Interview

How do you incorporate constantly changing elements like technology and culture into your work as an interior designer?

My job is to gather information, analyze it, and predict the future. If you are designing a car for the next ten years, you must have a vision of what that decade will bring. As an interior designer, I am in touch with the whole design process, from the initial concept discussion and user analysis to the fine-tuning of every individual interior detail. Technology is developing so rapidly that the learning process is constant, and being able to reach out to colleagues who can bring me up to date is essential. It’s also important to remember that cars are made for customers. Customers don’t always put all their requirements in words, so we need to understand how they live, work, and show emotion. For a pickup truck in the US, a tough, reliable image is vital, but a kei car in Japan needs to seem friendly and affordable to appeal to segments like young people and older drivers. In either case, the key is understanding what sort of product—or “friend,” if you like—they will want in the coming years. On the other hand, it’s risky to go too far into the future in one leap. You need to find the right balance to keep your target users on board. In that sense, my work is also about bridging ideas and reality.

As a designer, what do you like about Nissan’s corporate culture?

In Nissan, I can honestly express what I think. I’m from Taiwan, where people are very straightforward, and I was pleasantly surprised by how different Nissan is from a typical, hierarchical Japanese company. If I have different opinions with the rest of the team, I can say so, and other team members can do the same. We all have the same goal: to make things better. There’s no point in hiding your opinion. When working with other departments, we often need to find a consensus through discussions and mutual adjustments. I enjoy the challenge of trying to prove my case, and I also enjoy it when the other side can broaden my perspective with a different vision of what the future will be. Whenever I have struggles or doubts, I overcome them by communicating with my colleagues. There are designers with different experiences and national backgrounds, and leaders who can provide timely help. I genuinely have the sense of constantly growing. I appreciate the transparent, open working atmosphere inside Nissan, and I think it is one of the reasons that Nissan is the friendliest automotive brand. I have been a fan of Nissan since I was a child. I loved the Pike and the Cube, and since joining the company I participated in the design of many different models. These models are part of history, and now I am helping to write the next chapter.