Lee Hyun-woo was startled as he looked at the design platform proposed by Kim Young-hoon.
Honestly, although it was called a platform, it was practically the same as artificially applying big data.
Creating new products based on the designs currently favored by the public?
What are the odds of failure?
So he called Kim Young-hoon in.
“An amazing idea. How did you come up with it?”
“What? Oh, it’s… thanks to what you’ve always taught me…”
Lee Hyun-woo had already figured out Kim Young-hoon’s identity.
Team leader Jang Kang-hyun was excellent in design, but the problem was his social skills.
Social skills are quite important in corporate life.
Without them, it’s difficult to communicate with subordinates and superiors alike.
Such people don’t last long in a company.
Thus, recognizing Jang Kang-hyun’s exceptional abilities, Lee Hyun-woo deliberately appointed Kim Young-hoon as his deputy.
Though his design skills were relatively lacking, he could serve as a bridge between Jang Kang-hyun and the department staff.
So far, he had done this well, sharing the communication that Jang Kang-hyun found difficult.
“That’s why he’s good at flattering.”
In an organization, flattery should be guarded against, but nothing smoothed relationships more.
Seeing Kim Young-hoon attribute the idea to him, Lee Hyun-woo laughed.
“No way.”
“Really. You’ve always emphasized the importance of platforms. From then on, I thought it would be good to have a platform in design too. That’s how this design platform came about.”
“Ah…”
It seemed it wasn’t flattery this time.
Emphasizing the platform had returned in such a positive way.
Smiling again, Lee Hyun-woo asked, “When do you plan to start?”
“Well, Team Leader Jang wants to start right away.”
“Right away? You mean to apply it to the current e-book reader?”
“Yes. Our designers worry if their work will really sell in the market.”
“Then how about creating a webpage first and opening it only to our company and Samjin Computer?”
He meant to go through an open beta phase before launching a formal service.
“The e-book reader is a collaboration between Jungle and Samjin Computer, so opening it to just these two places should yield good results. Then, we can see how well the results translate to the market and gradually open it to the public.”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
Hearing Kim Young-hoon’s response, Lee Hyun-woo laughed.
“I can clearly see the strengths and weaknesses of both Team Leader Jang and Deputy Kim here.”
One side was very assertive, while the other seemed a bit indecisive.
In that sense, the combination of the design team’s leadership felt perfect, making him feel good without realizing it.
Moreover, he resolved to continue forming such complementary leadership teams in the future.
“Anyway, another platform has been created.”
He should’ve felt the shortage of people as the workload increased, but this time it wasn’t the case.
Having hired enough surplus manpower, creating one more platform was manageable.
With this thought, Lee Hyun-woo immediately went to meet Woo Sang-won.
“I just talked with Deputy Kim Young-hoon about creating a design platform based on big data.”
After Lee Hyun-woo elaborated on Kim Young-hoon’s idea, Woo Sang-won’s eyes sparkled as he responded.
“Besides the design for the e-book reader, it seems there could be endless applications.”
“Of course. Web design and character design can also be shown to people, and we can go with the most favorable option.”
“Indeed, platforms are quite something.”
Honestly, he hadn’t fully grasped the concept when Lee Hyun-woo first mentioned platforms.
But as big data accumulated, the power of platforms became evident.
Woo Sang-won had already implemented Jungle’s unique software development tool platform, with more developers participating over time.
“Anyway, where should we assign this?”
“The Cloud department might be best. They manage the big data.”
“Are we short on people?”
“Recently, we have enough. The Cloud department has fewer people than others but also less workload, so it should be fine.”
Jungle’s development department consists of five main areas.
These are online shopping, portal sites, content, cloud, and games.
Generally, each department has well over 100 developers, but online shopping and portal sites have a significant workload, so they have a considerable number of allocated personnel.
In contrast, content and cloud departments have fewer people.
“It shouldn’t take too long. Especially since we’re only informing our side and Samjin Computer.”
Thus, a website was created in no time.
Well, it took a bit longer than expected, for a reason.
Jang Kang-hyun meticulously reviewed the website’s design.
As they say, people can’t change their nature.
Although the website was only to be shown to Jungle and Samjin Computer employees, and the design was meant to be refined later, his involvement expanded the scope of work.
Anyway, the resulting website was named the “Design Big Platform.”
Upon completion, its utility became immediately apparent.
The design department had ten teams, all of whom uploaded their painstakingly crafted works.
This is the new layout to be applied to Jungle Shopping. Please choose the one that catches your eye the most.
