Product Design

JT Science

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Aerosol Chemistry

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Scientific research

Product design in an overall product development stages and process

In developing new products, JT Group ensures certain design requirements are clearly established upfront, products are developed to meet these criteria, tested during prototyping phases and validated at the end to ensure quality control. Cost, time and quality are critical variables influencing the overall scope and project management focus of the new product development.

Phase 0

Concept & Product Brief

GATE 0

Phase 1

Concept prototype selection

GATE 1

Phase 2

Detailed development

GATE 2

Phase 3

Launch verification

GATE 3

Execution production

Phase 0: Concept & Product Brief

Effective product design requires an understanding of customer needs, the competitive environment, and the specific nature of the markets in which the product is intended to be launched.

Phase 1: Concept Prototype Selection

Once a product brief is defined, the early phases encompass conceptualizing and assessing the feasibility of several ideas from many angles, ultimately selecting a final concept and creating the “works-like look-like” prototype.

The first prototype is assessed against a number of criteria including consumer centric metrics (taste, vaping, user interface, etc), technical metrics (engineering requirements, manufacturing requirements, etc), operational metrics (cost/price, required investments, etc) and reduced-risk potential (e.g. reduced emission of ’harmful or potentially harmful constituents’ (HPHCs)).

Phase 2: Detailed development

A detailed design phase follows, specifying all the needed elements to move from prototype to manufacturing-stage readiness. Many aspects of the design requirements are reviewed and tested during this phase from consumer-facing aspects (including consumer testing) to technical aspects (e.g. regulations & product safety certifications, IP assessments, etc).

Phase 3: Launch verification

Lastly, focus is on mass-production where final checks are made to confirm that the product manufactured meets the design specifications and that the necessary operating procedures and quality control checks are in place in the manufacturing location.

Project management of these different phases requires a dedicated effort, governed by specific review points (gates) where the progress, validations and risks are continuously assessed.

Technology development

In some instances, the product briefs outlined in the design stage may necessitate the development of new technologies to achieve the desired results. These could equally be on the device side and on the consumable side.

Tobacco processing technology
Device key components

Tobacco processing technology development

Generally, processing goods, such as through heating or fermenting, changes their aroma and taste. For example, tea is classified as green tea, oolong tea, black tea, etc., based on the degree of leaf fermentation. In addition, the temperature of the water used to make tea influences the degree to which natural components are extracted from the leaves, again impacting aroma and taste.

It is similar for heated tobacco products; variations in aroma and taste can be created through processing of tobacco leaves and/or the temperature to which the tobacco is heated during product use.

In order to create heated tobacco products with satisfying aroma and taste in direct- and indirect- heating type categories respectively, we have been developing tobacco processing technologies while considering the characteristics of each heating type.

Technology development of device key components

Technology development feeds Product Development, enabling teams to explore, assess and validate key technical items & components. Examples include novel heating engines for RRP*, new charging mechanisms for electronic devices, and/or new product categories. Once these technical features reach a certain technology readiness level, they become available to our product development teams.

Setting the objectives of our technology development initiatives come from many sources, including consumer needs, product strategy, regulatory requirements and/or scientific discoveries to name a few. Ensuring the right focus, resource allocation and space to innovate in this early-stage part of the overall development process is critical to offering new values to consumers continuously.

scientific researches

Scientific researches are indispensable in product development and technical development necessary for it. As a global tobacco product manufacturer, we have conducted tobacco related scientific researches for decades. Such accumulated knowledge is very useful for product and technology developments. In recent years, we have also started research in new fields, such as user experience and electronic components.

Scientific researches

USER EXPERIENCE RESEARCH & DESIGN THROUGH THE LENS OF SCIENCE

User experience (UX) generally refers to the experience that users get through products and services, including perceptions and cognitions during using them, and the overall impression which is created by this experience.

To enhance the UX of our devices, we evaluate product concepts from the perspective of the user focusing on actual user needs. We conduct these tests to assess the overall UX of a electronic product, ranging from the moment of unboxing to its eventual disposal. Where necessary, we undertake deeper user research to learn and understand their motivations (why existing adult smokers choose a particular device over others) and functional needs using social, ergonomics and cognitive science insights. Specific examples of our work include; the business ethnographic approach to closely observe the daily life of consumers participating in the research; the usability testing of new product concepts using eye-tracking (under research conditions) to assess if consumers can use the electronic products with ease; and evaluating the effectiveness of existing consumer touchpoints such as product communication campaigns and customer support.

User experience

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Heated tobacco product

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Aerosol chemistry

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