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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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Experimenting fast with GORIL, a digital tool teaching native-Japanese speakers better English pronunciation.<hr><h3>Key Takeaways:</h3><ol><li>Interview potential users early on to help steer the direction of your product concept.</li><li>Having potential users engage with prototypes can draw new insights and validate assumptions quicker.</li><li>If resources and time are low, get creative and experiment fast!</li></ol><hr><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/GORIL_Moon_Venture_3dbacc4b9d.png" alt="GORIL_Moon_Venture.png"><h3>English Is Most Commonly Used Worldwide, But Is It Spoken With Confidence?</h3>Working in a multicultural and global environment like Moon Creative Lab has shown us just how important the English language can be when it comes to team communication and coordination. GORIL, a Moon Creative Lab venture, is aiming to support native-Japanese speakers looking to develop a more natural pronunciation of their English. Through the power of GORIL, participants will be able to communicate more clearly and confidently in any setting.You might be surprised to find that English is the most commonly used language across our studios, especially because we are an established Japanese company and a majority of our team members' native language is Japanese. Many of us have had to step outside of our comfort zones to speak English at a level where we felt confident to communicate with different team members around the world and effectively work together.We believe that in order to have a more diverse team with people from different backgrounds and nationalities, English is possibly the most important skill we all share. &nbsp;And in today’s globalized world, many of us rely on English to be able to communicate in various settings, including traveling to various countries and navigating different business environments. Some might assume that most people speak English, but that’s generally not true. While a large percentage of the world can speak English, we are unsure of the population’s proficiency and confidence in speaking the language.We have to remember that learning English is not easy. And learning a different language is not only about vocabulary and grammar, but context, idioms, popular expressions, and pronunciation, especially, are key.So we asked ourselves, how might we build a tool that supports pronunciation and articulation of the English language?<h3>Interview Potential Users Early On To Help Steer the Direction of Your Product Concept&nbsp;</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/GORIL_Prototype_English_b1711ccc64.png" alt="GORIL+Prototype+English.png">Our team has been hard at work designing GORIL to become the first tool that supports goal-oriented learners to improve their English pronunciation and articulation. During our product concept development stage, we connected with many potential users and discovered the importance of personalized learning. Normally, personalized learning would come from a tutor or teacher. However, in order to reach as many users as possible, we had our biggest key learning yet: understanding that technology itself should be convenient and effective.<h3>Having Potential Users Engage With Prototypes Can Draw New Insights and Validate Assumptions Quicker</h3>At Moon, we believe that listening to our users and tailoring solutions to respond to their needs is the ultimate goal for each and every project we incubate. In order to optimize processes and validate ideas faster, we focus on building prototypes that support us. These prototypes are a mockup of our concepts to illustrate the vision and story we’re trying to tell. Users can then engage with our prototypes and in turn, we can collect real feedback to validate assumptions, find potential flaws, and discover new insights. &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/GORIL_Prototype_Japanese_92a09f2ddb.png" alt="GORIL+Prototype+Japanese.png"><h3>When Resources and Time Are Low, Get Creative and Experiment Fast!</h3>For GORIL, we decided to use technology that required voice recognition, which meant that creating a high-fidelity interactive prototype would require a lot of team resources and time. Since “Experimenting Fast” is a Moon value we embrace, we went back to one of our early reflections: learning through tutoring. We decided that we would create our first prototype by running an English lesson through tutoring. The tutor was our program manager and native bilingual, Chiaki, and the materials were static slides containing our methodologies.It took us only one week to deliver a few classes and find a lot of insights that supported us in the further development of GORIL. We learned that talking to our users and understanding their life experiences, motivations, and pain points helped shape the direction of our product development. We also learned to not let time and limited resources hold us back from experimenting and testing our ideas!If you’d like to continue following GORIL’s product journey, be sure to <a href="https://www.goril.jp/">check out our website</a> to learn more.

