Intel

Intel’s transformation to solutions provider.

Intel sought to reinvent its role in the Emerging Market Industrial PC (EMIPC) space—positioning itself not as a component supplier, but as a systems leader. The challenge: research global industrial ecosystems and develop a market-entry strategy tailored to China and Southeast Asia.

Beyond silicon—shaping ecosystems in industrial computing.

View of strategy and research for IntelWork Page Intel strategy and research work all

RKS led comprehensive global research—engaging industry experts, site observations, and stakeholder workshops—to define future business models and value KPIs for Intel’s expansion into industrial PC systems. We identified unmet customer needs and shaped a roadmap to elevate Intel into a trusted solution partner.

Research Insights & Discovery

KEY OUTPUTS

User Personas
Psycho-Aesthetics® 2.0 Map
Benchmarking
Opportunity Areas & Design Criteria

How We Used Psycho-Aesthetics™ to Identify Unique Opportunities in the Project.

Using our proprietary Psycho-Aesthetics® 2.0 framework, we conducted in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation in diverse lab settings. We identified key emotional and usability pain points — such as intimidation with complex interfaces, workspace clutter, and trust in precision. These insights guided both the form and interface strategy, ensuring approachability and confidence in operation.

A presentation slide deck featuring diagrams, charts, maps, photos of people, and text describing category attractors, value benefits, networks, criteria, global reach, and usage scenarios for a business solution.

Collaboratively with Intel teams, we developed a comprehensive playbook—detailing portfolio architecture, go-to-market strategies, solution bundling, service models, and regional positioning. This playbook became the operational blueprint for launching the new business unit in China and Southeast Asia.

Industrial Design Concept Development

KEY OUTPUTS

Global market research report across EMIPC verticals

CMF Strategy
Refined Industrial Design Language
Image of RKS team brainstorming
To complement the intuitive physical design of the Microlab Prep, RKS crafted a digital interface that simplifies lab workflows and enhances user confidence. We focused on minimizing cognitive load through clean layouts, guided interactions, and real-time feedback. The UI was designed to be accessible for both new and experienced users, balancing technical depth with approachability. Our UX strategy emphasized clarity, efficiency, and trust—ensuring users could confidently execute tasks without training fatigue. Extensive prototyping and usability testing helped refine the experience and align it with real lab needs.

UI/UX Design Development

KEY OUTPUTS

Information Architecture
Touchscreen Interface Design
Custom Iconography & Visual System
Interactive Prototypes
Infographic showing opportunity and potential of research with Intel
Intel map of interview of countries for ethnogrpahies
RKS worked closely with Hamilton’s engineering team to refine and validate the internal architecture of the Microlab Prep, ensuring it met performance, manufacturability, and regulatory standards. We conducted rigorous evaluations of part tolerances, thermal behavior, airflow, and user safety across multiple prototypes. Our engineering validation process focused on real-world reliability, longevity, and maintaining the compact footprint required by lab environments. This phase ensured that the final design not only looked polished, but was also fully functional, production-ready, and aligned with lab-grade precision.

Engineering Validation

KEY OUTPUTS

Engineering Evaluation Prototypes
Tolerance Analysis & DFM Refinements
Validation Reports
Diagram showing Intel IoT Platform with labeled cloud and edge computing components.
Intel business design pamphlet
Collage of user interfaces and dashboards for IoT software development and monitoring.

Focused on actionable execution, we supported roadmap validation, regional pilot planning, and internal alignment with manufacturing, marketing, and sales teams—ensuring Intel’s evolution was strategic, differentiating, and scalable.

Business Definition & Market Launch Planning

KEY OUTPUTS

Pilot program briefs for China and Southeast Asia

Executive strategy decks for internal stakeholders

Alignment plans for cross-functional execution teams

Intel computer with industrial solutions hardware

The Intel EMIPC project illustrates RKS’s capacity to scale innovation from strategic insight to global transformation. By marrying deep ethnographic research, emotional–functional mapping, and meticulously crafted execution playbooks, RKS helped shift a tech behemoth’s identity—turning Intel into an ecosystem architect rather than a commoditized component supplier.

Key Outcomes and Results

Key Accomplishments

Status: Delivered EMIPC Playbook and launch strategy (2015)

Strategic Impact:

  • Enabled Intel’s initial deployment of integrated hardware and service offerings in emerging markets

  • Positioned the company as a systems-oriented innovator, not just a chipset supplier

  • Aligned internal teams for business unit activation in China and Southeast Asia within months

ready to partner with us?

You have signed up for the designer!

Welcome to a world of design and innovation

Your download has started!

If this is not the case, then click the button below to start it