My role
Lead designer
Duration
1 week on the Nike campus
Many riffs after
About
Nike is a household name, not only for its athletic apparel and footwear but also for its commitment to empowering its employees. Nike's overwhelming size—with over 700 stores and serving millions of customers—introduces complexities into the experience. Individual contributors and managers from Nike needed an easier way to manage their day-to-day responsibilities.
Challenge
Nike had a fractured experience with its users, making it difficult for employees to get the information they needed quickly. Employees had trouble finding information, leading to the use of multiple tools and wasted time. Access to Nike's building was restricted and the internal software lacked personalized information and experiences. In a post-pandemic hybrid world, how do Nike employees connect? How do they connect with the brand? How do we tie 1,000 existing apps, micro-sites, and portals into one seamless experience?
"I don't know which app or portal to use to get things done. I wish there was one central place where I could go to get what I need."
- Employee, Nike
"Our campus is large and access to buildings is restricted. It can be difficult to find your way across campus and then to the proper meeting room."
- Employee, Nike
"The software we use internally doesn’t know much about me. Why do I have to sort through information not relevant to me to find what I need?"
- Employee, Nike
Using the Google Sprint method, we set out to learn about friction complicating the current corporate remote-hybrid employee experience. We explored ideas on how to improve the experience as well as "Nike Glass" user interfaces to support it. Our solution was a prototype that brought to life how a single Nike Glass employee experience could work.
Day 1
We kicked off the week by asking sprint participants to explain what a “single glass experience” means to them. The goal of this brief exercise is to help us step towards a cohesive vision of what glass can be.
Sprint participants shared and voted on “Moments That Matter” for the two personas we were focused on, 1) The Remote-Hybrid Individual Contributor and 2) Remote-Hybrid Manager. As well as integrations supporting those moments.
Day 2
Ideating A Future State Narrative In 4 Parts:
• Pick your moment from Day 1
• Turn your moment into a “Point Of View” statement
• Map the statement into a “6-Step Story”
• Vote on top moments to include in the prototype
Day 3
What Does Nike-Glass Look Like In 2 parts:
• Warm up with Crazy 8’s
• Visualize the UI across form factors
Top Voted Ideas To Test With Users
After everyone shared their ideas and visualizations on how to address the top “moments that matter” to our key personas, we held a vote on which ideas should be further expanded and validated with users.
Our next step was to thread the top moments into one cohesive narrative. We first listed them out, then placed the moments into a simple timeline, mapping business needs, integration opportunities, form factors, and locations.
Solution
To address these issues, Nike partnered with us to create a single-pane-of-glass experience for individual contributors and managers. We created an AI-powered platform that integrated with Nike’s tools and data for a more streamlined experience. Our platform allows ICs and Managers to customize their interface with topics of interest, relevant to their job. For example, ICs could add topics like “Design Research” or” Product Design” whereas managers could add topics such as “Team Performance” or “Project Management”.
The platform mitigated the issue of not knowing which app or portal to use for any given task by providing a centralized resource. It also leveraged Nike’s employee data to give each user a more personalized experience, surfacing only the most relevant information. Lastly, it used AI-powered technology to recommend the most efficient routes around the campus, improving the employee’s workflow and increasing their productivity.
Day 4
The next day, we shared our progress with Nike and EY to receive valuable feedback and make sure our narrative was in line with the team's expectations. This was important to ensure that our work in Sprint 2 complemented what we had achieved in Sprint 1.
Day 5
Today, we tested high-resolution visuals of "moments in the day" with a user group to gather feedback and insights.
My experience at Nike was both collaborative and research-driven. While the sprints were intense and often exhausting, they were also incredibly inspiring