Case studies

Panasonic

Designing circular services to extend
the electronics life cycle

Designing circular services to extend the electronics life cycle

Problem

Panasonic is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies, with a 100 year history, over 10k products, and 200k employees.

The circular economy had been identified as a strategic priority for the company, with right to repair legislation stemming from the EU being scaled globally, putting pressure on Japan.

With its 203X vision envisioning interconnectedness among people and communities as well as promoting product circulation over disposal, Panasonic were aiming to redesign the end-of-life process for its products to benefit the company, its customers, and the planet.

The circular economy had been identified as a strategic priority for the company, with right to repair legislation stemming from the EU being scaled globally, putting pressure on Japan.

Approach: Phase 1

We worked with the Panasonic UX team to prototype circular services as reuse and repair POCs in our Nakameguro participatory design space.

We conducted a rigorous design process to prioritise ideas that emerged using a custom DVF decision-making matrix.

The team ultimately decided to develop a prototype around the concept of キレイにする, with the main objective of understanding user behaviours, motivations, and expectations around maintenance and cleaning of electronics.

Our approach included:

Analysis of domestic and international case studies.
User journey mapping and hypothesis-building.
Rapid rounds of ideation based on diverse HMW prompts.
Prioritisation using a DVF decision-making matrix.

We conducted a rigorous design process to prioritise ideas that emerged using a custom DVF decision-making matrix.

Our approach included:

Analysis of domestic and international case studies.
User journey mapping and hypothesis-building.
Rapid rounds of ideation based on diverse HMW prompts.
Prioritisation using a DVF decision-making matrix.

POC idea 「キレイに実験室」

Over the course of three days, Fabric’s Nakameguro studio was transformed into a limited time "maintenance lab" for anyone to drop by with items they wanted to take care of.

Using the tools and materials available, participants were able to clean / maintain their items, exchange tips with other attendees, and learn how to better take care of their belongings.

During the process, the team engaged in qualitative research through observations and interviews to understand user experiences at the event as well as learn more about their everyday habits and mindsets around cleaning and taking care of personal belongings.

Over the course of three days, Fabric’s Nakameguro studio was transformed into a limited time "maintenance lab" for anyone to drop by with items they wanted to take care of.

Using the tools and materials available, participants were able to clean / maintain their items, exchange tips with other attendees, and learn how to better take care of their belongings.

Approach: Phase 2

Next we brought broader Panasonic teams together to align around a future vision and series of circular design initiatives.

Vision workshops were conducted in-person and on Miro with employees across Japan. This was the first time many of these design, manufacturing, maintenance, and customer service teams had collaborated together.

We used tools like the Business Model Navigator to critically assess and focus efforts on viable models.

Through this process we went from siloed teams to a shared commitment for cross-org and external collaboration.

We used tools like the Business Model Navigator to critically assess and focus efforts on viable models.

Through this process we went from siloed teams to a shared commitment for cross-org and external collaboration.

Outcomes

Our activities and insights came together in a strategy to seed circular principles across the company.

Customer JTBD were aligned to each phase of the repair journey, alongside program commitments from Panasonic teams.

The initiatives in the strategy included:

Promoting right to repair;
Creating best-in-class experiences for warranty and repair;
Modular and resource efficient product design;
Semi-open repair education internally and externally;
Pride in craftsmanship to extend product life.

We’re continuing this work into 2025, crafting approaches for mass organisational change and customer journey optimisation, from the gemba to the c-suite.

Customer JTBD were aligned to each phase of the repair journey, alongside program commitments from Panasonic teams.

The initiatives in the strategy included:

Promoting right to repair;
Creating best-in-class experiences for warranty and repair;
Modular and resource efficient product design;
Semi-open repair education internally and externally;
Pride in craftsmanship to extend product life.

We’re continuing this work into 2025, crafting approaches for mass organisational change and customer journey optimisation, from the gemba to the c-suite.