Ideas through experience, not proposals! Proof over theory with "prototyping."
Don't you think that when conveying a new idea to someone, an "experience" is more effective than a written proposal?
When it comes to presentations, the method we're introducing today—prototyping—shares ideas as experiences.
On March 4, 2022, Dentsu Inc. held the "PROTOTYPING HACKATHON by Dentsu Lab Tokyo," a hackathon for young creative employees.
*Prototyping refers to a method primarily used in the technology field where a functional model is built early in development. This allows for the verification of functionality and user feedback while progressing with production.
*Hackathon is a portmanteau of "hack" (meaning to manipulate systems) and "marathon." It refers to an event where participants develop apps or services within a set timeframe and compete based on their results.
The theme was: "Solve the challenges new employees will likely face in the coming era."
Twenty-six young creators formed six teams and tackled the challenge over a month and a half, receiving technical mentoring from Dentsu Inc.'s digital creator group, " Dentsu Lab Tokyo."
Using this hackathon as an example, Haruka Watanabe, who is in charge of promoting talent and knowledge development in the creative field and was also involved in organizing this hackathon, shares the appeal of prototyping—turning ideas into tangible experiences!
Can "unknown experiences" be conveyed through proposals alone? Why prototyping is essential
In recent years, corporate challenges have become increasingly diverse.
Solutions proposed by the advertising industry now extend beyond mass advertising into areas leveraging technology, such as service design, product development, and AR/VR experiences.
However, ideas utilizing technology often involve "unknown experiences," making it difficult for clients and team members to visualize the final product based on a proposal document alone. This is why prototyping—the process of creating a prototype (a test version) to visualize the final product, align visions, and build while actively working—is increasingly in demand.
What kinds of ideas can be "experienced" through what kinds of prototypes?
Let's take a look at six prototypes created by young creators at Dentsu Inc.!
※1 For Dentsu Group's Digital Creative Recruitment, click here
■Prototype ①
Team "Team Higashi-Shimbashi 1-chome"
What flavor is your email? "Merukake" – turning work emails into furikake seasoning
Email exchanges have increased with remote work.
"Can't grasp the intent of the email I received"
"Are they a little angry...?"
New employees face endless email headaches like these.
"Merukake" is a system born to make such email exchanges more positive.
Each time you receive an email, AI analyzes the "positivity level" of the message's content. Based on this analysis, it outputs one of four flavored seasonings: "Gentle Egg Flavor," "Warm Sake Flavor," "Salty Yukari Flavor," or "Pungent Wasabi Flavor."
At the end of the day, a "Mail Flake" blend combining the "flavors" of all that day's emails is completed, ready to sprinkle over rice and eat.
"We struggled with both the software side of sentiment analysis and the hardware side of blending the furikake. But I strongly felt that ideas only truly begin when you make them tangible, not just plan them on paper."
Team "Team Higashi-Shinbashi 1-chome"
Planner/Software Engineer: Maya Atsugi
Planner/Hardware Engineer: Kentaro Tsuji
Planner/Video: Yuri Mitsuhashi
Planners: Shuji Miyamura, Takahiro Hasegawa
■Prototype ②
Team "O-WAY"
Remote work becomes a time of healing. "moblin," the next-generation mouse you can keep as a pet.
moblin, the "pet mouse," helps new employees forget the loneliness they feel during online work, meetings, and communication.
moblin has a built-in scroll wheel in its head. Petting its head scrolls your monitor screen. Buttons on its left and right palms let you right-click and left-click with a handshake motion. Its head horns are removable, and you can combine them with your favorite body to create your own personalized moblin.
Particular effort went into moblin's design.
"We identified 'loneliness' as a key challenge that emerged as the team shared their everyday anxieties. We spent time creating the ideal character by prototyping and refining different interpretations of 'cute'."
Team "O-WAY"
Communication Planner: Shun Onozawa
Copywriter: Hina Abe
Art Director: Ryohei Yatsubusaki
Planner: Watanabe Norihiro
■Prototype③
Team "80 (Hachimaru)"
Get rid of that email frustration! "Uppun Sukkiri Paper"
"You get scolded whether you listen or not"
"People say different things depending on who you ask"
"Uppun Sukkiri Paper" is a product designed to help you personally resolve the frustrations born from email-based communication.
It's simple to use. Transfer the email text you want to scream "Screw this!" at to the paper holder via your PC. Pull the paper, and the built-in printer instantly prints the email text. Then, just do your business.
This product aims to help new employees navigating the pandemic era enjoy a stress-free professional life. We also believe it encourages email senders to be more mindful about their word choice.
"We came up with this idea while brainstorming challenges unique to remote work. We realized that having a physical product, not just a proposal document, increases its persuasiveness and sparks new ideas."This "Uppun Refreshing Paper" was utilized at the Dentsu Group booth at Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2022, following a suggestion from an employee watching the presentation livestream. It serves as a prime example of how prototyping became the driving force behind the project's development.
Learn more about the exhibit here.
Team "80 (Hachimaru)"
Planner/Copywriter: Masashi Araki
Art Director/Planner: Ryo Sekiguchi
Planner/Design: Sakurako Kaji
Planner/Strategy: Kosuke Hirata
■Prototype④
Team "The conclusion Hattori reached after X hours of operation."
No more stress over sudden unreasonable demands from your boss. Your partner "Hokkyuki" comes to the rescue when it matters most.
We identified the biggest challenge for new employees today as the loneliness stemming from remote work.
Yet, when you're working, you might suddenly be tasked with a presentation. That's just how society works. It would be great to have a partner to help you in times like these.
