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Moon Creative Lab

<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:25%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1525/1973;" src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image3_48fcc4d69c.png" alt="image3.png" width="1525" height="1973"></figure>Author: Khairil Azmi is Moon Creative Lab’s Program Manager for Asia-Pacific, based at the Mitsui &amp; Co.’s Asia-Pacific regional HQ in Singapore. A Mitsui employee originally from Mitsui Indonesia, he joined Moon Creative Lab in October 2021, responsible for business development across the region.&nbsp; At Mitsui, he concurrently handled strategic planning’s diverse and dynamic activities for the region in 2021-2024.<hr>My journey at Moon Creative Lab has been nothing short of transformative. As a&nbsp;Program Manager&nbsp;for the thriving Asia Pacific region, I have had the privilege of connecting people, ideas, and opportunities: helping creative thinkers become founders and supporting startups as they grow. Whether it was sourcing new collaborations, bridging corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, or supporting them through the innovation process, every step reinforced the power of experimentation, resilience, and strategic networking. Working in Moon’s dynamic, human-centered environment has not only sharpened my ability to navigate ambiguity and think entrepreneurially, but has also deepened my belief in the impact of bold ideas and meaningful connections.I would like to share key insights and reflections from this journey, lessons that have shaped my perspective on innovation, collaboration, and personal growth. Here, you can read about&nbsp;the experiences navigating the intersection of corporate and startup ecosystems, the skills&nbsp;developed, and the impact on Moon Creative Lab’s efforts in fostering entrepreneurial mindsets.<hr>&nbsp;<h3>Starting the Journey</h3>During my tenure at Mitsui Indonesia, due to Mitsui’s efforts in exploring collaboration and investment opportunities with startups in 2018-2019, I found myself deeply immersed in the startup ecosystem. One of the key milestones was proposing, initiating, and bringing to life a partnership with an accelerator from Japan that focused on supporting early-stage startups in Indonesia. This initiative became a platform for actively engaging with startups, including serving as a judge at pitch events. My team and I connected with over 120 startups, venture capitalists, incubators, and accelerators, forging strong relationships and immersing ourselves in Indonesia’s vibrant innovation ecosystem, the second-largest in Asia, second only to India.&nbsp;These interactions offered a front-row seat to the unfiltered passion of founders, their innovative ideas, and their relentless drive. However, it also exposed a harsh reality: many of these startups failed to survive, their dreams fading before they could fully take flight.Meanwhile, within Mitsui, I was surrounded by brilliant colleagues brimming with creative ideas. Yet, these ideas often remained untapped, disconnected from their organization's immediate business priorities. This disconnect was a missed opportunity, both for the individuals and for Mitsui.When Mitsui announced the establishment of Moon Creative Lab in 2018 to channel internal ideas into actionable ventures, I recognized it as the perfect solution to bridge this gap and was able to join Moon in 2021.Initially, Moon focused solely on ideas from Mitsui employees. While this aligned perfectly with my enthusiasm for unlocking internal potential, I quietly nurtured a dream that Moon would one day open its doors also to external startups. Little did I know that this vision would soon become a reality.&nbsp;<h3>Setting My Own Course at Moon</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image2_4b0f76b637.jpg" alt="image2.jpg">Joining Moon Creative Lab gave me the opportunity to blend my previous experiences with a larger purpose: empowering idea owners to turn bold ideas into reality. My role allowed me to contribute to an ecosystem where creativity meets execution, enabling individuals to navigate challenges, refine their ideas, and eventually build ventures with real-world impact.&nbsp;As Moon evolved to include external startups, my prior engagements with the innovation ecosystem became invaluable. Leveraging my network of startups, accelerators, and venture capitalists, I helped bring in diverse participants for Moon’s educational and incubation&nbsp;programs and workshops, which created a vibrant mix of perspectives and creativity and strengthened cross-border collaboration.&nbsp;At the same time, I maintained my role at&nbsp;Mitsui &amp; Co. (Asia Pacific). Balancing the corporate and startup worlds required constant adaptability, navigating structured processes while embracing the fast-paced, iterative nature of innovation. This unique dual perspective allowed me to bridge corporate strategy with entrepreneurial thinking, reinforcing the value of agility, cross-sector collaboration, and bold execution in driving meaningful change.