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Moon Partnered with Mitsui &amp; Co.’s Diversity Management Department team to celebrate Pride Month.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/D_and_I_Pride_Month_06d98828fa.png" alt="D&amp;I+Pride+Month.png">By being present all over the globe, Mitsui is, in essence, diverse. But its understanding and desire to foster diversity does not stop with geographical presence. Thrive on diversity is one of the company's four core values. Still, many might wonder what diversity really is. Mitsui's HR itself has a whole team of engaged professionals working on Diversity &amp; Inclusion (D&amp;I). With them, there is a wide group of D&amp;I ambassadors, people who dedicate part of their time to engage with this community in order to make Mitsui more diverse and inclusive.Diversity is plural. It means breaking homogeneity from ethnicity to thoughts, from gender to social structures. It means having different people and different ideas innovating together. <a href="https://www.inclusion.me.uk/news/what_does_inclusion_mean">Inclusion</a> is providing the same positions and benefits to all people regardless of race, gender, disability, medical, or other needs. Together, Diversity and Inclusion are about embracing differences based on nationality, religious faith, gender, sexual orientation, or whatsoever.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/LGBT_87695c8377.png" alt="LGBT.png">Among all the actions toward diversity that Moon has started, our team partnered with Diversity Management Dept. of Mitsui to create a series of activities during Pride Month in June 2022. Already well known in many countries, June is considered the month not just to celebrate, but to encourage discussions and actions to increase the awareness of LGBTQIA+ people. While at Moon, we collaborated with Mitsui to host a series of activities. Anna Hiraoka from Diversity Management Dept. of Mitsui worked with Machi Rezende, Moon's Lead UX Designer and current researcher of intersections of Corporate Culture and Gender Diversity at Waseda University, to host an online forum for Mitsui's D&amp;I ambassadors.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/D_and_I_Presentation_b91d595f68.jpg" alt="D&amp;I+Presentation.jpg">Through an interactive presentation combined with an interactive quiz, participants had the chance to learn more about gender, sexuality, and ways to increase awareness and create safe spaces for LGBTQAI+ employees and professionals in the workplace. In the end, a Q&amp;A session was held.Global surveys and research all over the globe, <a href="https://www.moonstories.blog/blog/working-with-pride#:~:text=like%20this%20one%20in%20Japan">like this one in Japan</a>, show that at least 10% of the world population identifies themselves as LGBTQIA+. This means that one in ten people around us is an LGBTQIA+ person, proving that it is essential for companies to promote policies and actions to create an inclusive and safe space in which everyone can thrive.Machi Rezende Lead UX Designer <a href="mailto:mateus@mooncreativelab.com">mateus@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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In this article, we talk with two Moon Creative Lab Designers about their experiences designing for inclusivity and how inclusive design can reach unexpected and wider audiences.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/110822_Blog_Image_Inclusive_1500x2500_c1f4ad11ce.jpg" alt="Moon Creative Lab_ Inclusive_Design"><hr><h4>Key Takeaways:</h4><ul><li>What is inclusive design</li><li>Examples of inclusive design</li><li>How to design for inclusivity in your own work</li><li>Resources for learning more about inclusive design</li></ul><hr>Inclusive design is a design practice that we are always considering when supporting our ventures. At Moon Creative Lab, one of our core values is “Be Human-Centered” which focuses on designing for human needs rather than the business outcomes – the essence of inclusive design. We believe that unexpected opportunities come when we look outside of ourselves and really get to know our users. &nbsp;With Moon’s parent company, Mitsui &amp; Co., celebrating Diversity &amp; Inclusion Week this September, we interviewed two of our designers in Tokyo on what it means to design businesses, products, and services that are inclusive of everyone.&nbsp;<hr>What does inclusive design mean to you?<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Takuya_Moon_Creative_Lab_0db86155e2.png" alt="Takuya, Senior Design Researcher"><figcaption>Takuya Yamagishi,&nbsp; Senior Design Researcher</figcaption></figure>T.Y. “For me, inclusive design means design that is welcoming for everyone and can apply to many fields, from architecture to consumer product design to employee experience design and more. Sometimes there are conflicts and it is not possible to make everyone happy. However, in my view, we should always strive to maximize the happiness of every user.”<blockquote>Inclusive design is welcoming for everyone.</blockquote><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Machi_Moon_Creative_Lab_63026b0b6e.png" alt="Machi, UI/UX Design Lead"><figcaption>Machi Rezende,&nbsp; UI/UX Design Lead</figcaption></figure>M.R. “For me, inclusive design is all about understanding and including the plurality of people and realities we have in the world. You’d be surprised – a recent study showed that only 21% of people are able to fully use most products, which means that inclusive design, which seeks to lower barriers to effective use, is actually for the majority of people.”<blockquote>Inclusive design is about including the plurality of people and realities.