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New Navigation App Gorillada PRO Improves Work Efficiency
Gorillada PRO (hereinafter Gorillada) is a car navigation app for corporate users released by Panasonic Automotive Systems (hereinafter PAS) in October 2024. Gorillada is a car navigation app for companies that conduct sales and maintenance of facilities by car, which contributes to operational efficiency and eliminates reliance on individual expertise. The development of this app was undertaken by members of the New Business Promotion Office, a department within PAS whose mission is to create new businesses, and Panasonic ITS, a PAS subsidiary responsible for the design and development of software and hardware. We interviewed the three individuals who led the implementation of the service.
- * Role with comprehensive responsibility for products and services, responsible for strategy formulation, implementation, and decision making from concept planning to development and sales
What are the features of Gorillada?
Odahara: On a basic level, it is a highly functional navigation system. Gorillada was developed based on the Strada and Gorilla car navigation systems, which have a track record of more than 20 years, and inherits the high performance and ease of use of the two systems. We are absolutely confident in the basic and most important part of the navigation system, which is to guide you along the route to your destination. Of course, that’s not all it can do. Gorillada is a new genre of app that not only navigates, but also helps eliminate reliance on individual expertise and improve work efficiency. In developing this app for the corporate market, we did not want to make it just another car navigation app. For example, information about destinations not registered in map data, such as utility poles, can be easily and instantly shared between apps. This makes it extremely smooth to communicate information from management staff directing drivers to their destinations. Other functions include the ability to exchange information among drivers, allowing veterans to share their knowledge with new drivers, preventing operations and tasks from becoming dependent on a specific person. Gorillada is an app that interconnects management staff and drivers to provide a better working environment.
How do you view service businesses, including app-based businesses?
Fujikawa： We believe that the service business is important not only for profitability, but also because it ensures that users continue to find value and use the service. Rather than simply offering products on a subscription basis, we believe that continuously understanding users is especially important and it is essential to build the foundations and mechanisms that capture and translate user needs into services.
Odahara: At PAS, multiple service businesses have been launched under the leadership of the New Business Promotion Office. In order to survive as a manufacturer in the future, we must be able to sell not only products but also services. The demand for digital transformation is also growing within the market environment. Through our investigations across various companies, we have found that on-site operations still face numerous challenges and a lot of room remains for improvement in digital transformation
What are the features of Gorillada’s development and business structure?
Sasaki: Rapid development is one feature. The release cycles for in-vehicle devices and apps like Gorillada are completely different. For example, we set aside at least one year for the development of a car navigation system, but for an app, we update it in a shorter period of time as it is used by customers. This sense of speed is only possible thanks to experience in the service business. The length of each development process is also totally different. Gorillada was developed using an agile approach. We developed each process partially in parallel, so we were able to repeat trial and error and polish the app in a short period of time.
Odahara: This can be said of the New Business Promotion Office system in general, but the planning, development, and sales departments were not divided into separate departments, and we worked on development as a single team. Since all members work toward a single goal as a project, we can conduct processes from development to sales with great flexibility and speed. Without this structure, the release of Gorillada would have taken much longer. The diverse backgrounds of the members also played very important roles in launching a new business, and they complemented the knowledge that was not available within PAS. The New Business Promotion Office has members with a variety of backgrounds, including people from startups, advertising agencies, and people who have worked in Silicon Valley. I myself launched a SaaS company in the past, and I am still managing that company while working at PAS.
Fujikawa: Also, the decision-making processes of the unified team structure are smooth. There were many decisions that needed to be made, but because we had multiple functions (planning, design, development, and marketing) on the same team, and because each function collaborated flexibly without boundaries, we were able to make decisions quickly, such as deciding on a policy on the spot. It was also important that members beyond the planning team participated in user research and shared the users’ challenges as a team, fostering a user-centered mindset across all members. The New Business Promotion Office includes dedicated UX designers, but the principles of UX design* are naturally embedded and widely embraced by other team members as well. This is an essential foundation for developing user-friendly services.
- * Designing experiences through services and products that make users feel comfortable (intuitive, easy to use, convenient).
What were the most rewarding aspects of developing Gorillada?
Odahara: Gorillada was a new business, so there were many things that could not be handled within the existing framework, such as sales methods. We had to create a completely new system, which was both difficult and very rewarding. Hearing customers at the companies we visited say things like, “This is exactly what we wanted,” made us truly happy. We have received feedback on the app and knowing that there is still room for improvement gives us a real sense of determination to keep pushing forward. We can feel that the app is consistently improving.
Fujikawa: After the release, we refined our marketing strategies while verifying hypotheses and rapidly cycling through the PDCA process, which led to a noticeable increase in free trial sign-ups. It’s really rewarding to think about how to increase sign-ups and attract customers, and to build systems for acquiring users and their processes. There are areas for improvement, but we see them as room for growth, and we are continuing to update the app.
Sasaki: With Gorillada, there were many new things that we worked on, such as agile development. I experienced personal growth by working on issues I did not have the knowledge for in the development process, while attending various training programs both inside and outside the company. During development of Gorillada, there was a lot of pressure to maintain a sense of speed while also providing a solid quality product. But because of that, the joy of seeing the app publicly released and checking it on my own smartphone was truly special.
What are your thoughts for the future?
Fujikawa: There are no other car navigation apps on the market that aim to improve work efficiency and eliminate reliance on individual expertise. We want more people to know that such an app exists. We want people to like it and actually use it. This navigation app is a service that was born out of our existing in-vehicle business, and I would like to make Gorillada a successful example of a service business that leverages our assets in the future.
Sasaki: As the person in charge of development, I would like to increase development speed and quality even more. I want to keep updating functions to make it more convenient and to improve business efficiency. Without compromising quality, I would like to provide faster and better products to our customers so they can be fully satisfied with the experiences they receive.
Odahara: Our aim was to develop a car navigation app that could enable seamless coordination between field sites and offices, as well as between different field locations. By making it possible to share information in real-time through the car navigation app used by personnel moving around in the field, we believe we can significantly improve the efficiency of our customers’ operations. In many Japanese companies, on-site operations still face significant challenges such as siloed workflows between departments and a reliance on individual expertise. We want to eliminate those inefficiencies and challenges in business operations. We hope that Gorillada will be the solution.
Gorillada Website：[Official] Gorillada PRO | Car navigation app for corporate tablets/smartphones
Click here to sign up for a free trial：Free Trial Form | Car navigation app for corporate tablets/smartphones Gorillada PRO