These are the characters for the new Jungle Game, Janggi. Besides Xiang Yu and Liu Bang from the Chu-Han Contention, we included our national heroes Yi Sun-sin and Eulji Mundeok. Please select the character you think fits best.
As you know, Jungle and Samjin Computer are collaborating for the first time to create a product. That’s the e-book reader, and we’ve uploaded several designs. Please choose the one you think the public will like the most.
Lee Hyun-woo looked at Jang Kang-hyun’s recent uploads on the Design Big Platform.
There were three designs. Personally, he liked the first design, which included a wheel and a diagonal keypad.
So he selected it, and the results appeared immediately.
- Thank you, 689 people have chosen this design.
Hovering the mouse over the other two designs showed their counts as well: 98 and 43.
The first design was overwhelmingly popular.
“Oh, my eye for design isn’t bad.”
At this rate, the first design was likely to be chosen.
Though the sample size was small, it was quite suggestive.
“If this succeeds, the value of the design platform will rise further.”
Ultimately, it wasn’t about right or wrong but gauging people’s preferences.
It was akin to the most reliable market research and could be applied to many areas in the future.
A while later, Chairman Park Jin-yong personally brought in a prototype of the e-book reader.
Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes widened.
“Is it already made?”
“No, no. The design was decided, so we made the case.”
“Ah…”
“But it won’t take long to manufacture. We’re the best in the country at assembling components.”
Everyone had pride in their company.
Park Jin-yong was no different, and he confidently boasted to Lee Hyun-woo.
“Just three months! I’ll bring a finished product within that time.”
“Whoa, aren’t you rushing too much? Won’t that increase the rate of defects?”
“Hey, how do you see us? Don’t worry. An e-book reader isn’t that difficult. We can make it with existing components. It’s a piece of cake!”
“If that’s the case, I look forward to it.”
“Looking forward to it is one thing, but I have something else to discuss.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“While making the e-book reader, we realized we could also make PDAs.”
“Ah…”
Lee Hyun-woo let out a sigh and nodded.
Although it would require many more components, there was no reason not to challenge PDAs if they could make e-book readers.
“So, will you make them?”
“Of course. Do you think I’ll allow Guseong Electronics to monopolize the market alone?”
Indeed, the domestic PDA market was monopolized by Guseong Electronics.
They had already released their second PDA, and this time, the response was much better than the first.
“If we compete with Guseong Electronics on price, we have enough potential.”
Since PDAs were high-priced items, Park Jin-yong seemed to be considering making a budget PDA.
“At this rate, Samjin Computer might end up making smartphones.”
It wasn’t impossible.
All products see a surge in manufacturers when demand explodes.
Mobile phones were no different.
Numerous manufacturers emerged, leading to over-competition; the unsuccessful ones disappeared, and only the successful ones transitioned to smartphone manufacturers.
Applying this to Samjin Computer, they might have to make mobile phones alongside PDAs.
And Park Jin-yong was already eyeing that.
“Looking at it, there’s no difference between Guseong Electronics and us. They made mobile phones first and then released PDAs, right? We’ll manufacture e-book readers first and then PDAs. If, as you say, the e-book reader sells enormously, won’t Guseong Electronics enter the market? Then they’ll produce mobile phones, PDAs, and e-book readers. So, we can’t help but consider mobile phone production too. What do you think?”
It seemed he had already decided and was seeking validation for the potential success.
Lee Hyun-woo smiled and said,
“Not a bad idea.”
“Really? Is it really okay?”
“Of course. But you’ll have to keep focusing on quality, design, and innovation.”
It shouldn’t fall behind in quality, must look beautiful and stylish, and have something new to sell well.
Understanding this, Park Jin-yong nodded with a bright smile.
“I don’t know about the others, but we’ll have to use what Jungle creates for the design. You’ll keep running that, right?”
“Are you talking about the Design Big Platform? Yes, we’ll keep it running, and the number of participants will likely increase.”
“Really? I thought it was just our two companies.”
“Oh no, that can’t be. The ultimate goal is to induce public participation to create the most trendy product designs.”
“Ah… okay, anyway, just like how someone who’s eaten rice cakes knows how to eat them well, using it continually will help us develop expertise too.”
Chairman Park Jin-yong seemed to have a good personality.
Judging by how he always thought positively.
Whatever the case, the prospect of making PDAs was something Lee Hyun-woo welcomed.
Just as someone who has made mobile operating systems will make them better in the future.
“A budget PDA…”
He thought this idea might accelerate the mobile industry.