&nbsp;While serving as the strategic planning PIC for several countries in Mitsui’s Asia Pacific region, I ensured ideas from Mitsui colleagues aligned with long-term goals. When ideas advanced from learning programs to incubation, we translated corporate objectives into actionable startup methodologies with Moon's expert support. Through this collaboration, we also learned from each other. I gained firsthand experience in the concrete, hands-on application of design thinking from Moon’s teams, embracing a true ‘learning by doing’ approach. At the same time, Moon’s teams deepened their understanding of corporate strategy, including how large organizations leverage their extensive networks, vast business portfolio, and structured decision-making processes to drive long-term growth and impact.&nbsp;<h3>Key Lessons from My Time at Moon</h3>My time at Moon has also equipped me with skills that transcend traditional corporate boundaries:<ul><li>Strategic networking: Engaging with over 300 startups, VCs, and founders and participating in events across Asia-Pacific provided me with the opportunity to foster collaboration, making connections between Mitsui and promising startups, incubators, accelerators, and VCs, and identifying new business opportunities.&nbsp;For instance, during the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF) 2023, I connected with numerous startups, and brought them into our program. This led to exploratory discussions on potential collaborations, including pilot projects to test the startups’ solutions within Mitsui’s network. This was not a one-time occurrence. I consistently leveraged Mitsui's network and portfolio to expand our engagement beyond Moon’s programs, exploring potential collaborations. &nbsp;</li><li>Design thinking: Before joining Moon, I often jumped straight into ideas without fully understanding the real problems that customers faced, relying mostly on creativity and desk research. Through my experience at Moon, I learned to initiate new business creation by first identifying genuine pain points, ensuring solutions were rooted in real needs rather than assumptions. In my second year at Moon, one of the ideas I developed with a colleague followed this approach and was selected for Moon’s incubation program. I worked closely between the co-founder and Moon's team, revisiting the problems, conducting stakeholder interviews, refining solution concepts, and progressing through PoC and beyond. In addition to applying these principles, I spearheaded workshops to help teams refine ideas based on customer insights and brought Mitsui’s regional employees into Moon’s learning and incubation programs, immersing them in the design thinking process firsthand.&nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Cross-cultural collaboration: Managing initiatives with teams across 15 countries allowed me to collaborate with diverse groups of people from different backgrounds and regions, opening new perspectives and solutions. During my time at Mitsui Indonesia, my interactions with colleagues from other countries were mostly limited to emails and involved only a few countries. However, at Moon, while generating leads across 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, I had the opportunity to engage with them in person, especially through learning programs. This direct, first-hand interaction with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, languages, perspectives, and problem-solving approaches, greatly enriched my own outlook. It broadened my perspective, deepened my understanding of different ways of thinking, and ultimately helped me grow both personally and professionally, enhancing my inclusivity and openness.</li></ul>&nbsp;As mentioned above, I have learned a lot at Moon. However, in closing, I would like to share one of the most valuable lessons I learned during my time at Moon. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is the importance of starting with real problems before jumping to solutions. True innovation is not just about generating ideas. It is about deeply understanding unmet needs, iterating based on real-world insights, and identifying opportunities and solutions through continuous learning.Whether in a corporate setting or an entrepreneurial venture, the ability to challenge assumptions, engage stakeholders, and test ideas systematically makes all the difference. By embracing design thinking, strategic networking, and cross-cultural collaboration, we can bridge the gap between vision and execution, transforming abstract ideas into practical, validated solutions.&nbsp;<h3>Transformation Never Stops</h3>Equally important, this journey has connected me with an incredible network of forward-thinking colleagues, founders, and innovators who challenge assumptions, push boundaries, and bring diverse perspectives to solving problems. The relationships I have built along the way are not just part of my past. They will continue to shape how I approach new opportunities, collaborations, and challenges in the future.No matter where you are in your journey, the potential to create meaningful change is always in your hands. Take that first step, connect with the right people, and let the journey unfold.