That's why we developed "Hogeki," a companion robot that measures your heart rate via smartwatch. When it detects tension, it performs a charm by writing the character for "person" on your palm. Now you're not alone, and your nerves ease.
"Building actual prototypes made it easier to share our vision and advance discussions in greater detail. Based on these prototypes, we iterated through discussions and production, ultimately creating five prototypes in total before settling on the current design."
Team "The outcome Hattori reached after X hours of operation."
Art Director: Masuda Takehisa
Planner: Yuri Shu
Planner: Taro Kimura
Planner: Shuhei Seto
Engineer: Hattori Seiki
■Prototype⑤
Team "Shapure"
"Nyaice" Chair: Tells you the right time to talk to your senior
"I have no idea when it's okay to talk to my seniors!"
The "Nyanice" cat tail-shaped chair robot solves this new employee's dilemma.
The tail's movement changes based on the sitter's concentration level. For example, when focused, the tail stands straight up; when relaxed, it hangs limply. The right moment to speak is instantly clear.
Three pressure sensors measure how the senior colleague is sitting. Based on this data, two motors move the tail vertically and horizontally, creating three tail-wagging patterns: normal, focus, and relax.
We focused on subtle input that doesn't disturb the senior's work and a fluffy texture that creates a cute tail animation when it moves.
"None of us had any experience with electronics, but over a month and a half, we progressed by learning, building, and asking those who knew how. While ideas could spread endlessly, we discovered that actually getting our hands dirty and testing things helped us refine our direction."
Team "Shapure"
Planner: Tatsuya Honda
Art Director: Yui Miyamoto
Copywriter: Mina Sugioka
UI/UX Designer: Tamami Oobuchi
■Prototype ⑥
Team "Budget Baffled"
Feel like a drama protagonist! The "Romantic Elevator" that turns chance encounters into fated meetings
Amid the pandemic, "chance encounters" have vanished, and workplace communication has grown thin. This is a pressing issue for new employees.
The Romantic Elevator charmingly solves this problem. When the webcam detects two people inside, various sounds play through the speakers, crafting the elevator encounter into something fated.
There are 11 voice types in total, including "Romance," "Horror," and "Death Game." We designed narrations that are either laugh-out-loud funny or just embarrassing enough to make you want to strike up a conversation with the person next to you.
We conducted repeated experiments in home and office elevators, refining the effects and case videos.
"I was once again amazed by the breadth of my colleagues' expertise and how they elevated the quality of their output during the final week. Hearing a peer who participated in the test play say, 'If this existed, I'd want to come to work every day!' became a huge motivator."
Team "No Idea How to Use the Budget"
Planner/Movie Editor: Hayashi Sonohisa
Planner/CG Editor: Kenichiro Tanaka
Technologist: Kazuyuki Yamamoto
Copywriter: Kobayashi Marina
Experiential planning proposals "Prototyping" drive the planning process!
That concludes our showcase of prototypes from the six teams. Finally, we asked participants to share the benefits of prototyping gained during this hackathon!
■Benefits of Prototyping as Shared by Participating Creators
・It helps share the vision for the finished product and clarify challenges.
・Seeing prototypes boosts team motivation, ultimately moving the project forward.
・It makes it easier to get feedback like, "Wouldn't it be better if we did this instead?"
Additionally, the following comments were provided by mentors at Dentsu Lab Tokyo:
■Mentor Comments
"It was fantastic to see it become a comprehensive creative battle. From the initial concept to the idea, logo design, copy, and presentation execution, traditional creativity was combined with skills in electronic circuits and software. If more teams like this emerge, we'll likely see more interesting work in the future."
Shintaro Murakami (Dentsu Lab Tokyo)
"Prototyping is about sharing the vision. It's the equivalent of storyboards or graphic comps for TV commercials. Ideas that wouldn't pass based on a proposal alone can get approved instantly. I felt this hackathon demonstrated how prototyping can become a driving force for the team."
Kazuhito Ochi (Dentsu Lab Tokyo)
"Actually prototyping allows you to convey the appeal that a proposal document alone can't fully express. It can make ideas shine brighter and attract more collaborators. The significant response from employees watching the hackathon livestream proved that prototyping generates empathy and is a powerful tool for driving projects forward."
Ryosuke Ono (Dentsu Lab Tokyo)
This hackathon was planned and operated primarily by Dentsu Inc.'s technology and creative talent, led by Mr. Ono.
The prototyping theme was "Solving New Employees' Challenges," but many participating creators were either part of the 2021 remote onboarding cohort or had transferred into creative roles in 2021. In other words, it was an attempt to solve their own pressing issues through prototyping.
Perhaps because of this, it was striking how many teams presented solutions addressing "loneliness and communication gaps experienced during remote work."
As societal challenges diversify, the approach of leveraging technology and exploring solutions through prototyping will become increasingly important. If you found any of the prototypes introduced here interesting, please feel free to consult with Dentsu Inc.
(※1) Dentsu Inc. launched its "Digital Creative Recruitment" program in 2019, hiring creators with diverse skills. This hackathon was also planned and operated primarily by digital creative talent.
Related Article: Why We Promote "Creative × Technology" at Dentsu Inc.
https://dentsu-ho.com/articles/7855
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Author
Haruka Watanabe
Dentsu Inc.
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics in 2012 and the Faculty of Psychology in 2022. Engaged in human resource development and environmental improvement, primarily within creative departments. Having experienced mental health challenges personally, founded the "Mental Health Lab" to promote mental health awareness and support. Also provides business support utilizing illustrations. Passionate about travel and motorcycles, always looking for opportunities to explore both domestically and internationally.
