The team partnered with an European vehicle brand to identify key inspirational anchors for a new "in China, for China" product definition. The goal was to align the brand’s core pillars with the aspirations of China’s next-generation consumers.

As the sole design researcher on a fast-paced, multidisciplinary team, my key role and impact were:

• Designed research plans that aligned with client needs and business objectives.

• Played an integral role in implementing “futuring” methodology to ground early hypotheses and design opportunities.

• Co-created culturally nuanced research materials for consumer testing with product and interaction designers.

• Facilitated insightful conversations with experts and consumers to drive actionable insights.

• Integrated our findings into the client’s internal framework seamlessly.

Key research activities

• Stakeholder and expert interviews

• Desk research combined with futuring

• Co-creation workshop

• Interviews with inspirational consumers 

• Concept testing

Process Highlights

• A hypothesis-driven approach — expanding both on the client’s and our initial assumptions

• Infused a socio-cultural lens to broaden perspectives and inspirations during co-creation workshops

• Leveraging the client’s consumer segmentation model for participant recruitment that connect back to client’s internal ways of working.

• Focusing on insights that directly inform product definition and strategy.

• Enhanced cross-functional collaboration and boosted VP-level confidence in the long-term vision of building "in China, for China" capabilities.

• Paved the way for further strategic collaborations at both group and departmental levels.