01 · First-run software, global roll-out
The news app that had the right content for you when you opened it
Took Socialife from Sony’s requirements through delivery of the first prototype after onboarding a delivery team in Madrid — a global product with first roll-out in EU and Japan. Later download numbers are the product’s story, not a personal claim.
- 5
- team sites — not roll-out markets
- Global
- roll-out: EMEA top 5 + Japan, then US, then worldwide
Situation
Sony was preparing Xperia and wanted software already on the phone that felt good the first time you turned it on. The goal was attachment to the device, not another mobile-operator portal. Lumata started as consultants. After Tokyo signed off, we were hired to deliver with a team across Tokyo, Paris, London, Madrid, and Malmö (design agency TAT) — those were team sites, not launch cities. Service roll-out was global: first the top five EMEA markets (France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy) and Japan, then the US, then worldwide.
Insight
Sony did not need a connectivity service or an operator portal. It needed Socialife to fit a single-screen global phone and put the right content in front of you when you opened it. The app mixed RSS feeds with social networks you could connect — Facebook and Twitter — at the early stage of the social web. The earlier US bet on WiMAX and dual-screen devices stayed out of the Xperia revamp.
Goals
Tokyo wanted a seamless first-run experience worldwide. Lumata needed contract sign-off on service and support deliverables, then a first version. I owned both the service requirements document and the support requirements document. Explicit non-goal for the revamp: not a connectivity service.
Achievement
I owned the service requirements document and the support requirements document — key Lumata–Sony contract deliverables — liaised with TAT on UX in Malmö, and onboarded the Madrid delivery team. I contributed the vision and requirements for content partnerships, curation, and recommendation; some of that shipped in a later step after I left. Later Google Play download figures are product lineage, not a personal KPI.
Learnings
Repeat international work across a real cultural gap, and the pivot from consulting to delivery when strategy moved from connectivity to global content. Do differently: a stronger co-location setup across the five team sites.
Shipped as Socialife, later News Suite. Mixed RSS feeds and social-network accounts (Facebook, Twitter) into a two-tab model (News + My Feeds), region-aware defaults, widget and push notifications. Preinstalled on Xperia and later offered on Google Play.
I contributed the vision and requirements for content-provider partnerships, a curator community, and a recommendation engine. Partnerships started in the first version. A fuller curation layer, recommendation, and some further social integrations shipped after I left.