</blockquote><hr>What are some examples of inclusive design?T.Y. “When I studied at design school in Europe, I was impressed by the inclusivity of design there compared to design in Japan. Public notices were clear, simple, intuitive, and visual. In Japan, on the other hand, public notices still tend to be extremely wordy, complex, and non-user-friendly. Things are improving little by little, though. I also noticed that train station ticket gates were wider, allowing easier access for people in wheelchairs.Inclusive design encourages us to think about people who are not the same as us, empathize with them, and question our own assumptions. There is always a danger that we will design things that work best for us, the designer – but we are not everyone, and what works for us may not always work for others.”<blockquote>Inclusive design encourages us to think about people who are not the same as us, empathize with them, and question our own assumptions.</blockquote>M.R. “When talking about inclusivity, we usually think about the Physical aspect of design - <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ergonomics">ergonomics</a>, accessibility, design for the elderly and the physically challenged, and so on. But there are also cognitive and emotional aspects to consider.From a cognitive perspective, for example, we should consider such things as color blindness, but also dyslexia, which, as studies show, affects up to 12% of people globally. And also consider deepening our understanding of the wide range of neurodiversity that humans exhibit. Not everyone processes information in the same way and our design should take that into account.In terms of emotional inclusivity, we must also consider how people feel when using the products that we design. Recently there have been great improvements. For example, Instagram now provides more pronoun options for people who don’t identify as Male or Female. And you may have noticed that Slack now includes a range of skin color options for emojis so people can represent themselves online in the way that feels most comfortable for them. These changes may seem subtle, but they have a huge positive emotional impact on those who may otherwise feel excluded or ignored.”<blockquote>Not everyone processes information in the same way, and we must also consider how people feel when using the products that we design.</blockquote><hr>In your own work, how do you design for inclusivity?T.Y. “I am currently working on <a href="https://www.goril.jp/">GORIL</a>, a Moon Creative Lab venture that is creating an innovative way for people to improve their English pronunciation. Originally the project was called “Speak Like Native,” but in the process of interviewing potential users, we learned that the main goal of attaining native-like speech excludes many people, and our project has evolved as a result. We decided to avoid idiomatic expressions and use simpler, more direct language so that more people can use the product effectively.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/GORIL_Logo_4d44bb3542.png" alt="GORIL_Logo.png">In the past, I also worked on a Moon venture that was developing a product for people with epilepsy, and this forced me to consider many new perspectives. We built a journaling system for the users, but learned that after an epileptic seizure, they are exhausted and unable to write. So, we simplified the design to include only icons indicating the most common range of experiences. This way, users could record their condition in a quick and intuitive way, and we later added an audio function which made it even easier for them.What’s important is that the insight for these improvements came from speaking with epileptic users and getting their feedback on our early prototypes. Without actually speaking with those who would use the product, we were designing in the dark.”<blockquote>Without actually speaking with those who would use the product, we were designing in the dark.</blockquote>M.R. “A while ago I was working on an application for visually impaired people in Japan that helped users navigate around train and subway stations. The app allowed them to find the right exit, restrooms, and so on by scanning QR codes in the station and guiding them around the yellow floor paths.What was interesting about this project was that – as a designer – it wasn’t about making something look good (because the users, by definition, had limited visual ability), but instead about making it work well. Because for these users, this app is not for entertainment or simple convenience, but rather a powerful tool that hugely impacts their lives and can, in some sense, change their reality.&nbsp;<blockquote>It wasn’t about making something look good, but about making it work well.</blockquote>To build this, we talked with visually impaired people and consulted with support associations in Japan to get a deeper and more authentic understanding of the users’ experiences with the product prototypes. We couldn’t have done this just based on our own experiences and realities.During this project, I also learned some interesting things about how inclusive design principles can contribute to design in general. Did you know that dark mode, which your phone or PC might switch to in the evening, originally comes from products designed for people with visual impairments? Or that text-to-speech technologies were first developed for people who could not read screens, but now are a major component of AI assistants like Alexa and Siri? In the end, inclusive design helps everyone.”<blockquote>In the end, inclusive design helps everyone.</blockquote><hr>Are the products and services you design for inclusive? Learn more about inclusive design here:<ul><li><a href="https://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/whatis/whatis.html">What is Inclusive Design?</a> (Cambridge University)</li><li><a href="https://inclusivedesignprinciples.org/">Inclusive Design Principles</a> (inclusivedesignprinciples.org)</li><li><a href="https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/principles/design-systems/what-is-inclusive-design-principles-and-examples/">Inclusive Design: Principles and Examples</a> (Adobe)</li></ul>

