Design tools reimagined.
Evolving the Adidas creative process.
In collaboration with Adidas group.
Supported by Adobe Inc.
Produced with Sen Lin & Lisanne Zwinkels.
Project scope involved Process optimization, Technology scouting & Change management.
Project duration: 3 months
12 weeks discovery sprints
: From insights to strategy.
THE CHALLENGE
Rethinking digital design: How can digital technology inspire new design creativity and processes?
The goal is to help enhance the Adidas creative process with new design experiences enabled by Adobe Creative Cloud technology.
THE OUTCOME
PLAY 1.0 and PLAY 2.0, creative vision and roadmap of next-generation design tools that can provide added dimension of creative efficiency - speed, freedom, versatility and realism.
“Design is
not
a 9-5 job.”
No single creative process is the same. Every new project gives a sense of excitement as designers navigate the familiar uncertainty. Design tools empower designers in this journey by turning fuzzy inspirations into reality. How can new digital tools enrich creative work?
In this project, we explored future creative process with Adidas Group and Adobe Inc.
Getting behind the scenes
The first step was to dive right into the context and understand current processes as well as opportunities. We spoke to both internal and external stakeholders - Adidas designers about their wildest design fantasies & Adobe product managers about their most innovative tech capabilities.
Activities included:
User and process touchpoints mapping through interviews, co-creative sessions and field observations.
Digital technology trends and design tools mapping through expert interviews, desk research and interactive prototyping.
Understanding what drives designers
“For designers,
creativity is the only thing that matters, we make sure we don’t limit the creative efficiency”
- Senior Project Manager, Adidas Group, 2016
The notion of Creative Efficiency was a recurring discussion in the research.
But this efficiency is not regarding work productivity here.
Creative efficiency is more about being visionary, smart, original and fun in designing as well as having the freedom to create without boundaries. Designers crave this form of experience. Design tools will be most valuable if they can stretch this form of creative potential across the 4 design touchpoints - exploration, ideation, detailing, and communication.
Design tools that maximize creative efficiency ultimately also maximize the creative output.
This became the focal point or KPI - A refreshed design experience that can heighten Creative Efficiency.
Vision
A refreshed creative experience that inspires and supports designers every step of their design process.
An inspiration playground for designers.
Design = Play
Based on the research insights, several touchpoints were identified to inject the new design tools and experience. They were set to transform the creative process into a fun, seamless and dynamic journey. We structured the transformation into a roadmap with 2 phases: PLAY 1.0 and PLAY 2.0.
PLAY 1.0 focused on meaningfully incorporating newly released features from Adobe Creative Cloud for 2017-2020.
Play 2.0 was meant to trigger discussion for speculative technology.
The tools featured in each of the phases were selected based on a balance of tech feasibility, viability within Adidas creative process as well as their creative value for designers.
PLAY 1.0 & PLAY 2.0
A trends teaser video was first created to facilitate discussions with the Adidas team and Adode product teak. This was when we further discussed potential implementation and development strategies.
Based on the new insights, we iterated on the experience prototypes and process framework.
Every new tool was centred around enhancing a design touchpoint. The new process unveils new possibilities for design. We created 2 phases for a phased implementation of new tools in alignment with user acceptance bandwidth and technology roadmap.
The theme centered around the concept where design = play.
PLAY is …..
1.0 : Teamwork | Everywhere | Versatile | Dimensional | Intuitive
2.0: Dynamic | Reality
New creative experience
At the end of the project, interactive experience prototypes were made for stakeholders to feel and experiment with the envisioned creative process at Adidas Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
Strategy report detailing the new creative direction was also delivered to elaborate on:
Technological resource considerations.
Development & Implementation cadence.
Creative experience blueprint & ecosystem.
Our approach in this project
“It is important for designers to have fun in the process.”
- Senior Project Manager, Adidas Group.
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