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<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Thumbnail_Anna_facilitation_26b76935d9.png" alt="Thumbnail_Anna facilitation.png">The author of this blog: Anna Hiraoka. After joining Mitsui, she was involved in healthcare business investment projects in the Wellness Division, and was seconded to Moon Creative Lab (Moon) for two years from October 2018 to September 2020. After working on a healthcare startup at Moon, Anna returned to the Mitsui Wellness Division, then transferred to HR &amp; General Affairs Division promoting D&amp;I. Anna returned to Moon in 2023 and is currently a Senior L&amp;D specialist. She is a facilitator at many workshops held by Moon as part of their business creation program.<hr>Have you ever facilitated a meeting, seminar or workshop?For me, facilitation is the art of guiding and empowering participants to unleash their creativity.I have facilitated over 30 workshops in the past year and worked with over 500 participants from more than 10 different countries. Through this, I have learned tips for successful workshops and “key facilitation elements” that enhance the participant experience.&nbsp;<h3>1.Be the compass, not the captain</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image3_dd6aa2ab55.jpg" alt="image3.jpg">As a facilitator, your role is not to give solutions every step of the way, but to help participants navigate in the right direction. Think of it as you being the compass—the participant is the captain, making the decisions, while you offer guidance and food for thought. By letting them take the wheel, you empower them to own their journey and build confidence in their ability to embark on the journey without you being there to hold hands.&nbsp;Failure: The instinct to jump in and solve a problem can backfireIn a recent workshop, a participant was stuck figuring out who to interview to validate their problem statement. I gave them a list of potential people to talk to, and off they went. But when they came back, their insights didn’t hit the mark. While I had better candidates in mind, I decided to shift gears.Instead of handing them answers, I asked:&nbsp;“What kind of people do you think would have experience solving similar problems?”“What questions would help them share their stories?”&nbsp;Suddenly, the participant transformed from feeling stuck to leading the charge. They brainstormed personas, crafted thoughtful questions, and fully owned the process.The takeaway? Helping isn’t always about giving the answers. Sometimes, it’s about asking the right questions so participants can take the wheel and steer their own way to meaningful insights.&nbsp;Success: How an empathetic question sparked a transformation&nbsp;Given the importance of these questions, I believe that the key to facilitation lies in empathy and dialogue. In order to connect more deeply with participants, I first value a space where everyone can feel comfortable speaking up. To this end, it is extremely important to create an environment where people feel that there are no fixed answers.If participants feel that they are being listened to and being considered, it will open the door to their hearts and minds, and they will naturally feel the courage to take the next step forward.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/learn?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=CTA2503&amp;utm_id=storytelling+by+anna">Moon’s educational program</a>, I once asked a participant who was at a loss to define his challenge:&nbsp;“What feelings are you experiencing now that you have participated in the program?”“How do you feel now about the issues you set?”&nbsp;I tried to empathize with him and asked him questions that appealed to his emotions. He was surprised that I asked him questions about his feelings rather than the results, but this seemed to open him up to actively seeking new directions, including setting up a mentoring session with me.Then, when we had finished defining the issues and had progressed about 70% of the way through the workshop, he approached me with this concern:&nbsp;“I am sorry. I just can't get passionate about the issue I'm facing right now, and I want to start over from the beginning.”I answered, “Thank you for your honesty. Please don't apologize. Let's explore together a problem you can be passionate about!”&nbsp;This switch sparked his mind again. He then redid his assignment selection from scratch at great speed, and ran all the way to the end of the program with confidence, eventually achieving results that made him one of the top performers.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image1_becacf70da.jpg" alt="image1.jpg">The fact that people felt they could turn back, even in the second half of the workshop, was the result of sharing a safe space where everyone is encouraged to speak up, knowing that there are no “right” or “wrong” answers.He thanked me for having an emotional dialogue with him. I still keep in touch with him, and each time I am reminded of the power of empathy.I believe that every word spoken in empathy, whether through question or dialog, has the power to light up a participant’s eyes with a kind of magic.