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<h4>Not Starting From Zero:&nbsp; Tips for Starting a New Product or Service</h4><ul><li>Challenge your assumptions</li><li>Understand your customers</li><li>Move fast and test in the market</li></ul><hr><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/CAAV_MBSD_Moon_Creative_Lab_247f21ccca.jpeg" alt="CAAV_MBSD_MoonCreativeLab.jpeg">Innovation can simply be defined as doing something new. And sometimes that “something new” can be taking something that already exists today and using it in a new, different way. That’s what the team at Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions (MBSD), Inc. did when they created a new service (and a new revenue stream for its business).MBSD, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui, is a leading Japanese provider of IT security services. The company offers a wide range of services including vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, managed security service, and cybersecurity consulting. Its team of security professionals offer a combination of in-depth knowledge and understanding of attackers' methodologies with granular support to bring a comprehensive yet highly technical approach to protect customers in terms of cybersecurity.Two years ago, MBSD’s talented team of engineers developed its own award-winning tool, GyoiThon, using sophisticated machine learning to help their enterprise customers track the software running on their web servers – which can be a big challenge since proliferation of web servers go hand in hand with the proliferation of services an enterprise may deploy to support its business. Tracking that software is essential to ensuring OS and middleware software updates are deployed and security risks are mitigated. The tool used by MBSD’s security consultants was very effective. Even though the engineering team initially had no intentions of selling it to customers as a product or service, they knew they had something customers wanted and needed.So, how do you turn an internal tool into something that customers can buy and use on their own? Where do you start?&nbsp;<hr><h3>1. Challenge your assumptions&nbsp;</h3><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/CAAV_Yo_Hayashi_5fbaf20dd9.jpeg" alt="CAAV_Yo+Hayashi.jpeg"><figcaption>Yo Hayashi,&nbsp; GM of R&amp;D Division,&nbsp; GM of IoT &amp; Advanced Analytics Division MBSD</figcaption></figure>“We didn’t know how to move forward with this project,” said Yo Hayashi, General Manager of R&amp;D DIvision, General Manager of IoT &amp; Advanced Analytics Division, MBSD.“We have very knowledgeable engineers – they know about the market and the customers’ voice, but their perceptions were already fixed. Talking to Moon, we realized we had to take a step back to really understand our customers and what they really needed step by step.”Working with the Moon Creative Lab team, Yo and the MBSD team worked to challenge their assumptions of what they already knew about their customers and their needs. They worked together to clearly define the personas of their potential customers and put themselves in their shoes.<hr><h3>2. Understand your customers</h3><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Vlad_2_a16b935e8a.jpg" alt="Moon+Creative+Lab_Vlad_2.jpg"><figcaption>Vlad Almonnord,&nbsp; Moon Design Director</figcaption></figure>“We wanted to get clarity on the entire ecosystem,” said Vlad Almonnord, Design Director, Moon Creative Lab. “Who is the actual end user versus who are we selling to? What is their day-to-day life? How will this new service enable them to make key decisions in their job? Becoming truly empathetic of the customer was a big light switch.”This revealed several challenges that IT teams face within an organization and humanized a complex industry. “It not only helped us in expanding the offerings of the original service, but also helped drive a lot of clarity on how to deliver actionable information to different stakeholders involved in the value chain (the type and granularity of information is different for each stakeholder or decision maker in the ecosystem).”<hr><h3>3. Move fast and test the market</h3>MBSD then worked with the Moon Creative Lab team to build a prototype service called the Continuous Assessment of Asset and Vulnerability (CAAV) based on their core technology. The MBSD team then went and tested the service directly with customers and incorporated feedback to improve the user experience.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/CAAV_MBSD_Logo_4fe4ee91b2.png" alt="CAAV_MBSD_Logo.png">The CAAV service is now available for sale and the team recently acquired its first paying customers! This new service gives MBSD a new conversation to have with their customers as well as a new revenue stream. With CAAV, the MBSD and Moon team proved that innovation for your business does not need to come from zero. It can come from using something that exists today, but used in an entirely new way.For more information on MBSD, visit their corporate <a href="https://www.mbsd.jp/en/company/">website</a> and <a href="https://caav.jp/">CAAV website</a>.

