01 / Miniaturization is a team effort
True wireless earbuds demand impossible trade-offs: ergonomics, acoustics, battery, branding. The only way through: co-creation with engineering and manufacturing partners. Countless rounds of testing and stack-up optimization. The result: smaller, better comfort, better sound.
02 / If you can't win on a feature, change the rules of the game
A wireless microphone couldn't compete on size. The competition was smaller from the start. Instead of chasing a compromise, we redefined the game: the charging case became a microphone itself and the constraint became the differentiator.
03 / System flexibility comes from reduction to the smallest common denominator
A retail system needed to work across hundreds of store configurations. The instinct was to design for every scenario. The answer was the opposite: reduce to the smallest common denominator. What remains can adapt to anything. Country-wide adoption followed.
04 / Pivoting a design language is a risk. Customer feedback is the only way to de-risk
A global audio brand wanted to evolve their flagship's design language. Years of equity at stake. We visualized the future direction and ran preference tests before committing. The pivot worked: 4x sales over its predecessor.
05 / To attract new customers, make the core experience tangible at the point of purchase
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A luxury brand's retail spaces showcased heritage and craftsmanship. Beautiful, but intimidating to newcomers. We shifted the focus: show what customers can do with the products, not just what the brand has done. The product stays the same. The entry point changes.
06 / Emerging technology only land when translated into human terms
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A research team at a global technology company needed to communicate spatial audio concepts internally. Technical specs didn't resonate. We built narrative frameworks that translated capability into experience. Three years in, their work now flows into next-generation computing products.
07 / Branding is the easy part. Product coherence across a decentralized organization is not
Ten years with a global audio company. It started with product branding: the lowest-hanging fruit. Then design language. Then product architecture. The hard part: aligning teams in a decentralized product organization. Achieving oherence isn't one project. It's a decade of work.