&nbsp;<h3>2.Playful staging and props create an extraordinary experience</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image2_4986fd3e9a.jpg" alt="image2.jpg">So far, we have introduced the role of the facilitator in a workshop and how the power of empathy and questioning can affect the motivation of participants. But of course, the specific content of the workshop also has a significant impact on the outcome.One of the most important things we want to emphasize is the need for a playful twist. We want to include playful elements to relax participants and allow their creativity to flourish.Tactile and creative activities are sure to stimulate a brain that is exhausted from the daily grind. Toy blocks, storyboards with rough drawings, and prototypes made with sticky notes and stickers are just a few effective examples. Playful work is more than just fun; it can be relaxing and create a psychological state in which participants' creativity can flourish. It is all about creating an environment for thinking outside the box.Especially in workshops that require long hours of program work, playful direction and methods are very important as a motivational agent to keep the participants engaged until the end of the workshop.&nbsp;&nbsp;Handmade checks make the final pitchI recently led a workshop designed to build a business pitch, starting with defining a problem, including solutions and market-entry strategies. The workshop involved several days of learning programs to flesh out the ideas, and ended with a pitch on the last day to present the business idea.As the workshop, which had been running for two full days, was nearing its end and the participants were approaching their physical limits, I decided to incorporate a simple activity to liven up the event for the final conclusion.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/image4_f95cecf870.png" alt="image4.png">I created a handmade “check” to print out and give to the participants, asking them to play the role of “angel investors.” In this new role, they had to decide which team deserved the investment.From that moment on, the atmosphere brightened dramatically. Participants leaned forward to ask questions of the presenters, and a heated discussion began about which ideas had the most potential. At the end of the event, a mini-awards ceremony was held based on the tally results, and the winner was presented with a giant “check.”The scene-stealing performance with simple props transformed participants’ tired faces into enthusiastic smiles, making the pitch the highlight of the day.&nbsp;The reversal of positions made the workshop an extraordinary experienceThe reason why this performance drastically changed the atmosphere of the event might be because it reversed the participants' positions from “evaluation recipients” to “evaluation givers” by giving them new roles. Perhaps that was the magic factor that made the workshop an extraordinary experience.In any case, it is obvious that there is a huge difference in experience between understanding an idea in your mind and actually being able to see and touch it. Imagine yourself standing at an award presentation with a large check in your hand. Wouldn't you feel uplifted by that?Try to create an extraordinary experience by using props that you can actually touch. If possible, include a reversal of positions. Such small changes may create unexpected results in the participants' workshop experience.For me, facilitation is more than a skill. It is an art, including its mindset. I hope, through learning from my own failures and successes, these facilitation techniques help you provide a memorable, impactful participant experience.<hr>Text・Anna Hiraoka Senior L&amp;D Specialist at Moon&nbsp;Moon Creative Lab offers several programs to support startups. If you are interested in transforming your own business idea and growth, please check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=CTA2503&amp;utm_id=storytelling+by+anna">top page</a>.

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Hear from a Moon Design Lead on how language plays a key role in managing projects, and the importance of creating spaces that take diverse languages into consideration.<hr><h3>Key Learnings</h3><ul><li>Be considerate of multiple languages used across a team.&nbsp;</li><li>Diversity produces more powerful conversations and outcomes.</li><li>Connecting through language creates empathy amongst team members.</li></ul><hr><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/PXL_20230426_092649278_2_1578932014.jpg" alt="PXL_20230426_092649278~2.jpg">I have never joined a project that departed from a specific business unit but had the aim to aggregate not only different departments but also a very complex system of stakeholders and project partners. But that changed with my recent experience with Agritech, a project that was born inside the Mobility Business team at Mitsui &amp; Co.’s headquarters. When the project arrived at Moon through a workshop, it was already formed by professionals from Logistics, DX, Machinery, and Food Business Units. Not only that, but the team had members from Mitsui &amp; Co. Japan and Mitsui &amp; Co. São Paulo, Brazil. The project was born from a unique business opportunity to collaborate with a development team from a partner (a large Japanese electronics manufacturer) that had been developing solutions in global connectivity and smart sensing on a planetary scale.&nbsp;&nbsp;As Moon, our initial challenge was to facilitate conversations among such a diverse team, and also support possible paths where the technologies developed by the partner could be applied to generate business in Brazil – while also improving the quality of processes in areas where Mitsui &amp; Co. is active in South America.&nbsp;&nbsp;Because Moon has its headquarters in Palo Alto, and a big part of our team and structure work on an English-speaking basis, English tends to become the main language used when we host workshops or work on projects with teams coming from different backgrounds. This is also common for Mitsui &amp; Co. since the company is present in more than 60 countries globally.