Overview
Nike footwear designers traditionally depended on complex handoffs to 3D specialists and overseas factories to bring their sketches to life. As part of NXT (Nike Exploration Team), I led an initiative to design a desktop tool tailored to their existing 2D vector workflow, enabling instant 3D visualization and automated tech pack export for faster, friction-free prototype builds.
Problem Spaces
Fragmented 2D-to-Factory Pipeline: Footwear concepts got bogged down in slow, iterative handoffs between 2D designers, 3D specialists, and factories—slowing down product line creation.
High Barrier to 3D Tooling: Industrial 3D software (like Rhino or Modo) has a steep learning curve. 2D designers avoided these tools entirely, creating an over-reliance on specialized 3D teams.
Disconnected User Feedback Loops: Internal software at NXT was historically built in isolation and tested too late in the process, leading to tools that failed to gain designer traction or fit real daily workflows.
High Barrier to 3D Tooling: Industrial 3D software (like Rhino or Modo) has a steep learning curve. 2D designers avoided these tools entirely, creating an over-reliance on specialized 3D teams.
Disconnected User Feedback Loops: Internal software at NXT was historically built in isolation and tested too late in the process, leading to tools that failed to gain designer traction or fit real daily workflows.
Key Considerations
Automated Technical Specs: Standardize output by automatically translating 2D and 3D visual inputs into production-ready tech packs, eliminating manual specification errors.
End-to-End Designer Autonomy: Give 2D designers immediate, low-effort 3D feedback directly on a single canvas so they can evaluate, refine, and own their concepts end-to-end without waiting on external teams.
Intuitive by Design: Strip away deep 3D software complexity in favor of an approachable, 2D-native interface co-designed alongside footwear designers from day one.
Below is an excerpt from our UX Strategy:
End-to-End Designer Autonomy: Give 2D designers immediate, low-effort 3D feedback directly on a single canvas so they can evaluate, refine, and own their concepts end-to-end without waiting on external teams.
Intuitive by Design: Strip away deep 3D software complexity in favor of an approachable, 2D-native interface co-designed alongside footwear designers from day one.
Below is an excerpt from our UX Strategy:
Branding and Key Concept
During early user research with footwear designers, the concept of raw creation kept surfacing. Shaping something fluid into a final form.The branding reflected this philosophy: a digital medium as flexible and tactile as clay, allowing designers to mold 2D ideas into 3D forms without technical friction.
Rather than forcing designers to adopt complex, steep-learning-curve CAD software, Todo was built around standard 2D vector editing paradigms familiar to Adobe Illustrator users. By meeting designers inside their established mental model, we eliminated adoption friction while seamlessly translating flat paths into real-time 3D geometry behind the scenes.
Rather than forcing designers to adopt complex, steep-learning-curve CAD software, Todo was built around standard 2D vector editing paradigms familiar to Adobe Illustrator users. By meeting designers inside their established mental model, we eliminated adoption friction while seamlessly translating flat paths into real-time 3D geometry behind the scenes.
2D Canvas
An intuitive, Illustrator-style 2D canvas where designers can manipulate paths, anchor points, and cross sections using familiar vector paradigms. This allowed the team to edit footwear profiles with precision without having to learn a complex new 3D interface.
3D Visualization
A real-time rendering viewport that brings 2D sketches to life, giving designers immediate spatial and volumetric understanding of their concepts.
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