Product Derivatives
Product Derivatives
The Product Derivatives project aimed to align Ford South America's leadership strategy with potential market opportunities for a well-established product in the region. This initiative was primarily focused on research and product strategy, heavily emphasizing interviews with Ford South America's leadership team.
Client
Ford Motor Company
Year
2023
Category
Product Strategy
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Non-disclosure Agreement
Working for Ford in the automotive industry meant being bound by NDAs. The following references are non-revealing, consented, public information or pertain to completed and discontinued projects. However, I can share insights into my personal experiences, the methodologies employed, and the skills I developed while working on various initiatives. These examples highlight my contributions and professional growth without disclosing any proprietary or confidential information, ensuring full compliance with legal and ethical obligations.
Chapter 1 – The Challenge
Specific goals
• Establish product derivatives process;
• Ensure that the process is able to leverage the products;
• Generate inputs for future products; Outcomes;
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Outcomes
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Understanding the Product and Market
Our team was tasked with analyzing the product, market trends, and competitors while synthesizing data from internal resources. These included insights from the customer experience, marketing, and engineering teams. One critical resource was an extensive marketing report combining qualitative and quantitative data about the product and its competitors.
Understanding Leadership’s Strategy
The more significant challenge was grasping the leadership's vision and creating a report persuasive enough to secure their buy-in. Carlos, the Chief Engineer overseeing the product and our primary client, relied on us to both identify opportunities and present them compellingly to leadership.
Specific goals
• Establish product derivatives process;
• Ensure that the process is able to leverage the products;
• Generate inputs for future products; Outcomes;
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Outcomes
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Understanding the Product and Market
Our team was tasked with analyzing the product, market trends, and competitors while synthesizing data from internal resources. These included insights from the customer experience, marketing, and engineering teams. One critical resource was an extensive marketing report combining qualitative and quantitative data about the product and its competitors.
Understanding Leadership’s Strategy
The more significant challenge was grasping the leadership's vision and creating a report persuasive enough to secure their buy-in. Carlos, the Chief Engineer overseeing the product and our primary client, relied on us to both identify opportunities and present them compellingly to leadership.
Specific goals
• Establish product derivatives process;
• Ensure that the process is able to leverage the products;
• Generate inputs for future products; Outcomes;
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Outcomes
• A synthesis of secondary research from inside and outside the company;
• A summary of leadership input on the project (including disagreements and opportunities);
• A project plan aligned with leadership input, and pre-research for the upcoming year;
Understanding the Product and Market
Our team was tasked with analyzing the product, market trends, and competitors while synthesizing data from internal resources. These included insights from the customer experience, marketing, and engineering teams. One critical resource was an extensive marketing report combining qualitative and quantitative data about the product and its competitors.
Understanding Leadership’s Strategy
The more significant challenge was grasping the leadership's vision and creating a report persuasive enough to secure their buy-in. Carlos, the Chief Engineer overseeing the product and our primary client, relied on us to both identify opportunities and present them compellingly to leadership.
Chapter 2 – The immersion
Low-resource secondary research
Additionally to the data gathered from internal sources, we conducted secondary research on platforms like Google and social media in general. This research focused on user comments, reviews, and community discussions to immerse ourselves in the user ecosystem.
Finding users willing to be interviewed for free
Even so, I felt that I needed more information to step firmly on the challenge. Since our project was in a approval phase and had few resources, I aligned with the team to independently conduct two semi-structured interviews with family members who had owned the product and later shared my findings with them.
Low-resource secondary research
Additionally to the data gathered from internal sources, we conducted secondary research on platforms like Google and social media in general. This research focused on user comments, reviews, and community discussions to immerse ourselves in the user ecosystem.
Finding users willing to be interviewed for free
Even so, I felt that I needed more information to step firmly on the challenge. Since our project was in a approval phase and had few resources, I aligned with the team to independently conduct two semi-structured interviews with family members who had owned the product and later shared my findings with them.
Low-resource secondary research
Additionally to the data gathered from internal sources, we conducted secondary research on platforms like Google and social media in general. This research focused on user comments, reviews, and community discussions to immerse ourselves in the user ecosystem.
Finding users willing to be interviewed for free
Even so, I felt that I needed more information to step firmly on the challenge. Since our project was in a approval phase and had few resources, I aligned with the team to independently conduct two semi-structured interviews with family members who had owned the product and later shared my findings with them.
