This blog post will illuminate how team members at HARMAN Automotive are changing their collective mindset to focus on new product development.

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Introducing a Product Mindset
This blog post will illuminate how team members at HARMAN
Automotive are changing their collective mindset to focus on
new product development.
Mindset Is Everything
As we continue our transformation journey to upgrade HARMAN Automotive, we are
very aware that our mindset will determine future success. Evolving from a Tier 1
only model to a nimble technology company equally focused on new products
requires a very di erent approach.
In a Tier 1 model, we develop according to customer specifications and detailed
requirements – following roughly a 3-year project cycle. With a product business
model, HARMAN Automotive owns the full value chain – from product definition,
user experience design and product development in real-world conditions to
functional and user validation. In this mode, we take on responsibilities that have
traditionally been with our OEM customers.
Consumers expect today’s in-cabin experience to be as smart as their smartphones.
Manufacturers that provide the most intuitive consumer experience will win in today’s
highly competitive market. This is why HARMAN Automotive is so focused on
understanding the consumer – to provide the greatest value to our customers.
This consumer-centric and experience-driven approach demands shorter product
release and upgrade cycles. We’re now developing products based on these dynamic
market requirements at a consumer product like pace and innovation cycle.

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We call this “Consumer Experiences. Automotive Grade.” Consumer conveys user
experience at consumer speed while Automotive Grade signifies quality that is pre-
certified for the rigorous industry and automotive standards. This involves designing
for the end consumer and developing to market readiness under real world
conditions.
Product Mindset 101
Developing products is quite di erent from delivering projects according to
specification. A product is a deliverable that has a lifecycle, undergoes an evolution
according to consumer and customer needs and is potentially being upgraded in the
field. This means full end-to-end responsibility. We drive our own roadmaps and
decide what to build next based on unmet consumer and customer needs. To
facilitate this, HARMAN conducts proprietary market and user research coupled with
trend and technology analysis to identify potential for new products.
We define the product value proposition and test hypotheses along our product
innovation process. And we also determine and validate if the business proposition is
viable and aligns with our core expertise and automotive strategy.
Ownership is an integral part of a product mindset. Our people shall identify with
their products and view and drive them like owners. We’ve launched quite a few
innovative product lines, the Ready products, within HARMAN Automotive and have
given the teams full freedom but also responsibility to define their products,
roadmaps and organization. This instills a sense of ownership and authority.
People and Product
We need products that both di erentiate us in the market and significantly contribute
to our overall business and growth. This is being fueled by an organization and
process structure that is clearly aligned to the business and the products and e
ectively fosters responsibility and sense of ownership and dedication.
Evolving from a Tier-1 that’s largely a contract manufacturer to a market and
consumer-oriented technology partner on par with, or even ahead of our customers,
means that our People Framework must adjust as well. Roles within Product
Management become even more important. Product Managers own the product
value proposition and definition and drive the business supported by a common set
of standards, tools and best-practices.
On the product side, we need to add creation excellence to execution excellence as
we shape our own requirements and architectures. User experience and design, both
technical as well as esthetical, are crucial. Architects are now deeply involved in
technical product definition and finding solutions. This means much higher levels of
both freedom and responsibility. Motivation becomes intrinsic as employees view
their work as their product – and want it to be superior.

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Sales and Marketing teams also pivot to an even more proactive mode. We now have
market-ready products that we can and want to sell immediately without waiting for
the next Request for Quote (RFQ). We need to be everpresent with our customers for
promoting our Ready Products, for identifying new opportunities and establishing
sustainable partnerships.
Product Engineering
As an integral part of our product development approach, we have launched the
AutoOne product engineering platform. Accelerated by electrification, the in-cabin
user experience has become a major
di erentiator in the automotive market. As such, a key part of our development
process involves integrating our new product portfolio into actual cars like an OEM
would do. This holistic cross-product approach allows us to develop and validate
both functionality and user experience in the field.
We’re bringing all our products together – designing from a consumer perspective as
one comprehensive experience, integrating into a real vehicle and taking it on the
road. The ability to materialize the solutions in an actual car that can be driven under
all road conditions is a needed game-changer.
It’s an exciting time to be at HARMAN as we design and integrate our own product
portfolio into compelling in-cabin user experiences. This feels like the moment that I
have been waiting for and I believe that our quality-first and business-principle-
guided approach will boost our transformation and growth far into the future.
Introducing a Product Mindset – Key Takeaways
Creating a Product Mindset means owning the full value chain – from identifying
a business opportunity, product definition, user experience design and product
development in real-world conditions functional and user validation to proactive
sales and marketing.
In the Product Mindset mode, new responsibilities that have traditionally been
with the OEM must be assumed including researching the needs of the end
consumer and defining a product to fulfill the requirements.
The Product Roadmaps must be carefully evolved with innovative and di
erentiating features and products meeting future consumer and customer
needs.
Evolving from a Tier-1 to a technology partner on par with customers means that
the People Framework must adjust..

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About Me – More on Stephan
I have nearly two decades of experience at HARMAN including 13 years in
infotainment project engineering in di erent roles with a strong focus on system
architecture. I worked five years in innovation for instance on vital sign sensing with
Harman X and Samsung and have been deeply involved in Samsung synergy projects.
The past two years have been focused on company transformation – from analyzing
and shaping strategy to ramping up product spaces and transformational activities
like Automotive AI-Lab. My current focus is on shaping and ramping-up our new
organization and implementing the Divisional Technology team that’s focused on
identifying and incubating future technologies and skills like machine learning and
full-vehicle E/E Architecture and delivering those into our SBUs.
) 645-7484 for assistance.