Nike Imara Strive:
A time piece for strutting down the runway or running a marathon

• Print

Nike discovered that sales of women’s watches were falling below expectations, but weren’t sure why. Their in-house design group asked for support from outside experts, and presented us with the challenge to not only figure out what the problem was, but to create design solutions.

To get first-hand insight and inspiration, the team, including key members of Smart Design’s Femme Den, sought out active women to understand their needs and desires by visiting dance studios, running races, and interviewing aerobics instructors. Drawing upon these interviews and previous explorations of female consumers, we concluded that active women would rather purchase men’s watches, because they offer a feature set that was more appropriate for their daily lives.

With an understanding that women’s watches were not serving the daily needs of their target user, the designers combined the robust feature set of men’s watches—integrating the machined look characteristic of sports watches—with a fresh and feminine aesthetic. With their female orientation, we were able to strike the right balance between performance and fashion, but more importantly, to recognize the difference.