Design Studio Culture
Nike
The Goal
Change the communication dynamic in a design studio
Applied Improvisation was used to
Increase vulnerability between team members
Develop practical listening skills
Design effective feedback tools
Build trust and community
What They Said
“Bringing in On Your Feet was a great way to give my design team some practical skills and to really help them open up.”
Katy Tisch, VP store experience | nike by youOn Your Feet has a 20-year history with Nike
Nike has asked On Your Feet for help in a variety of areas, including communication, diversity and inclusion initiatives, executive coaching, learning and development program design and implementation, conference design, and ideation facilitation.
Through this trusted partnership, On Your Feet gets to connect with great people at Nike—like the focus of this case study, Katy Tisch and her creative team.
What Was Asked
Katy Tisch, VP Store Experience at Nike By You, asked On Your Feet to use their expertise to help her change the communication dynamic in her design studio.
She had previously experienced a department-wide On Your Feet workshop at Nike and loved our use of Applied Improvisation as a multifunctional approach to communication, creativity, and collaboration.
What We Did
On Your Feet delivered a series of interactive training experiences—rooted in the philosophy of Applied Improvisation—to increase vulnerability, develop practical listening and feedback tools, and build trust.
Prior to co-designing the program with Katy, On Your Feet conducted a series of pre-interviews, speaking with members of the design studio to better understand and validate Katy’s concerns.
Using these insights, On Your Feet helped identify key issues that may have gone unnoticed, which were then addressed in the program design. Katy then asked her team to do a series of extracurricular activities to practice what they learned with On Your Feet.
What Happened
The group of introverted designers learned how to open up to each other and become more collaborative, in turn building a sense of community that was lacking prior to the engagement.
This increased collaborative nature and sense of community within the design studio helped reduce friction with other departments, which led other leaders within Nike’s design organization to hire On Your Feet for multiple long-term engagements to address similar problems.
Learn More:
Katy’s creative team is just one of the many examples of On Your Feet work powering Nike teams. Learn more about our ACE experiences in this Nike case study and about skills training at Nike in the video below.
