Actually, We're Quietly Evolving! KINTO Technologies-Style In-House Creators

Merry Christmas!

I'm Aya Sugimoto, a CD in the Creative Group. Today, I'm gatecrashing the blog to introduce you to (& brag about) our team. We belong to KINTO Technologies, a company where at its core is driven by the engineers behind KINTO's car subscription services. It's a tech company as the name implies so engineers take the spotlight; but we're flourishing away there too, in our own little corner. I have a soft spot for challenging new projects, ones that have never been attempted before :-).

Our 23 team members (as of December 2022) work on a wide range of projects, from ones we really need to roll our sleeves up for (such as improving the KINTO car subscription site, producing static content, supporting dealers, and branding new services) to more relaxing ones (such as designing in-house goods). We approach them all with creative ideas and a perspective grounded on the customers' points of view. Let me tell you about our work in a dramatic way!

Season 1: 2021: Becoming a group that thinks from the customers' points of view.

Now, we produce things by discussing them with business side members starting from the upstream processes, but when I first joined the company, the stance was to just produce whatever the business side asked us to. If things had gone on like that, there wouldn't have been much point in having in-house creators at all. So first, we launched a project that originated from us, to raise awareness that there is an in-house group that produces high-quality deliverables and is very willing to discuss things. It was called "A Project Anyone Can Understand." It's harder for us to get to know a lot about cars than it is for business side, but that means we can plan and improve the UX from the point of view of people who aren't very knowledgeable about them—namely, the customers. With that in mind, a cross-functional in-house team system was created to launch the project. It was a daunting prospect because the project had been launched by members who'd only been with the company for a few months (myself among them), but the department managers supported us. We presented the president with a plan created based on the customers' points of view, and got the green light. Once word about the project had spread and it was produced results, we started to gradually gain recognition within the company.

Season 2: Teaming up with like-minded colleagues in 2022

Web directors and designers are very busy people. The former get involved starting with the planning for handling the upstream of new services, and organize the requirements and move the production work forward as well. The latter give the services form. We urgently needed to up our creativity levels in order to meet the in-house expectations, too. We strengthened recruiting and boosted the number of members who would relate to our vision for taking a creative leap upward. Then, we made changes to the organizational structure, reviewed the design processes, and more, and successfully shifted to a work style where the business side would ask us to discuss and work on things together with them, instead of just ordering things from us.

We're now a highly dependable group with a diverse range of members! Thank you everyone! In addition to web-related work, we're also involved in the graphics, logos, naming, and other branding work for new services, and are playing a part in the bulk of the visual aspects related to customer touchpoints.

Season 3: Our evolution will continue in 2023 and beyond

An attractive environment for in-house creative group staff is one where the team can talk directly with the business side, without information ending up being relayed like in a telephone game where things get lost along the way. Conveying to each other passions and dreams then giving them form together feels rather deeper than just client work this way. It's rewarding to be able to design something completely, starting from the brand concept. In particular, in our company, the marketing team sits across the aisle, and the development team is also nearby. I also think it's pretty appealing that senior managers like our vice president and president are quite approachable figures in our company. Of course, it also means you can get the negative feedback directly, too :-) ! A project was launched in 2021 to showcase the group's potential far and wide within the company. 2022 was a year where I got to bond with fellow team members who felt the same way about taking this creative leap upward. So now, there are only a few days left in the year. We want to go on the offensive in 2023, covering a wide playing field so that we can evolve and deepen our approach even further, all with the aim of impressing customers through even better mobility services.

I'm going to put my brainpower to work as I tackle issues, keep feeling my way forward as I work, also eat a lot and sleep a lot. As I keep working at KINTO Technologies, I fell I will rejuvenate along with the growing business :-).

I wish you all a very happy New Year. But first, have a Merry Christmas!