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<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Amelias_06e11d3123.jpg" alt="Moon+Creative+Lab+Amelias+.jpg">When <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arihorie/">Ari Horie</a>, a known advocate for women to lead and thrive in business, shared her vision of creating a foundation for both girls and women to pursue entrepreneurship in Japan, we knew <a href="http://www.mooncreativelab.com/">Moon Creative Lab</a> could help. Our visions for creating a more inclusive and robust center of innovation, creativity, and new business creation in Japan were absolutely aligned. This is what Moon Creative Lab was created to do – for Mitsui and beyond. We also knew it wouldn’t be easy.Entrepreneurship itself is a very difficult (yet very rewarding) path. And in Japan, it’s even less common for women and girls. According to <a href="https://www.accj.or.jp/the-accj-journal/tokyo-women-vc">research</a> by Tokyo Women in VC, 91% of venture capital (VC) firms in Japan have no female partners; 59% of VC funds have no women on their investment team; and 44% of funds do not have any women employees. In addition, only 13% of VC employees, 10% of actual VCs, and 3% of VC partners are women.This is why Ari launched her new non-profit organization, the WSL Impact Foundation, <a href="https://www.amelias.jp/">Amelias</a>’ program designed to build a foundation of support for high school girls and women throughout Japan. Partnering with cities like Kobe, Hokkaido, Sapporo, and Shibuya, the Amelias program offers education, workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities with former and current entrepreneurs from Japan and Silicon Valley.<h4>Moon Leads Workshops on Startup Design</h4>In July, <a href="https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000089.000060069.html">Moon became a founding sponsor of the WSL Impact Foundation</a> and we hosted an event for 60 women entrepreneurs at our Spring Terrace studio in Omotesando. This event was livestreamed at other locations in Japan including Shibuya, Kobe, and Sapporo to more than 130 women. The morning program featured guest speakers on entrepreneurship including <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fujiyoishiguro/">Fujiyo Ishiguro</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathymatsui/?originalSubdomain=jp">Kathy Matsui</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nager/">Marc Nager</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shayanne-wright/">Shayanne Wright</a>. Moon’s CEO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaichi-yokoyama-67973580/">Kaichi Yokoyama</a>, gave an inspiring talk about how to “Think Crazy” to expand your business and your journey as an entrepreneur. He shared examples of how he did just that with the creation of Moon Creative Lab four years ago by bringing the best of Silicon Valley and Japan together to create new and innovative businesses that would have an exponential impact on Mitsui and the world. The concept of “thinking crazy” was a big theme for the Amelias program to encourage participants to think and act outside of their comfort zones.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_WSL_c9819ed32e.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Womens Startup Lab">In the afternoon, Moon led two Startup Design workshops – one at our Spring Terrace office in Omotesando and the other at nearby Shibuya Parco. Workshop participants learned about the importance of human-centered business design, the practical process to discover opportunities for innovation, and the importance of entrepreneur networking – especially for women.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Spring_Terrace_WSL_44c779f906.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Spring Terrace WSL">Here’s what participants had to say about the Moon workshops:“I had learned from reading books, but it was interesting because it was the first time for me to put it into practice.”“I was able to experience the process of thought and the process of realization. A place where failure can be seen positively. I was able to experience that I was further brushed up by working as a team.”“Good prototyping and pitch! Prototyping should be done quickly and without spending too much time and money. Also, I am very grateful for the pitch because I can't practice without this opportunity. By giving us the opportunity to review our value proposition, we were able to review our business more clearly. There were voices saying "be crazy" in various places, and it was good that I was able to think outside my own frame.”<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Workshop_WSL_726d36c34a.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Workshop Spring Terrace WSL"><h4>More To Do To Support the Entrepreneurship for Girls and Women</h4>Ari Horie’s vision for the Amelias program is to make entrepreneurship not only an acceptable path for girls, but a viable and desirable one. We at Moon Creative Lab are delighted to support this vision to help make it a reality. While there is still much to do to increase the numbers of women entrepreneurs in Japan, we are excited about the potential for the future.To learn more about the WSL Impact Foundation Amelia's program, please visit: <a href="https://www.amelias.jp/">https://www.amelias.jp/</a>Mary Ann Gallo Chief Marketing Officer <a href="mailto:maryann@mooncreativelab.com">maryann@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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Lighting the Way for Tomorrow’s Businesses That Will Change How We Live, Work and Play<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2021_09_22_at_5_33_2_dce7084cd0.