&nbsp;&nbsp;For me, this project was especially exciting, not only because I was familiar with the Brazilian context and would work with a product targeting the place where I lived for a big part of my life, but also because I was in the middle of a large group of professionals who could speak three languages I am fluent in Portuguese, English, and Japanese. In the beginning, I was excited thinking about how that would be advantageous to me since I was leading the project. However, what came after was the realization of how language plays a key role in efficiently managing projects, as well as generating successful business. But this realization also came with learning about how to create spaces, frameworks, and processes that consider that.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/IMG_0050_9fd9d55fb5.jpg" alt="IMG_0050.jpg">It is important to remember that English is a useful, global&nbsp;lingua franca, but it also presents as a hegemonic power that can affect a professional’s confidence and work quality when we get lost in translation. The key learning I had was that the language barrier might cover up creativity. Many professionals who might have brilliant insights might step back, afraid of attempting to speak up in English which they might feel is insufficient. This was a common comment we received from professionals in Japan while running user interviews for&nbsp;<a href="https://goril.jp/">GORIL</a>, a language-learning app and former Moon venture that I also worked on. When people have to communicate in a language in which they aren’t fluent, defending their point of view or presenting a proposal might be negatively affected. In other words, the rhetoric might lack its full potential. Lastly, miscommunication also happens when people are listening. When information is being passed verbally in a language that one is not 100% fluent in, interpretation might be difficult, hence, reacting or responding to it might also be compromised.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/GORIL_285e5dfa13.jpeg" alt="GORIL.jpeg">I could list a dozen more aspects of miscommunication issues. Still, instead, I want to bring up some key learning tactics to improve communication and efficiency when two or more languages are being used in a project work environment.&nbsp;1. The Ones Who Get It All Make sure your team has an individual who can fluently deal with the languages involved in the project. This person can step in to clarify lost in translation moments and additionally might have cultural insights into each language, which can be helpful for conflict handling.2. Plain Language No matter if the language is English or another, if the other team members speak the language that is being used but is not 100% fluent, make sure to speak slowly and with seamless breaks between words – this is a classic podcast technique, by the way. Do not bring many expressions, figurative language, or highly complex vocabulary.3. Read People's Reactions and Add ComplementsNot just the facilitator, but also other team members should have the role of checking on everyone’s reactions and complementing conversations, statements, or questions that might sound too complex to be interpreted. They could even rephrase sentences for someone who could not fully communicate in the language being used, helping to close any gaps. Rephrasing is a great tool, and to be honest, sometimes it happens even if you do speak the same language. It is not always that we can be 100% clear using words.&nbsp;4. Allow Plurality Create teams who can speak multiple languages. The more bilingual or trilingual members you have, the more powerful the conversations and outcomes will be. And if some of the members do not speak a certain language, support them in learning it, even if they don’t become fluent or use it in daily life. Connecting with the language of their colleagues or business partners is an important tool for increasing empathy.&nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/PXL_20230320_163413890_41462b4011.jpg" alt="PXL_20230320_163413890.jpg">In our project with Mitsui &amp; Co., our partner, and many Brazilian stakeholders, we live within three languages. Of course, sometimes things become more complex, but what we try to avoid by all means is criticism and team members behaving with an air of superiority due to their language capabilities. But more important than anything, we make sure that all the information, coming from whichever of the three languages, is easily translated as context to all members so everyone can always be on the same page, at all times.&nbsp;Machi Rezende, Design Lead<img class="image_resized" style="width:25%;" src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Machi_1_da27c89ed0.jpg" alt="Moon Creative Lab_Machi_1.jpg">

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<h3>Key Learnings</h3><ul><li>Rapid testing is necessary when beginning a venture.</li><li>When something isn’t working, reiterate and pivot.</li><li>User testing is crucial to finding your venture’s direction.</li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Dell_bae8f30afe.jpg" alt="Dell.jpg"><figcaption>Dell dela Torre, co-founder of Inna Circle</figcaption></figure>Moon Venture Inna Circle is an online child care matching service created by Grace Aldas and Dell dela Torre, two women who faced struggles as new mothers in the Philippines. Looking for a community to help address common struggles that come up when raising a child, Grace and Dell created Inna Circle to help themselves and others throughout new parenthood in the Philippines and across South East Asia.Being a modern mother today can truly be challenging. Balancing a full-time job and managing a household is no easy feat. New mothers Grace and Dell did not want to have to choose between their careers and ensuring their children received proper care. As full-time employees of Mitsui, they found themselves in this predicament during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attending regular work meetings, juggling daily tasks, and having to homeschool kids – all while trying to find time to work on Inna Circle – was an overwhelming daily routine for both of them. To help Grace and Dell achieve their vision for Inna Circle during this challenging time, I joined their team when they started incubation at Moon.