Home Cinema Sound Category Design Management
This is a brief overview of my work when I was a Senior Design Manager at Philips Design.
This is a brief overview of my work when I was a Senior Design Manager at Philips Design.
During my time as Senior Design Manager at Philips design ( – , I was responsible for the design strategy, category design management and product development programs for the Home Cinema Sound (5.1, 2.1 and Soundbar products), Blu-Ray/DVD and Home Controls product categories.
I was involved in all new Home Cinema Sound category product introductions from the 2nd half of 2009, 2010 and 2011, as well as the Blu-Ray/DVD product introductions in the 2nd half of 2009 and 2010. The challenge was that we operated under the backdrop of the economic crisis in 2009 and weaken Euro dollar in 2010.
The success of this category was achieved by working together with a strong creative and project management team. The category has since been recognized with a number of international awards.
My other responsibilities include:
• Developing and deploying strong business focused design strategies with business partners.
• Embedding marketing strategies and business mindsets within the design team.
• Ensuring design identity strategies and design language programs are consistently executed.
• Maintaining design integrity throughout the development process by aligning requirements with Design, R&D, Marketing, and Consumer Research stakeholders.
• Creating an environment where multidisciplinary design competences (Industrial Design, Communications, Visual Trends and Interaction Design) can come together to create meaningful and successful product solutions.
The following product examples are a result of a great creativ team effort and a credit to all involved.
(All communications images below are copyrighted and belong to Philips Electronics B.V.)
I was involved in all new Home Cinema Sound category product introductions from the 2nd half of 2009, 2010 and 2011, as well as the Blu-Ray/DVD product introductions in the 2nd half of 2009 and 2010. The challenge was that we operated under the backdrop of the economic crisis in 2009 and weaken Euro dollar in 2010.
The success of this category was achieved by working together with a strong creative and project management team. The category has since been recognized with a number of international awards.
My other responsibilities include:
• Developing and deploying strong business focused design strategies with business partners.
• Embedding marketing strategies and business mindsets within the design team.
• Ensuring design identity strategies and design language programs are consistently executed.
• Maintaining design integrity throughout the development process by aligning requirements with Design, R&D, Marketing, and Consumer Research stakeholders.
• Creating an environment where multidisciplinary design competences (Industrial Design, Communications, Visual Trends and Interaction Design) can come together to create meaningful and successful product solutions.
The following product examples are a result of a great creativ team effort and a credit to all involved.
(All communications images below are copyrighted and belong to Philips Electronics B.V.)
In my Design Management role at Philips Design, I was in charge of not 1 or 5 products, but categories of products.
Philips Immersive Sound home Theater (HTS9540)
"Philips Immersive Sound HD home theater with 360Sound and 3D Blu-rayDisc completes the ultimate cinema experience. Philips 360Soundtechnology fills your room with rich, absorbing sound, with DTS-HD andDolby True HD producing high fidelity surround sound which immerses you in fine detail."
The design strategy of this product was to adopt an established archetype, so that it may support the business objective of entering a market price point that the brand had no presence in. Design was a key driver in this brand building activity.
The success of this product was acknowledged with an EISA Award (2010), Singapore Design Award: Silver (2010), and an IF Product Design Award 2011.
"Philips Immersive Sound HD home theater with 360Sound and 3D Blu-rayDisc completes the ultimate cinema experience. Philips 360Soundtechnology fills your room with rich, absorbing sound, with DTS-HD andDolby True HD producing high fidelity surround sound which immerses you in fine detail."
The design strategy of this product was to adopt an established archetype, so that it may support the business objective of entering a market price point that the brand had no presence in. Design was a key driver in this brand building activity.
The success of this product was acknowledged with an EISA Award (2010), Singapore Design Award: Silver (2010), and an IF Product Design Award 2011.
Central to the success of this product was the front and side firing speakers with 360 Sound technology. The Design Language included a silver ring around the side firing speaker drivers to communicate the technology to the users.
Philips Immersive Sound (HTS5592)
This home theater unit leverages on the halo effect created by the top end HTS9540's 360 Speaker technology. The speaker driver were designed and articulated in a 15 degree angle to provide a wider sound dispersion.
This home theater unit leverages on the halo effect created by the top end HTS9540's 360 Speaker technology. The speaker driver were designed and articulated in a 15 degree angle to provide a wider sound dispersion.
Philips Soundbar with Ambisound (HTS9140)
Philips is currently the global market leader for Sounbars. The challenge was to create an market winning design that would continue to sustain the Philips business market leadership. We continued to apply our strategy of "visual and marketable technology" by creating a curved grilled front and rings around the speakers.
This design was awarded a Red-Dot Award in Product Design and an IF Product Design Award in 2011.
Philips is currently the global market leader for Sounbars. The challenge was to create an market winning design that would continue to sustain the Philips business market leadership. We continued to apply our strategy of "visual and marketable technology" by creating a curved grilled front and rings around the speakers.
This design was awarded a Red-Dot Award in Product Design and an IF Product Design Award in 2011.
Philips DesignLine 3D Blu-Ray Crystal Clear SoundHub Home Theater System (HTS9241)
Philips SoundHub HTS9241, a 2.1 home theater system with titanium tweeters for undistorted, Crystal Clear Sound as well as integrated 3DBlu-ray disc playback.
This is user-centered design at its best! Research data showed that users were afraid of systems (ie 5.1 systems) with too many speakers, and that users had the tendency to place all the speakers in the front. Inspired by this research data, we created a solution that was built from a familiar stereo system archetype. This familiarity was also proven to be more comfortable and attractive to home theater system buyers who "sit on the fence". Continuing the brand pillar of making technology accessible, the final design was intended to be a comfortable, elegant solution that was a central hub to all your media needs.
Philips SoundHub HTS9241, a 2.1 home theater system with titanium tweeters for undistorted, Crystal Clear Sound as well as integrated 3DBlu-ray disc playback.
This is user-centered design at its best! Research data showed that users were afraid of systems (ie 5.1 systems) with too many speakers, and that users had the tendency to place all the speakers in the front. Inspired by this research data, we created a solution that was built from a familiar stereo system archetype. This familiarity was also proven to be more comfortable and attractive to home theater system buyers who "sit on the fence". Continuing the brand pillar of making technology accessible, the final design was intended to be a comfortable, elegant solution that was a central hub to all your media needs.
