Nike × FFF

The first direct B2B digital platform between Nike and amateur football clubs in France.

Role

Lead · Strategy · Solo designer

Challenge

Brief refused. Problem reframed.

Scope

Research · UX · Product · Delivery

Impact

+40% orders. 12 000 clubs. 1 platform.

01 · Situation

Nike wanted to become the primary partner of amateur clubs in France.

Nike wanted to become the primary partner of French amateur clubs. The barrier wasn't digital adoption. Clubs were managing player lists, sizes and orders through paper forms and Excel files. The brief needed to change before anything could be built.

✕ Paper & Excel

Clubs managed player lists, sizes and orders through paper forms and unmanageable spreadsheets

✕ Complex needs

Kits, flocking, logos, sponsors. Clubs needed a guided process, not just a product page.

✕ Trust gap

Clubs did not yet see Nike as a long-term partner built around their operational reality

✕ 15-day supply

Delivery timelines were opaque and too long for clubs planning their seasons

The real brief

02 · Approach

Reframe the brief. Then build the platform.

Refused the configurator brief. Rebuilt the scope around club operations. Then built the platform.

Customer insights

Tension

The brief was product-first. The clubs were process-first.

Field research revealed the real blockers: paper-based ordering, opaque pricing, no sense of partnership.

Call

Rebuild the brief around club operations, not Nike's catalogue.

Rebuilt the brief around the club manager's actual workflow, seasonal planning, personalisation and budget transparency.

Result

A brief that changed the product direction.

Nike validated the reframe. Scope expanded to a full partnership platform, not a product catalogue.

Platform design

Tension

A catalogue designed for consumers, not clubs.

Nike's digital infrastructure was built for retail consumers, not volunteer club managers with 20 minutes to spare.

Call

Design for the club manager, not the end consumer.

Designed for the club manager's mental model: player roster, kit builder, flocking, sponsors, delivery timeline.

Result

From Excel to a guided process. From paper to a platform.

From Excel to a guided process. First direct B2B digital platform between Nike and French amateur football.

Club onboarding

Tension

12 000 clubs to activate. Zero existing digital relationship.

12,000 clubs to activate. Zero existing digital relationship. Variable digital literacy.

Call

Design an onboarding that works for a volunteer, not a buyer.

Progressive disclosure, contextual guidance, simplified account structure. Designed for a volunteer, not a buyer.

Result

12 000 clubs onboarded. Direct channel established.

12,000 clubs onboarded. Direct channel established. Simplicity and trust signals beat feature depth.

Take away

03 · Outcomes

What the reframe produced.

The platform delivered because the brief was right. Not because the configurator was clever.

Before→After

Paper forms and Excel files

→

Guided digital ordering process

Technical configurator brief

→

Partnership platform reframed from research

No direct Nike → club relationship

→

12 000 clubs onboarded directly

Opaque 15-day supply timelines

→

Visible delivery commitments in platform

direct orders

+40%

vs previous indirect channel

clubs onboarded

12 000

first direct B2B digital relationship

supply timeline

15 days

reduced and made visible to clubs

designer

holding strategy, UX and delivery end to end

04 · Takeaways

Three things this confirmed.

Accepting the brief as written is a design failure. The pivot on Nike x FFF happened before the first wireframe.

B2B design fails when it ignores the human on the other side. Club managers are volunteers, not procurement officers.

Solo designer holding strategy and execution is not a limitation. It is a governance advantage.

Closing

The platform was not the deliverable. The relationship was.

12,000 clubs adopted the platform because it was designed for their reality, not Nike's catalogue.

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