“Timing and the Ability to Bring Innovation to Market Is Everything”
Get to know Gana from Forward31
He is one of the founding columns of Porsche Digital’s company builder Forward31: Gantimur Meißner, called Gana, brings 20 years of experience in product innovation and design in the automotive industry to the table. He strongly believes in speed, the right timing, and market entry.
In our interview, he takes us on a journey to a place and time well before cars crossed roads with digital technology. He shares insights about his time developing the interior of the Porsche Taycan and explains why he believes in our form of corporate innovation.
Gana, what is your job at FWRD31 about?
About 2,5 years ago, Christian Knörle, now Porsche Digital’s Head of Company Building, and I developed the idea and devised a detailed concept of company building at Porsche in numerous mid-night sessions. Now, I apply my design background to build new businesses as a Senior Venture Designer at Porsche Digital’s company builder Forward31. My main focus here is to identify new business opportunities as well as to develop and validate new business ideas together with the team.
What is the most crucial skill for doing a great job in your role?
First of all, there are no fixed roles at FWRD31 and that’s on purpose. We all come from very diverse backgrounds and bring in different skills. One of our mantras is “The Beginner’s Mind” which shall prevent us from “only doing our specific jobs” or “adhering too much to our expertise”. Since there are only ten of us, each of us has to fill different roles at any given time to get the job done.
But if you insist on an answer: You have to be able to endure the permanent sense of uncertainty and continue to believe that you will succeed through persistence.
You were Director of UX/UI Design and Prototyping and built up a team at Porsche in Weissach. Could you explain what exactly your job was and which projects you worked on?
Before joining Porsche, I was a founding partner and managing director of a boutique innovation firm in Berlin, called Mirai Media Lab GmbH. We were specialized in creating interactive prototypes for various automotive clients at a time when UX and UI have not yet entered the automotive jargon. While working for the VW & Audi Advanced Design Studio in Los Angeles, I was collaborating with the VW Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto for many years. During that time, I realized that digital technology would dramatically change the way we see mobility and interact with cars. By the way: at that time, the first iPod just had launched. Cars and digital technology did not have much in common.
When I was recruited by Porsche, I knew I had the chance to redefine the automotive user experience. My first project was the Mission-E show car. At that time, the design team had a first idea of what they wanted to do on the interior — this included a curved, free-form driver display and a holographic display for the passenger center. Since there were no such things, I eventually built the first cockpit prototype using carbon-fiber, bendable smartphone screens, and other electronics. Working closely with just a few very capable colleagues, I was able to establish a blueprint of how I wanted my new team to work together. The following 4,5 years were an intense experience with an amazingly talented and dedicated team. We were responsible for the UX/UI design and prototyping for Mission-E and Cross Turismo show cars, as well as all production cars including the 992, and of course the Taycan.
Our speed and efficiency, with which we achieved amazing results, helped us to build trust among decision-makers & board members. I believe if you want something truly innovative, you have to blur the boundaries. This creates friction but you have to be able to endure the pain. My main accomplishments in Weissach were to form an interdisciplinary team, establish the necessary infrastructure, foster a culture of collaboration and innovation and prove that design is much more than pretty drawings and shiny models.
You also had an impact on the Taycan — what’s it like to realize such a project?
With the Mission-E, the amazing public response at the IAA, and the clear objective to bring the car into production, it was much easier to convince everyone in Weissach to realize this radically new interior and interface design. The biggest challenge in the years of series development was to remain as true to the vision as possible. We achieved this through continuous prototyping and by sticking to our mission: to create the best in-car-UX on the market, a seamless user experience and easy-to-use interfaces, so that drivers are not distracted and users ultimately enjoy the ride. Our goal was to drastically reduce the number of steps and clicks to get users to where they wanted to go, as fast as possible.
Why did you decide to join FWRD31?
When Christian and I started talking about company building a few years ago, we both shared the conviction of a new corporate innovation framework. Throughout my career I have worked in various innovation units ranging from skunk work, innovation labs, corporate R&D, creative agencies, start-up accelerators — you name it. Each approach had its unique advantages but I felt that none of these models managed to bring truly disruptive innovation to the market.
We imagined a new way to explore opportunities that are not affecting our core business, yet, and bring innovation to the market faster. Because we knew that we could not possibly have all the talent we might need in-house, we decided to go for the company building approach and work closely with external founders as early as possible. In the founding spirit of Porsche, we believe that innovation comes from constraint and challenging ourselves to deliver more with fewer resources and time.
You’ve got an impressive vita, working for VW, BMW, Audi, and Porsche, also in the US for several years. Is there one station so far that accelerated your knowledge in UX/UI the most?
As I mentioned before, there was no UX/UI discipline when I started doing things that would fall under this narrow term. Therefore, I’d answer that question in a broader sense.
Certainly, my time in California in the early 2000s played a huge part in who I became and how I work. I was lucky enough to have experienced one of the greatest advanced design studios of all time. Actually, it was very similar to the original Skunkworks — except that we did not build secret weapons, but lifestyle vehicles, electric car concepts, mobility services, e-scooter and e-bikes. This taught me that timing and the ability to bring innovation to market is everything. But I also learned a lot from Peter Schreyer’s team at Audi, as they turned the image-battled car maker to a high-end brand by focusing on bold design and fostering a unique, almost family-like culture.
And last but not least, since I spent my first years in Mongolia, grew up in socialist East Germany before moving west from Ingolstadt, Munich, Wolfsburg to L.A. and later returned to Berlin, Weissach in the Black Forrest and back to Berlin, I’d say having lived in very different cultures and conditions taught me empathy and curiosity.
During your career, which project was your favorite so far?
The Mission-E project definitely was quite special — but unfortunately, I can’t get more into detail. What happened in Weissach stays in Weissach. However, having gone through so many stations, there were many great moments — each of them unique in their own right.
Why is it essential to have UX in mind when building up companies?
People don’t just buy a product, but how it makes them feel while helping to get the job done. I believe you cannot not have a user experience but you can create an experience customers will fall in love with. So, I’d say a great UX leads to products people love to use — which ultimately helps building and sustaining business success.
In one word: how would you describe yourself?
What would you say after reading this?
Thanks for the interview, Gana!
If you want to learn more about the team behind Forward31, make sure to read the interviews with Ann-Kristin, Mikha, and Matthias as well.
About this publication: Where innovation meets tradition. There’s more to Porsche than sports cars — we’re tackling new challenges, develop digital products, and think digital with a focus on the customer. On our Medium blog, we tell these stories. It’s about our #nextvisions, smart technologies, and the people that drive our digital journey. Please follow us on Twitter (Porsche Digital, Next Visions), Instagram (Porsche Digital, Next Visions, Porsche Newsroom), and LinkedIn (Porsche AG, Porsche Digital) for more.