&nbsp; Their original idea was to develop a product or service that could support working mothers, providing them with some peace of mind while reducing the stress of juggling child care and work. Our initial focus was to address the most pressing issues many mothers face: finding a peaceful balance between focusing on work and the duty of taking care of their kids.<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Inna_Circle_group_c6bf31d65d.jpg" alt="Inna Circle group.jpg"><figcaption>The Inna Circle team</figcaption></figure><h3>Adapting to Challenges</h3>Both joining Moon Creative Lab and building a product from the ground up were unique and challenging experiences for Grace and Dell. They had to quickly adapt to changes in mindset, working style, and business environment that were quite different from their regular day jobs. We also felt the challenge of managing our time wisely as we stretched across different time zones, putting pressure on when we could meet on Zoom calls and work together as a team.Another challenge the team faced was during the product-definition phase. We initially had a concept to provide child care sessions to help mothers gain more personal free-time. We tested this by running a three-day child care pop-up in Manila and followed these sessions with user interviews to help us better understand expectations. We soon learned that this concept would be difficult to scale because building a space takes a lot of time and resources, especially when compared to building something digitallyThis led the team to reevaluate our approach and focus on the core problem mothers faced: the desire to work on their personal endeavors while ensuring their children were well taken care of. &nbsp;<h3>Becoming Our Own Customers</h3>With these results, the team regrouped and came up with a new product idea: a digital platform for booking caretakers, or “childminders,” whenever needed. However, this idea presented its own challenge of differentiating itself from existing child care services in the Philippines. Through interviews, we discovered that many interviewees had already hired caregivers at home but were dissatisfied with their quality, leading to trust issues. Mothers felt that many caregivers lacked proper education and qualifications, and were given the position out of necessity.This revelation provided valuable insight on how to position Inna Circle services and win the market: by offering high-quality childminders who could benefit both mothers and children.Before committing fully to this new product direction, Grace and Dell tested the service by becoming their own customers and also acting as childminders for other mothers. The results were highly positive, with mothers expressing satisfaction and the ability to focus on other important tasks. &nbsp;<h3>International Growth Challenges</h3>Another significant challenge, perhaps the most substantial one, was that Inna Circle marked Moon's first venture outside of Japan with real customers ready to pay for the service. However, the team ran into some complex legal barriers regarding international payment business models when they officially launched.After extensive effort and communication, Grace and Dell managed to navigate these financial barriers and were finally ready to launch Inna Circle in Manila. The entire process was arduous, but it provided valuable lessons in dealing with business licenses internationally and how to support global ventures in the future.<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Dell_and_Grace_ffee39ac55.jpg" alt="Dell and Grace.jpg"><figcaption>Grace Aldas and Dell dela Torre, founders of Inna Circle</figcaption></figure><h3>Lessons Learned</h3>The experience of rapid testing, quick decision-making, and agile pivoting became valuable lessons for Grace, Dell, and the entire team. As a designer, I learned the significance of user testing and encouraged the team to change direction when necessary.Grace and Dell also learned the importance of directly engaging with users, adopting a human-centered approach, and embracing the concept of rapid iteration and pivoting when something isn’t working. They pushed themselves outside of their comfort zones to connect with the startup industry in the Philippines and engage with potential business partners – experiences that were entirely new to them.On a personal level, building a business alongside Grace and Dell has been an incredibly valuable learning experience. From directly interacting with customers (mothers and childminders) and experimenting scrappily with limited resources, we truly ran like a startup. And it all resulted in us achieving our goals and learning the most from our users. Our process involved continuous learning, testing, pivoting, building quickly, and validating our market. It was crucial to remain honest about what is working, what isn't, identifying obstacles, and not being afraid to ask for help.Inna Circle serves as an ideal role venture model that others can learn from. The service already boasts at least 120 bookings per month, a number that is still increasing to this day. The team launched a new landing page at the end of August with improved access to the booking platform, resulting in an increase in the number of users and childminders in the service pool. &nbsp;What’s NextInna Circle is still in the process of growing its business in the Philippines. The next big step is pursuing B2B collaborations with large companies (over 2,000 employees) in the Philippines.Learn more about Inna Circle at <a href="https://www.theinnacircle.com/">theinnacircle.com</a> and stay connected through their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InnaCircle.ph">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/innacircle.ph/">Instagram</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Yo Yeh, Senior Designer<img class="image_resized" style="width:25%;" src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Yo_2_1_1_e61332b6a9.jpg" alt="Moon Creative Lab_Yo_2 (1) 1.jpg">

