Future Experience Program

What was the Program?

It's a project within Sony R&D that comes up with new and innovative approaches to product development. Instead of developing products secretly, these prototypes would be open to the public for feedback. We had a round of discussions about how people were using their smartphones and devices and what the next generation of mobile experience would be. The big question we wanted to find an answer is: was there a way to create an experience that allowed us to communicate and have access to information while still being able to engage and be an active participant in life? To test it out, we showed off our Concept Prototype N, a neckband style wearable device and service.

What was my Task?

My mission was to propose new wearable applications on the device and to develop those with both speed and quality.

What Actions did I take?

I worked closely with a user researcher to learn our target users then developed as many wearable applications as possible with agile development process. I drove Design Sprint to come up a new application and validate the value with beta users in San Francisco. The applications I developed were:

• NBA: Read live score of your favorite team.
• Local Guide: When you visite a new neighborhood, the app recommends restraurants, things to do, a little tips about the neighborhood.
• Uber: Call an Uber to home or work place by recognizing the user's location.
• The Little Boost: Daily motivational tips to get you going.

As a whole team, we developed over 15 applications in the 10 months pilot program including basic applications such as Email, Calendar, News, Camera and advanced applications such as Navigation, Acitivity Log(with Strava integration), and location based game.

What was the Result?

I kept track of the active usage per application, contributing to 5 % increase by releasing the applications I developed. After the pilot program, we incorporated the most needed features on the next versio of hardware, Xperia Ear Duo.