A 'mini Product Hunt' to foster innovation

Daimler Truck Asia (DTA), a powerhouse in global transportation solutions, is a conglomerate comprising Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) in Japan and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) in India. With a robust workforce of over 15,000 employees spread across Japan, India and Europe, the company services over 170 countries worldwide.

Seeking to foster innovation and bring real solutions to life within their expansive network, DTA reached out to Cyces with a visionary project. They wanted us to design and build a platform that facilitated free exchange of ideas within its workforce.

To meet their goal, we set out to create a mini-’Product Hunt’ for DTA.

The platform needed to be highly contextual, reflecting the unique challenges and opportunities within the commercial vehicle industry, and it had to promote democratic access.

We set out to create a space where everyone at DTA could share and develop their ideas. It was important that the platform didn't just collect ideas but actually helped make them happen.

Also, we wanted to ensure the platform was fun to use. By incorporating elements of gamification, intuitive design, and interactive features, we aimed to create an environment that not only stimulates creativity but also encourages participation.

In summary, our approach to building the mini-product hunt for DTA was centered around four key pillars: contextuality, democratic access, actionable outcomes, and fun usability.

Here's how we structured it:

Dashboard

We created a central hub where employees could easily post their ideas, offer solutions, and engage in discussions. This hub included a feature for upvoting ideas, similar to how Product Hunt works. This approach ensured that the most popular and impactful ideas gained visibility among all employees.

Daimler Innovation Points (DIPs)

To encourage participation, we introduced a virtual currency system called Daimler Innovation Points (DIPs). Employees could earn DIPs by contributing ideas or solutions and could use these points to support other people's ideas. This system motivated employees to be active on the platform, either by sharing their own ideas or by investing in the ideas of others.

Stages

We categorized ideas into different stages, such as business proposal and prototype, to track their development progress. This categorization helped in understanding the maturity level of each idea and allowed for the valuation of ideas to change as they evolved. It provided a clear pathway for ideas to move from conception to realization.

Gamification

To make the platform more engaging, we integrated gamification elements. Employees could earn coins, see their names on a leaderboard, and even bet on the success of different ideas. These features added a fun and competitive edge to the innovation process, driving higher participation rates.

Implementation

We managed to develop and launch this platform within a demanding 12-week timeframe. Our technology stack included React.js for the front end, ensuring a smooth user experience, and Node.js for the back end, offering robust server-side operations. We used PostgreSQL for our database needs, supported by Sequelize ORM for efficient data management. This combination of technologies provided us with a scalable, interactive platform that could support DTA's innovation goals effectively.