Sports tech · 4+ year partnership
Custom gear for elite athletes.
Nike needed a custom equipment configuration platform for NFL and MLB athletes and Nike designers. A design-to-factory pipeline with millimeter-precision specs, across web, mobile, and PWA.
The problem
Professional athletes need equipment that fits precisely. A fraction of a millimeter off on a glove or chest protector can affect performance and safety. Nike's existing configuration process required manual handoffs between digital spec and factory production — introducing errors and delays that had real consequences.
The platform had to serve multiple user types: Nike designers creating new styles, pro athletes customizing gear to their exact specs, team administrators managing orders, and factory systems receiving production specs — all on the same platform.
What we built
Visual Configurator
Real-time 3D preview with color, material, and panel customization. Athletes see exactly what they are ordering before it goes to production.
Design-to-Factory Pipeline
Configuration choices translate directly into manufacturing specs. No manual handoff, no translation errors between digital and physical.
Multi-Role Platform
Separate experiences for athletes, designers, team admins, and factory systems. Each role sees only what they need.
Multi-Platform
Web, mobile, and PWA. Athletes configure on the go. Designers work on desktop. All synced.
The approach
We embedded a design and engineering team inside the Nike Equipment Builder project. The platform evolved over 4+ years as new sports, new gear categories, and new manufacturing partners were added.
The design challenge was making a highly technical configuration process feel simple. An athlete selecting glove colors doesn't need to know about manufacturing constraints — but those constraints needed to be enforced invisibly in the background.
The outcome
The Nike Equipment Builder is used by professional athletes across the NFL and MLB, as well as NCAA college programs. Nike designers use it to create and iterate on new gear styles with direct manufacturing feedback.
The direct design-to-factory pipeline eliminated the manual translation step between digital configuration and production specs, reducing errors and accelerating production timelines.
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