Branding strategy & workshop facilitation for a unified design toolkit
Client: Decathlon
Role: Lead UX Researcher & Design Strategist
Methods: In-depth Interviews, Immersion Research, Co-Creation Workshops, Synthesis, Toolkit Development
Scope: Designers, Leaders & Cross-Functional Stakeholders at Decathlon
Decathlon is undergoing a major brand transformation: shifting from a multi-brand retailer to a unified global sports brand. As part of this transition, internal design teams responsible for sports accessories need clearer guidance on how to interpret the new brand identity and apply it consistently across products, services and communication.
A key challenge was that each product category serves very different types of athletes - from beginners exploring a sport for the first time to highly skilled performers with specific technical needs. The new brand identity needed to resonate across all of these user segments, and the design teams needed a practical tool to translate the brand into meaningful design decisions for each sports “territory.”
Context
Design teams lacked a shared structure for applying a new brand identity to the highly diverse world of sports accessories. They needed clarity on how to translate brand strategy into real design decisions across different sports territories and user personas.
The challenge was to:
unify internal understanding of the evolving brand identity
translate brand principles into actionable guidance for accessories
support consistent design decisions across disciplines
adapt brand qualities to different user lifestyles and performance levels
Ultimately, the goal was to enable designers to create coherent, brand-aligned experiences while keeping each product relevant to its specific athlete.
Challenge
Interviews with Designers & Leaders
We spoke with designers and leadership teams—both in person and virtually—to understand how they currently work, where they struggle and how the new brand expectations affect their decision-making.Immersion into Decathlon’s Culture & Ecosystem
Time spent on the Decathlon campus, touring stores, labs and the accessory team’s environment helped us understand the brand from the inside and see how products and experiences come together.Review of Brand Strategy & Internal Structures
We studied brand materials, strategy documents and organisational structures to understand how the new brand identity should translate into sports accessories.
Approach
Insight Synthesis & Opportunity Mapping
We analysed all findings to identify pain points, needs and opportunities for helping teams apply the brand consistently across sports territories and user personas.Co-Creation & Toolkit Validation Workshop
In a 2-day workshop, we reviewed the first version of the toolkit and tried it out together with the Decathlon design team. Designers played an active role in shaping the toolset and felt more confident and invested when they helped define how it should work.Toolkit & Playbook Development
Based on workshop feedback, we refined the tools and developed a clear, practical playbook that guides teams through using the toolkit across products, services and communication.
Design teams needed a bridge between brand strategy and everyday decisions
The new brand identity was clear in theory, but teams lacked a practical way to apply it directly to sports accessories and everyday design tasks.Sports territories differ widely in expectations
Beginners, casual athletes and high-performing athletes have very different realities. The toolkit needed to adapt to all levels without losing consistency.Brand qualities must flex without losing coherence
Not every product can express every brand quality equally. Designers needed freedom to adjust “how much” of each quality belongs in each context.Co-creation built shared ownership
Designers felt more confident when they helped define the toolkit. This will increase adoption and long-term use.A simple structure beats abstract guidelines
Teams valued tools that were visual, hands-on and easy to use in workshops, design reviews and briefings.
Key Insights
The project resulted in a practical and flexible toolkit that helps Decathlon’s internal design teams apply the new brand identity consistently across sports territories, personas and performance levels.
The toolkit:
translates brand strategy into clear design principles
supports designers in making aligned decisions for each sport and user
enables cross-team communication through shared templates and language
provides a repeatable structure for early design alignment and reviews
is supported by a user-friendly playbook for everyday use
The outcome is a unified, user-centered framework that empowers designers to create accessories that feel unmistakably part of the brand while remaining relevant to diverse athletes.
Impact