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Palo Alto Studio">As a kid growing up in the 80s, I didn’t need to look far to notice the innovations coming from Japan. From the Sony Walkman to my Casio calculator for school, the term “made in Japan” stood for quality and innovation. Today, Japan is still driving technology breakthroughs such as the use of AI to boost Japan’s declining fertility rates to the <a href="https://www.moonstories.blog/blog/welcome-to-moon#:~:text=use%20of%20robot%20assistants%20in%20nursing%20homes%20and%20offices">use of robot assistants in nursing homes and offices</a>. But while some tech and manufacturing companies in Japan may be continuing their heritage of innovation, Japan’s oldest and largest trading companies — the sōgō shōshas — are needing to navigate their way towards a more innovative future.<hr><h3>Silicon Valley Meets Tokyo</h3>I’m sure you don’t think of startup creation when you think of a sōgō shōsha, the very large vertically integrated trading companies that are unique to Japan. They are known for their global networks primarily running logistics, finance and risk management for the businesses they manage or invest in. The <a href="https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Sel-Str/Sogo-Shosha.html">sōgō shōshas</a> have been facing pressure on their business model since the 1970s, when manufacturers began cutting them out as “middlemen.” Today, in the age of digital transformation, these large conglomerates are looking for new ways to create value and new business opportunities. Mitsui &amp; Co., one of the largest sōgō shōshas in Japan, operates a global network of 507 companies with 133 offices worldwide. This global network spans across 65 countries and employs more than 45,000 employees. It is an investment and trading powerhouse to be sure, but not exactly known for creating businesses from scratch or from “zero-to-one” — <a href="http://www.mooncreativelab.com/">until Moon Creative Lab</a>.Moon Creative Lab was founded by Mitsui in 2018 with the vision of helping Mitsui move from “connecting” to “creating.” It’s a bold vision considering that Mitsui has been “connecting” large-scale investments for large-scale projects for decades — and with that storied history comes a certain mindset and way of working. In order to become a successful venture studio, Moon had to be markedly different from Mitsui — different in values, mindset, behaviors and even location. Can Moon uniquely combine Silicon Valley’s rich environment for startup creation with the global scale that Mitsui can provide? It’s an interesting and exciting opportunity and it’s a journey that’s just beginning for Moon. &nbsp;<hr><h3>Moon Combines Design, Technology and Business</h3>With studios in Tokyo and in Palo Alto, Moon has attracted a unique blend of talent — product managers, engineers, designers, marketers and more — that are all working together to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of the 45,000-strong global workforce of Mitsui. With a human-centered approach, Moon helps idea owners research the unmet needs of users, quickly build prototypes and MVPs and then launch them to market. Moon is also helping Mitsui idea owners learn the foundations of entrepreneurship, including how to take risks, develop meaningful KPIs, how to build a team and how to build a product roadmap.<hr><h3>New Ventures Across Industries and Geographies</h3>From <a href="https://suup.me/">Suup</a>, which is creating new ways to provide working spaces in unused cafes to <a href="https://www.preferred-medicine.com/">Preferred Medicine</a>, which is looking to change the game in early cancer detection, Moon is incubating new ventures across a variety of industries in markets all over the world. Moon is also creating new businesses of their own called Moon Originals. One Moon Original includes the development of a new 3D printed fabric that will have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry and positively impact the environment. This venture was created in partnership with entrepreneur and fashion designer <a href="https://danitpeleg.com/">Danit Peleg</a>, who is based out of Tel Aviv, Israel.Moon is also working with a number of Mitsui Business Units that want to create new businesses in their respective industries. Some examples of these organizational projects include <a href="https://e-dash.io/">e-dash</a> which is a new company created from Mitsui’s energy solutions business unit. e-dash provides a web service that visualizes energy consumption, energy cost and GHG emissions to help companies stay on top of their sustainable energy procurement and management. &nbsp;<hr><h3>Moon and Mitsui Driving a More Innovative Future for Japan and Beyond</h3>So while today, Silicon Valley may still take much of the startup limelight and Japan may not be perceived as it was in its innovation heyday of the 80s — I say watch this space. We’ll be sharing more updates about Moon, its ventures and Mitsui’s journey to become an innovation leader in Japan and beyond. It’s just the beginning and we can’t wait to share our progress with you.Mary Ann Gallo Chief Marketing Officer <a href="mailto:maryann@mooncreativelab.com">maryann@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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Moon Creative Lab Palo Alto Studio