Low-resource secondary research
Additionally to the data gathered from internal sources, we conducted secondary research on platforms like Google and social media in general. This research focused on user comments, reviews, and community discussions to immerse ourselves in the user ecosystem.
Finding users willing to be interviewed for free
Even so, I felt that I needed more information to step firmly on the challenge. Since our project was in a approval phase and had few resources, I aligned with the team to independently conduct two semi-structured interviews with family members who had owned the product and later shared my findings with them.
Chapter 3 – In-company interviews
We conducted interviews with employees from key product development areas, such as Marketing and Customer Experience, as well as most of Ford South America’s C-Level executives. These interviews were recorded and synthesized into a presentation, culminating in a video summarizing the leadership's perspectives on the product.
Ensuring support on the project
These interviews were crucial for securing Carlos's support and, subsequently, that of his superior, the Director of Product Development for South America. While the project initially focused solely on research and strategy, it has since (as of June 2024) branched into several ongoing initiatives, including one centered on research and others dedicated to product development.
We conducted interviews with employees from key product development areas, such as Marketing and Customer Experience, as well as most of Ford South America’s C-Level executives. These interviews were recorded and synthesized into a presentation, culminating in a video summarizing the leadership's perspectives on the product.
Ensuring support on the project
These interviews were crucial for securing Carlos's support and, subsequently, that of his superior, the Director of Product Development for South America. While the project initially focused solely on research and strategy, it has since (as of June 2024) branched into several ongoing initiatives, including one centered on research and others dedicated to product development.
We conducted interviews with employees from key product development areas, such as Marketing and Customer Experience, as well as most of Ford South America’s C-Level executives. These interviews were recorded and synthesized into a presentation, culminating in a video summarizing the leadership's perspectives on the product.
Ensuring support on the project
These interviews were crucial for securing Carlos's support and, subsequently, that of his superior, the Director of Product Development for South America. While the project initially focused solely on research and strategy, it has since (as of June 2024) branched into several ongoing initiatives, including one centered on research and others dedicated to product development.
We conducted interviews with employees from key product development areas, such as Marketing and Customer Experience, as well as most of Ford South America’s C-Level executives. These interviews were recorded and synthesized into a presentation, culminating in a video summarizing the leadership's perspectives on the product.
Ensuring support on the project
These interviews were crucial for securing Carlos's support and, subsequently, that of his superior, the Director of Product Development for South America. While the project initially focused solely on research and strategy, it has since (as of June 2024) branched into several ongoing initiatives, including one centered on research and others dedicated to product development.
Chapter 4 – Delivering a Summarized C-Level Perspective
As in the first project we leveraged audiovisual storytelling to enhance credibility and persuasion. The team opted to create a video as part of the deliverables. So I captured the interviews and summarized it.
The resulting video condensed over three hours of interviews into a 6-minute compilation. It highlighted the key points of the product strategy through direct quotes from leadership, clearly outlining tensions and opportunities.
The feedback on the report
Carlos humorously remarked after the presentation that the video captured the “story of his life” and joked about showing it to his family with popcorn. More importantly, he noted that the insights presented provided a solid foundation for defining his strategic goals for the upcoming year.
This video was a partial delivery, as the next step involved presenting the project to Davi, the Director of Product Development for South America.
As in the first project we leveraged audiovisual storytelling to enhance credibility and persuasion. The team opted to create a video as part of the deliverables. So I captured the interviews and summarized it.
The resulting video condensed over three hours of interviews into a 6-minute compilation. It highlighted the key points of the product strategy through direct quotes from leadership, clearly outlining tensions and opportunities.
The feedback on the report
Carlos humorously remarked after the presentation that the video captured the “story of his life” and joked about showing it to his family with popcorn. More importantly, he noted that the insights presented provided a solid foundation for defining his strategic goals for the upcoming year.
This video was a partial delivery, as the next step involved presenting the project to Davi, the Director of Product Development for South America.
As in the first project we leveraged audiovisual storytelling to enhance credibility and persuasion. The team opted to create a video as part of the deliverables. So I captured the interviews and summarized it.
The resulting video condensed over three hours of interviews into a 6-minute compilation. It highlighted the key points of the product strategy through direct quotes from leadership, clearly outlining tensions and opportunities.
