Workshop Facilitation
Design Research
Retail Strategy

adidas Communication Toolkit - a global framework designed to guide teams in presenting training footwear and apparel collections in adidas stores worldwide.

NBBO was engaged to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing communication toolkit and how it was being applied across the customer journey within the physical retail environment.

Through this assessment, NBBO developed strategic recommendations and a refreshed end-to-end customer journey to inform a new creative direction that would evolve the toolkit.

The outcome introduced more consumer-centric ways to present training products in-store, with clearer storytelling to support more confident purchase decisions.

NBBO led the Discovery and Define phases of this project, guiding the work from research and insight generation through to evaluation and strategic direction, informing a more consumer-centric creative response.

This project was delivered in partnership with retail agency IMA Global and adidas Performance Retail Marketing.

Workshop Facilitation
Design Research
Retail Strategy

adidas Originals Flagship Incubation - a research and strategy project exploring the role of adidas Originals flagship stores during the incubation phase of key product campaigns in-store.

NBBO was engaged to conduct in-store research with customers and staff to assess the impact of a recent brand reset and how it was being experienced across the customer journey within the physical retail environment.

The research focused on key touchpoints including shopfront windows, staff interaction, and mannequin styling to understand their role in shaping the incubation phase of product campaigns.

Through the assessment, NBBO developed insights and recommendations to guide future incubation campaigns and strengthen flagship store activations in line with the overarching Originals brand strategy to shape culture.

NBBO led the Discovery and Define phases of this project, guiding the work from in-store research and insight generation through to strategic direction.

This project was delivered in partnership with retail agency IMA Global and adidas Originals Flagship Stores.

Design Research
Retail Strategy
Membership Experience

adidas Membership In-Store Experience Strategy - a global framework redefining how adidas’ existing membership platform adiClub, engages customers at a retail store level.

NBBO was engaged to develop a retail membership strategy that seamlessly integrates sign-ups, rewards, and personalised experiences across the in-store customer journey.

Designed to enhance engagement, the strategy introduced immersive activations, staff-enabled moments, and digital integration to drive loyalty and in-store membership acquisition.

The framework delivered a globally scalable, consumer-centric, yet locally relevant approach to adidas’ membership experience in-store.

The outcome established a clearer role for membership in physical retail, strengthening the connection between brand, staff, and consumers in-store whilst supporting the overarching long-term loyalty objective.

NBBO led the Discovery and Define phases of this project, conducting ethnographic research and delivering the strategy and a new retail membership framework.

This project was delivered in partnership with retail agency IMA Global and adidas Global Membership.

Workshop Facilitation
Retail Strategy
Ideation

adidas Women’s Performance Playbook - a global activation playbook designed to help markets deliver more relevant, consumer-led, women’s performance experiences in-store.

Following a workshop on the SS22 women’s strategy and consumer journey, NBBO identified an opportunity to develop a layer of retail tools and activation ideas that could sit alongside seasonal campaigns whilst enabling a more holistic and sustainable, activation of the store throughout the year.

The playbook focused on two core women’s consumer profiles - those on a mission and those seeking escape - mapping their end-to-end retail journeys and identifying activation opportunities across physical, digital, and membership touchpoints.

Structured around a calendar of key moments, the playbook provided markets with a flexible framework to activate women’s performance in-store, test ideas over time, and evolve experiences based on insight and learning.

The outcome established a living, test-and-learn approach to women’s retail activation, enabling markets to better connect with women’s needs, motivations, and mindsets while continuously building knowledge to inform future iterations.

NBBO led the workshop facilitation, strategy development, and transition to ideation, translating insight into a globally scalable playbook, that would inspire new ways of engaging women in-store.

This project was delivered in partnership with retail agency IMA Global and adidas Performance Retail Marketing.

Experience Strategy
Spatial Design

Whilst working in-house with Telstra, NBBO founder Nicole Buchanan, led a multidisciplinary team of UX designers and design researchers to inform the experience strategy, spatial design and concept testing for Telstra’s new retail blueprint.

The approach was deeply human-centred, with more than 200 customer and staff shopping missions observed and analysed within a purpose-built retail lab store.

Watch this video to hear directly from team members, customers and staff about their experience in the lab store.

The use of eye-tracking technology generated rich quantitative data, including heat maps and video outputs that enabled detailed visual mapping of the customer journey. Combined with qualitative insights, the design research and recommendations played a critical role in informing executive stakeholders, which drove meaningful, evidence-based design change across the organisation.

From lab store to live environment, Telstra opened its first Future Retail Environment as part of a $500 million shopping centre redevelopment in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Central to Telstra’s transformation strategy - from telco to tech-co - the new retail design was underpinned by a new staff conversation model that supported engagement with customers as trusted consultants, where they could create comfortable, human interaction to solve problems and deliver technology solutions.

The validated retail design blueprint was ultimately scaled and built across more than 380 Telstra retail store locations Australia wide.

Experience Strategy
Spatial Design

Setting a new benchmark in experiential retail, the Sydney and Melbourne Discovery Stores were Telstra's first new retail Flagship stores to blend cutting-edge technology with interactive physical design.

Working in-house as the project lead, experience design manager for Telstra at the time, NBBO’s founder Nicole Buchanan, created a dynamic, customer-first space featuring digital touchpoints, modular displays, and immersive user engagement zones.

These award-winning flagship stores redefined Telstra’s brand presence and were recognised for their innovation in transforming Australia’s retail landscape.

The Sydney store was recognised with gold at the Sydney Design Awards for its service design and also by the Retail Design Institute with an international award of merit.

AWARDS
Sydney Design Awards
Gold winner: Service Design
Design representative, speaker at awards ceremony

Retail Design Institute
International award of merit in best retail category: Telecommunications

Spatial Design

NBBO’s founder, Nicole Buchanan, led the spatial design for Telstra’s Store of the Future while working in-house as Lead Spatial Designer. Collaborating closely with internal business units and external design partners, the project marked the first step in Telstra’s broader brand transformation - realised through the design and delivery of a live prototype retail environment.

Conceived as a test-and-learn space, the Store of the Future reimagined how customers and staff engage within the physical store, supporting diverse user journeys through human-centred spatial design and experiential concepts.

The project was recognised internationally with Best New Store Design in the Telecommunications category. More importantly, it established an evidence-based retail prototype that informed a scalable retail experience blueprint, later rolled out across Telstra stores nationwide.

AWARD
Retail Design Institute
International winner in best retail category: Telecommunications