If you haven’t read my story on how <a href="http://www.mooncreativelab.com/">Moon Creative Lab</a> is looking to revolutionize the fashion industry with new sustainable technologies and 3D Printed materials, <a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/en/blog/sustainable-fashion">check out my article here</a>. Working with 3D Fashion Designer <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbme8_dt0Kl/">Danit Peleg</a>, Moon is looking to reduce the waste and carbon footprint created by the fashion industry with its innovations in wearable fabrics from recyclable plastic filaments.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Soft_3_D_Printing_Metaverse_12470cdb97.png" alt="Soft 3D Printing Metaverse.png">I recently got the chance to catch up with Danit and her partner Dan Peguine who are based in Tel Aviv, Israel on her recent efforts to take her 3D fashion designs into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse and most recently, a new collection based on Nouns. Don’t know what all this means? Not to worry…read on!<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2022_06_08_at_2_34_52_PM_78de5af4fb.jpg" alt="Screen+Shot+2022-06-08+at+2.34.52+PM.jpg">Moon has been working with Danit on our 3D Printed Clothing project for about three years. Together, we’ve developed patent-pending 3D printed materials that are soft and wearable and recyclable! &nbsp;The future applications of this new technology is limitless so stay tuned as we share more updates on this space in the future!In the meantime, Danit has been busy taking her 3D printed designs into the world of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token">non-fungible tokens (NFTs)</a>. NFTs are non-interchangeable units of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded. Types of NFT data units may be associated with digital files such as photos, videos, and audio. Danit has made some of her 3D printed fashion designs into NFTs and they are available for sale now on <a href="https://rarible.com/danitpeleg3d/sale">Rarible</a>!<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2022_06_08_at_2_35_31_PM_d9e44cb8ac.jpg" alt="Screen+Shot+2022-06-08+at+2.35.31+PM.jpg">Danit has also taken those designs into the Metaverse showcasing them at the first ever Metaverse Fashion Week in March. &nbsp;<a href="https://metaversefashionweek.com/">Metaverse Fashion Week</a> showcased designs from major fashion brands including Tommy Hilfilger, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, Etro and Prive Porter along with web3 brands like DeadFellaz, 8SIAN, Fang Gang &amp; the Mortiverse. &nbsp;Danit’s designs were shown on avatars on a virtual runway.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Sin_titulo_863cddfc77.jpg" alt="Sin título.jpg">Now Danit is working on a new 3D printed fashion project – this time, her fashion designs are based on <a href="https://nouns.wtf/">Nouns</a>. Nouns are pieces of digital artwork that are generated randomly based on Ethereum block hashes. Nouns are auctioned off every day forever. <a href="https://medium.com/@jacobvan/wtf-is-the-nouns-dao-2e543237413b">The first noun was sold for 613.37 ETH</a> (roughly $2 million) on August 8, 2021. All of the proceeds (100%) of a noun sale go to the Nouns DAO treasury. All Noun artwork is in the public domain. &nbsp;If you buy one — not only does this give you ownership of this unique piece of artwork, you also gain a vote in how to manage the Nouns DAO treasury (which is north of $64 million at the time of this article). &nbsp;Owners of Nouns, also called Nouners, get to vote on the usage of Noun projects as well as the use of the treasuryDanit’s <a href="https://nouns.wtf/vote/41">Noun-based 3D printed fashion project</a> was approved by the Nouns DAO and she completed the first research and design phase of the project. In the coming months, Danit is looking to 3D print these designs based on the technology and materials co-developed by Moon! &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2022_06_08_at_2_36_58_PM_6a5c17766f.jpg" alt="Screen+Shot+2022-06-08+at+2.36.58+PM.jpg">We, at Moon, look forward to working with Danit on this project to bring these Noun-based 3D Printed Fashion collection to life! &nbsp;We’ll be sure to share more as we progress on this exciting new frontier!Mary Ann Gallo Chief Marketing Officer <a href="mailto:maryann@mooncreativelab.com">maryann@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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The last couple of years have been challenging for many of us, with Moon being no exception. We have grown our talent significantly to help support all of our projects and ventures, but many of us have still not met each other in person! With the ability to travel again, we can go back to working collaboratively with in-person teams and start making an even bigger impact on all our ventures. Many signs point to an optimistic change coming in this fiscal year — a change that we are all looking forward to.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_s_Full_Pyramid_c06b3dc4da.png" alt="MoonCreativeLab_Mission_Pyramid"><h3>Our Guiding Light</h3>To help everyone better align ourselves to our Purpose, Mission, and Values, we have introduced what we’re calling “The Pyramid of Clarity.” This framework was created to do exactly as its name indicates — give us all clarity on what our goals and priorities are for FY23 — and to remind ourselves exactly WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.At the top of the pyramid lies our Purpose, Mission &amp; Values — the same Purpose, Mission, &amp; Values that Moon created during our inception in August 2018. These will always be Moon’s guiding light:<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Guiding_Light_24251779cb.jpg" alt="Guiding Light"><hr><h3>Our FY23 Goals and Objectives</h3>As we reflect on Moon over the last few years, there are three key questions we should always be asking ourselves:Question 1 Are we doing everything we can to push our ventures forward?Question 2 Are we constantly innovating and launching bold experiments?Question 3 Are we telling stories of both our successes and our challenges to maximize learning?<hr>If we can continuously answer “yes” to these questions, we know we’re on the right track. Thus, answering these questions are Moon’s top-line goals (and what success looks like) for FY23:Goal 1: Progressing Ventures are making progress by showing increased traction.Goal 2: Innovating&nbsp; Ventures are constantly innovating to push their venture forward.Goal 3: Storytelling Ventures are telling more stories to increase engagement within Mitsui.<hr>For each of these goals, we created a metric to help us track our progress throughout the fiscal year:Metric 1: Progressing 100% of Moon’s ventures achieve their North Star Metrics (NSM).Metric 2: Innovating 100% of Moon’s ventures conduct one bold and innovative experiment.Metric 3: Storytelling Moon shares at least 50 stories of our ventures to Mitsui and beyond.