The feedback on the report
Carlos humorously remarked after the presentation that the video captured the “story of his life” and joked about showing it to his family with popcorn. More importantly, he noted that the insights presented provided a solid foundation for defining his strategic goals for the upcoming year.
This video was a partial delivery, as the next step involved presenting the project to Davi, the Director of Product Development for South America.
As in the first project we leveraged audiovisual storytelling to enhance credibility and persuasion. The team opted to create a video as part of the deliverables. So I captured the interviews and summarized it.
The resulting video condensed over three hours of interviews into a 6-minute compilation. It highlighted the key points of the product strategy through direct quotes from leadership, clearly outlining tensions and opportunities.
The feedback on the report
Carlos humorously remarked after the presentation that the video captured the “story of his life” and joked about showing it to his family with popcorn. More importantly, he noted that the insights presented provided a solid foundation for defining his strategic goals for the upcoming year.
This video was a partial delivery, as the next step involved presenting the project to Davi, the Director of Product Development for South America.
Chapter 5 – Creating Concepts to Capture Attention
As the year-end vacation approached, Carlos requested sketches to enhance the project’s appeal for the upcoming meeting with Davi. Despite the limited time and lack of scope clarity, we quickly developed four derivative concepts using Photoshop and AI tools.
These sketches were not detailed designs but rather conceptual representations of potential vehicles and their usage contexts. They aimed to inspire and illustrate the possibilities for product derivatives. These visuals were included in the report and featured in a short video presented to Davi.
As the year-end vacation approached, Carlos requested sketches to enhance the project’s appeal for the upcoming meeting with Davi. Despite the limited time and lack of scope clarity, we quickly developed four derivative concepts using Photoshop and AI tools.
These sketches were not detailed designs but rather conceptual representations of potential vehicles and their usage contexts. They aimed to inspire and illustrate the possibilities for product derivatives. These visuals were included in the report and featured in a short video presented to Davi.
As the year-end vacation approached, Carlos requested sketches to enhance the project’s appeal for the upcoming meeting with Davi. Despite the limited time and lack of scope clarity, we quickly developed four derivative concepts using Photoshop and AI tools.
These sketches were not detailed designs but rather conceptual representations of potential vehicles and their usage contexts. They aimed to inspire and illustrate the possibilities for product derivatives. These visuals were included in the report and featured in a short video presented to Davi.
As the year-end vacation approached, Carlos requested sketches to enhance the project’s appeal for the upcoming meeting with Davi. Despite the limited time and lack of scope clarity, we quickly developed four derivative concepts using Photoshop and AI tools.
These sketches were not detailed designs but rather conceptual representations of potential vehicles and their usage contexts. They aimed to inspire and illustrate the possibilities for product derivatives. These visuals were included in the report and featured in a short video presented to Davi.
Chapter 6 – Project Outcomes: Building Momentum
Several derivative opportunities were identified as promising, and our presentation to Davi concluded with a discussion about the processes needed to develop successful derivatives. We emphasized that while our initial findings were valuable, a more thorough and mature process could generate even greater insights and impact for the product.
As a result, the project catalyzed additional work for the Design Studio, leading to the development of new initiatives related to this product.
Several derivative opportunities were identified as promising, and our presentation to Davi concluded with a discussion about the processes needed to develop successful derivatives. We emphasized that while our initial findings were valuable, a more thorough and mature process could generate even greater insights and impact for the product.
As a result, the project catalyzed additional work for the Design Studio, leading to the development of new initiatives related to this product.
Several derivative opportunities were identified as promising, and our presentation to Davi concluded with a discussion about the processes needed to develop successful derivatives. We emphasized that while our initial findings were valuable, a more thorough and mature process could generate even greater insights and impact for the product.
As a result, the project catalyzed additional work for the Design Studio, leading to the development of new initiatives related to this product.
Several derivative opportunities were identified as promising, and our presentation to Davi concluded with a discussion about the processes needed to develop successful derivatives. We emphasized that while our initial findings were valuable, a more thorough and mature process could generate even greater insights and impact for the product.
As a result, the project catalyzed additional work for the Design Studio, leading to the development of new initiatives related to this product.
More Works More Works
More Works More Works
©2025 SAAL DESIGN
GO BACK TO TOP
©2025 SAAL DESIGN
GO BACK TO TOP