Modern Product!In this episode of Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives, host Josh Lucas is joined by Jason Rome, SVP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at Method, and David Brown, Director of Digital Product Operations and Governance at EDF Renewables.Join them as they discuss:- Where work is most likely to get bottlenecked- How preference impacts delivery- Whether new features get overvalued- Measuring culture through collaboration and networking- Where empowerment fits into the equation- And more!David Brown is the Director of Digital Product Operations at EDF Renewables North America. He also serves part-time in the Marine Corps as a Strategy Engagement Consultant. Jason Rome has been SVP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at Method since 2015. He has also worked at Skookum, most recently as VP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience, before leaving the company in 2021.If you enjoyed this episode, go check out part 1, and make sure to subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.Episode Resources:- Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-rome-275b2014 - David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-allen-brown - Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lucas-7844401b - Method Website: https://www.method.com Episode Highlights:[02:56] Where Bottlenecks Form[09:30] How Preference Impacts Delivery[15:28] Overvaluing New Features[20:35] Collaboration as a Way to Measure Culture[28:49] How Does Empowerment Fit In?[33:54] Actionable AdviceQuotes:- “People's true preferences are what's going to be the lowest cost on my time, what is the most efficient way to do things, and what has the best ROI for me. Those are people's real preferences, whether they're employees or customers. I think if you look at the feature too closely versus the problem, you can end up a little bit blind to that process.” - Jason Rome- “Nothing's ever proven until you put it in production in someone's hands and you see how they interact with it.” - David Brown- “There is no such thing as a delightful password reset. It is something you want to seamlessly just happen. And so, not everything needs to be super delightful and super memorable. Those need to be inserted at moments where there's a clear ROI on being able to do that.” - Jason Rome

In this episode of Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives, host Josh Lucas is joined by Jason Rome, SVP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at Method, and David Brown, Director of Digital Product Operations and Governance at EDF Renewables.Join them as they discuss:- The pillars of the Modern Product framework- The necessary steps in building an effective strategy- The importance of strengthening your discovery muscle- The need for cross-functional guidance- And more!David Brown is the Director of Digital Product Operations at EDF Renewables North America. He also serves part-time in the Marine Corps as a Strategy Engagement Consultant. Since 2015, Jason Rome has been SVP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at Method. He has also been a part of Skookum, most recently as VP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience, before leaving the company in 2021.If you enjoyed this episode, go check out part 2, and make sure to subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.Episode Resources:- Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-rome-275b2014 - David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-allen-brown - Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lucas-7844401b - Method Website: https://www.method.comQuotes:- “Discovery is the muscle, not the exercise.” - Jason Rome- “If you don't make [discovery] part of your delivery model or your large SDLC associated with how you deliver, you will probably just keep a proximity bias of, we know what our problems are, and we'll solve for them.” - David Brown- “ Our day is broken up into half-hour to an-hour-long chunks, and that's not enough time for strategy. And so I think, a lot of times, just having more time for your team to talk about strategy, but really sitting down and grasping the consequences and talking through it and getting people of different beliefs in one room and just wrestling it for a while.” - Jason Rome

The process of developing digital products and experiences can be a daunting task organizations often find themselves wondering if they are solving the right problems the right way hoping the result is what the end user needs. That’s why our team at Method has decided to launch Build What’s Next: Digital Product Perspectives.Every week, we’ll explore ways to connect technology with humanity for a simpler digital future. Together, we’ll examine digital products and experiences, strategic design and product development strategies to help us challenge our ideas and move forward.

In this episode we talk to 'OG' interaction and product designer and ex Method Creative Director Alexander Grunsteidl. We pick up on a few threads from our beyond the pill episode, exploring how people are hacking or designing their own healthcare systems. We discuss Alexander's personal experiences of living with an implanted medical device and the part implanted devices might play in the future with use cases beyond healthcare. Prior to working at Method Alexander worked at Phillips and Apple designing medical devices. Alexander is currently Global Head of Design practises at Method's parent company GlobalLogic.

This week we dive into the world of digital migrators, uncovering just why every company needs to think about becoming a technology company. We break down the process of transformation by understanding why data is so important. It's only with data that we can understand the real need of customers, creating the opportunity for everyone to build their own platform.Our guest this week is Dr Sunil Sinh, Chief Technology Officer of GlobalLogic. He's a technologist, educator and entrepreneur with a distinguished career and hands-on experience in conceptualizing, designing, building, and launching innovative technology products and services. As CTO – Engineering, Sunil oversees GlobalLogic’s overall Delivery Excellence charter, including Horizontal Practices (for driving technical expertise in Delivery and customer engagement around modern technologies) and Global Delivery Assurance.Taking on the host chair this week we have John Oswald, Managing Director of Method London. You can find out more about Method at https://www.method.com/.