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Key Takeaways:<ol><li>Defining human-centered design.</li><li>Find inspiration from personal experiences.</li><li>How to design for products using human-centered design.&nbsp;</li></ol><hr><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Ascend_Moon_Original_b4d4cc765c.png" alt="Ascend+Moon+Original.png">What does human-centered design look like when creating a new product? <a href="https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-human-centered-design">The Harvard Business School</a> defines human-centered design as “a problem-solving technique that puts real people at the center of the development process, enabling you to create products and services that resonate and are tailored to your audience’s needs.” At Moon Creative Lab, we believe that human-centered design is a key component to our success, especially within HR.The past two years have had its fair share of ups and downs for just about everyone, especially when having to navigate a pandemic for the first time and adapting to a new way of working together. We were isolated and forced to work alone. The physical distance caused strains on human connection and a sense of personal belonging, and led to questions of self-worth after being used to working in group settings. Our team noticed all of these shifts in Moon Mates which led us to critically examine our current employee experiences, the main one being employee onboarding. We really wanted to make sure that whether a Moon Mate was just hired or had worked at Moon for years, everyone felt important, valued, and heard by evoking a better sense of belonging and inclusion.Without the in-person experience, but with building a human-centered culture as our North star, the challenge for our team became, “How might we better establish human connection and build trust in a virtual workplace using human-centered design?”<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Ascend_9f9f591f24.png" alt="Ascend.png"><h3>Use Your Personal Experiences To Spark Inspiration</h3>The onboarding process is one of the most crucial and important parts of an employee's journey at our company. We believe that setting up every new hire for success at the beginning directly correlates with how they will feel later on at our company – not only with their peers, but with the satisfaction of the work they will do.When we first started taking a deeper look at our onboarding process and those of other companies, we noticed a common theme. Onboarding processes were simple one-pagers full of checklists. If you complete these 20 items on the checklist, then you will have completed the onboarding. This felt very flat, boring, and not aligned with our value of being human-centered at all. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if we were putting the company’s needs first before better understanding the person’s experience and needs.Noticing this sparked inspiration for us.We felt motivated to rethink the entire onboarding process by making it more fun, interactive, and thoughtful while still making sure individuals felt up to speed with all of the information about our company and the role they would be fulfilling. Traditionally as HR professionals, our first thought isn’t to consider building a tool ourselves when there wasn’t one we could use already on the market. However, Moon Creative Lab is a unique place with a unique position. Since Moon is an incubator for new, bold ideas, we felt inclined to explore this idea further, simply because we could!<h3>How We Reimagined Our Product Using Human-Centered Design&nbsp;</h3>Now, two years after the onset of the pandemic, we have taken on one of our greatest challenges: building our first, one-of-a-kind onboarding tool specifically for Moon, which we call Ascend.Ascend is an onboarding experience that greets a new hire two weeks before they start and leads them through their first 90 days by providing them with all the information about Moon, our parent company, past and present projects, our values, and more! This allows for new Moon Mates to digest information and meet fellow Moon Mates at their own pace. We really wanted the platform to feel as customized to them as possible. We believe that if someone feels instantly welcomed to a new team and acclimates to a new role as quickly and seamlessly as possible, they will feel valued and confident from their first day. Our hope is that with a human-centered approach and experience is pursued, it will result in overall better work performance and employee satisfaction. This is why we strongly believe reimagining the onboarding process using human-centered design is so critical.&nbsp;While building anything from scratch is a huge undertaking, we urge anyone that is looking to solve a problem to first think of the human-centered approach. Use that as your North Star. When a solution resonates with a person’s needs, the problem at hand can become way less daunting and more attainable. This helped us a lot on our journey towards building Ascend.Be sure to follow us here to read more progress of Ascend!Monique Riley&nbsp; HR Business Partner <a href="mailto:monique@mooncreativelab.com">monique@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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