<hr>This fills out the next layer of the Pyramid of Clarity:<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Pyramid_of_Clarity_fbc595e1ea.png" alt="Pyramid of Clarity"><h3> Our FY23 Key Priorities</h3>To help us achieve success in FY23, we have identified six Key Priorities for Moon:<hr>Priority 1 Focus to ProjectsLeverage Moon’s skills and experience to increase the opportunity for our EIRs and ventures.This priority really focuses on Moon’s effort to incubate ventures in its earliest stages. It ensures that we continue to work closely with EIRs to help them grow and push their venture forward to reach an initial MVP that’s launched into the market.<hr>Priority 2 Expand Engagement Within MitsuiCreate direct impact on Mitsui BUs and subsidiaries by bringing dedicated focus to Org Ventures.The majority of new projects starting in this fiscal year will be Organizational Ventures — new businesses that we create alongside Mitsui BUs and subsidiaries. With that in mind, this year will involve a lot of relationship-building with BUs directly to figure out the right projects to work on together.<hr>Priority 3 Explore the Next FrontierDefine and extend capabilities of Moon Division so that there is a streamlined launchpad to create NewCos.With four ventures currently in Moon Division and one venture that’s a newly formed NewCo, one of our priorities this year will be helping define how to better support each of these ventures at this later stage and paving the way for the next set of ventures.<hr>Priority 4 Build a Culture of LearningLeverage Moon’s knowledge to improve the quality of ideas and enable faster starts for our ventures.Last fiscal year, we prototyped a version of Moon Academy and Space Camp aimed to help inform and educate Mitsui employees around creativity and entrepreneurship and better onboard them into Moon. This year, our priority is to take both of these programs to the next level.<hr>Priority 5 Begin to Expand Our InfluenceExplore new areas where we can build inspiring content and networks for Moon, Mitsui, and beyond.This fiscal year, we want more Mitsui employees worldwide to know and be inspired by Moon. We also want to start finding ways to inspire people outside of Mitsui. This priority will focus on launching a few experiments to help pave the way for Moon’s future.<hr>Priority 6 Empower Our TeamsEnsure our people feel supported in an environment that’s energizing and inspiring.As our work environment continues to change, we need to continue to ensure that everyone at Moon feels supported and energized by the organization. This priority will ensure that we look after Moon’s people and culture and do our best to make it thrive. &nbsp;<hr><h3>The Full Pyramid</h3>So, how does this all come together? With Moon’s Purpose, Mission, and Values at the top of the pyramid, and Moon’s FY23 Goals and Priorities filling out the next layer, the final base of the pyramid is made up of each department’s team goals and each person’s individual goals.A big reason for creating the “Pyramid of Clarity” is so that each person who works at Moon can see how their own personal goals ladder up to Moon’s FY23 Goals and Priorities, and to the guiding direction of the company.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_s_Full_Pyramid_c06b3dc4da.png" alt="Full pyramid"><h3> Bringing It All Together</h3>We have a lot of ambitions for FY23 and after just two months in, we’re feeling good about what needs to be done for us to achieve success. This doesn’t mean it’ll be easy! Borders aren’t completely open yet and we still have a number of challenges to work through to make the organization thrive. That being said, we remain hopeful and optimistic that we will continue to help “light the way for all of our creative potential.”If you have any questions or thoughts around our plans for FY23, or if you would like to find a way to work together, please feel free to reach out to us at <a href="mailto:hello@mooncreativelab.com">hello@mooncreativelab.com</a>.Mike Peng&nbsp; Chief Creative Officer&nbsp; <a href="mailto:mike@mooncreativelab.com">mike@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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What do you get when you cross a <a href="https://medicha-jp.com/">meditation retreat</a>, a child-care center, and a karaoke bar? A day full of analogous research in Tokyo!Dell Dela Torre and Grace Aldas are two Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) working with us at Moon to develop their concept for Inna Circle (previously MOM247), a community that seeks to reduce the stressors of everyday motherhood. After weeks of interviews which took place across Singapore, Manila and Tokyo, we found that the biggest pain points for new moms are physical isolation and the difficulty finding places where their children are taken care of so that they could spend a little time focusing on themselves.To learn how these spaces work and what makes a space welcoming to mothers and their children, we set off to find comparable examples that already exist in the world. This is the heart of analogous research: knowing that there is an existing solution that you can learn from and apply to your problem. In this way, analogous research embraces the practice of genchi genbutsu – seeing real people to better understand a problem and possible solutions.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/MOM_247_Research_e9736ebe48.jpg" alt="MOM247+Research.jpg">To find out how to create a space where moms could feel safe and relaxed, we visited a meditation center. This visit revealed the importance of a well-trained host who could guide guests and create an environment of trust and peace of mind.Our next visit was to a <a href="https://shibuya-city-neuvola.tokyo/facility/coshibuya/">government-run child-care center</a>, where we learned how moms interact with each other when they have a worry-free place for their kids to playTo get an idea of the kind of environment both kids and adults enjoy, we visited a karaoke bar that catered to moms. We found out that the most important features were soundproofing, fall-proof surfaces, and adult food and beverages. &nbsp;These analogs gave us new ways to look at our users, further understand their pain points, and design better solutions. Inna Circle is not trying to build a meditation center, a day care, or a karaoke bar, but there is a lot to learn from these places about designing welcoming and worry-free environments specifically for moms. Analogous research reminds us that the solution often already exists for a different user or problem. Our job as innovators is to practice genchi genbutsu in unexpected places and apply it in unprecedented ways.Linda Pantale&nbsp; Program Manager&nbsp; <a href="mailto:linda@mooncreativelab.com">linda@mooncreativelab.com</a><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/MOM_247_Team_8ead5ad506.jpg" alt="MOM247+Team.jpg">

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Moon Stories Blog - Page 5

How the Pandemic Inspired a New Human-Centered HR Solution

Low-Fi Prototypes for High-Tech Solutions

Working With Pride

Inclusive Design: Building With Everyone in Mind

Starting a New Product or Service

Empowering Women Through Startup Design Workshops

Welcome to Moon

3D Fashion in NFTs, the Metaverse, and Based on Nouns

Moon’s FY23 Goals & Priorities

Learning From Analogous Research

In The News

Moon Opens Doors to Palo Alto Startup Community

What Does Artificial Life Reveal About Us?

The Optimal Solution Between Remote and Office: Who Chooses Where To Work

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