Matt alongside new co-host, fellow Method colleague Chris MacDonald, jump into the world of pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Joined by our guests Alex Gilbert, Head of Special Projects at Medopad and Alasdair Thong we cover personalized healthcare, genetic profiling, health augmentation and much more.

Matt closes out the year with a quick message to our listeners. Now, Near and Next will be back on 2/1/2019.You can find the Method Holiday Spirit at https://medium.com/method-perspectives/the-holiday-spirit-made-with-twitter-data-8458cffa3a6bHappy Holidays from Matt, Chantal, our podcast producers and Method!

Last week we asked you what questions you had about design. You sent us in some brilliant questions, so we brought on Method's Chief Design Officer, Alvaro Marques to answer them. We start off with the basics, digging into what design is and what effect it has on the world around us. Matt and Alvaro then tackle how design is changing through approaches like data-driven design and business design.

Earth Science AI. Not a phrase many are familiar with that is before you meet this week’s guest Iggy Bassi.We are all too aware that our climate is fundamentally changing at a speed, and scale we’re not equipped to comprehend. As a species, we’re brilliant at dealing with more apparent dangers like finding shelter or defending our turf from aggressors - but we’re not equipped to comprehend problems at the scale and complexity of our planet.So we’re all doomed - you might as well switch off this podcast, grab a dance partner and party like it’s the end of the world. Well, maybe not just yet!Earth Science AI may just be the kind of toolset we need to able to comprehend and quantify the problem at a planetary scale.Spurred by this threat, (and let’s face it, extinction is a pretty motivating threat) our guest this week founded London-based start-up called Cervest which is developing a new branch of AI called Earth Science AI, which promises to support governments, businesses, organisations, and farmers to quantify natural capital and anticipate the risks that climate uncertainty poses to humanity.Earth science AI is a new area of innovation that combines Earth science with AI-powered decision-making tools. It promises to help us make better decisions in a time of climatic uncertainty, potentially transforming our capacity to adapt to things like famine, natural disasters, migration, agriculture and geopolitics.In this episode, we talk to Iggy about how Earth Science AI works.

This week, Matt is joined by Chantal Schonbachler from Method and Graham Brown-Martin - author of Learning Reimagined, founder of Learning Without Frontiers, leader in the field of foresight & anticipatory research. We talk about the 4th Industrial Revolution and how it's influencing education and the skills needed for our future workforce.  We also cover:- The commodification of industries- Education's assessment systems and how they should be rethought- Lifelong learning in today's age- AI's role in augmenting education- How we get out of the interregnum- Generation ZFurther reading/watching: Personalized Learning: Tailored or Taylorized - Graham speaking at WISE What is the purpose of education? Designing Education in the age of AI - Method Medium blog 

This week, Matt accompanied by Sandrine Herbert Razafinjatom associate design director here at Method sits down with Jennifer Sukis, Principal for AI & Machine Learning at IBM Watson. We talk about the opportunities that AI and Machine Learning represent for designing groundbreaking products and services. We also cover:How design also is influencing AI. We talk to Jen about her journey to now. From graphic design to AI Design Strategy. The relationship between design and AI.We also learn how Jen defines AI and how we should think of it as a tool to solve human problems with rather than a final solution.  What AI looks like on the horizon

Recently we’ve seen a surge in connected products, from smart TVs, home heating systems to wine bottles. Some great, some not so great. This week, we meet with Claire Rowland, Product Strategy and UX consultant, public speaker and author to understand more about Internet of Things (IOT). From considerations around setting up and running a product development team, what happens when you get it wrong, and what’s coming next with the rise of 5G and beyond.The podcast is hosted by Matt Millington, Senior Director of Strategic Growth at Method. Method use design and technology to create business value; building brands, products and services fit for the digital age. Method is part of GlobalLogic a Silicon Valley based digital product engineering company.

Food tech. It’s probably not something that’s on your mind on a daily basis. What you might hear about however is climate change and the need for new food systems and eating habits.With a rapidly growing global population, where our food comes from and how it gets to us has never been more important. A couple of months we partnered with the Barbican Centre in London on a series of events and exhibitions. As part of their life re-wired season, we explored the future of our food systems.  We also ran a brilliant panel with Sam from the Small Robot Company and Ali from Astanor ventures. It was such a good discussion that we brought them back to be on the show.The podcast is hosted by Matt Millington, Senior Director of Strategic Growth at Method. Method use design and technology to create business value; building brands, products and services fit for the digital age. Method is part of GlobalLogic a Silicon Valley-based software engineering company.