designing a business’s new belief system | cannon Design

Problem to Solve: CannonDesign, one of the world’s most respected architecture, engineering and design firms, came to us originally asking for new positioning for their business. The business had undergone several brand refreshes that didn’t stick — would this be just another tagline?

Opportunity: By speaking to their executive leadership team, we saw the opportunity for something more: the chance to create a unifying ethos for employees and a humanistic movement that the architecture and design industry needed: Living-Centered Design.

Living-Centered Design helps people, businesses, communities, society and the environment flourish, together

Process: Our process included interviewing passionate employees across the business, conducting several hands-on concepting sessions with leadership, and carefully examining the industry past and present. We delivered a multi-faceted brand foundation and design approach that could inspire 1,000+ employees to solve the systemic challenges of our time, from public health to underserved populations, from climate resiliency to community belonging.

Role: Content Director

Designing a new way to engage | financial services digital product

Problem to Solve: As one of the world’s largest and oldest investment management organizations, our client had invested in a high touch, in-person model for engaging with their primary audience — financial advisors. Scaling this model was prohibitive, but it was leaving an untapped market on the table.

Opportunity: Our solution was a digital platform that could replicate the in-person interactions, something so useful that advisors would come to it every day, which would exponentially elevate the awareness of the brand.

Process: We approached this challenge by understanding advisor’s needs in their daily work. We used immersive, prototype-driven research to identify the moments when advisors sought outside resources and information — the kinds of things that our client could provide. Our iterative research led us to hone in on a fresh voice, tone, and content offering unlike anything in the industry and which deeply resonated with advisors.

A long-term project, over the course of 2+ years the team has gone from concept to product strategy and development. The content offering has gone from a beta set of 12 pieces to hundreds, all tailored to advisor interests.

This forethought and investment in digital transformation proved invaluable; when the pandemic began in Spring 2020, our client was poised to respond with their digital offering and had a platform to deliver late-breaking and useful information to advisors.

Role: Content Director, Writer

designing for resilient teams | airbnb

Problem to Solve: Airbnb’s hardworking Trust team handles the community’s safety and protection — a critical, high-stress job that can lead to burn out. Their team needed a new internal identity and vision.

Opportunity: How might we not only create a unifying identity, but also shared beliefs that could renew the team’s spirit and passion for helping others?

Process: With my IA Collaborative team, we devised two days of workshops that got key Trust team members hands on with retelling their story (hands on meaning we literally had them make books and story arcs).

We also surveyed the full team to hear authentic anecdotes, moments of pride, and stories of colleagues who went above and beyond. Combining these real emotions with insights from our storytelling workshop, we devised a new identity system complete with a “team animal” — the hound.

Equipped with a new hire booklet, beautiful posters, a vision statement and beliefs, the Trust team entered 2019 with renewed energy for their work: building the world’s most trusting community.

Role: Content Designer