The next industrial revolution.
Samsung, AT&T
Role
Strategist
Audience
Partners, Press
Year
2019
The Challenge
Translate the wild imaginations of Samsung and AT&T engineers into an intuitive visitor experience.
The Idea
5G Innovation Zone: An open prototype lab within an active semiconductor facility. Demonstrating the incredible potential of 5G technology for industrial manufacturing.
My Role
Experiential Strategist: I directed visitor journey workshops with engineers, content development and budget strategy with marketing, and oversaw visual storyboarding that we used to align facilities managers and legal teams. Lot’s of moving parts with this one.
Team Credits
Design: Micheal Cutchins
Interactive: Ryan Padgett
Production: Alexa Snyder
Creative Direction: Russ Fowler
Account Lead: Mark McLain
Client Lead: Michele Glaze
The Approach
Engineers from Samsung and AT&T created 6 working prototypes for a 5G factory of the future, displayed in an industrial testbed environment. Each prototype featured a ‘digital clipboard’ where visitors discovered engineers’ notes organized in an intuitive narrative framework: ‘What it is,’ ‘Why it matters,’ and ‘Let’s talk tech,’ alongside instructions for hands-on interaction.
Strategic Insights
These brands had no blueprint for collaboration—perfect for my interpretive planning process. I helped them set budget priorities and craft a narrative. This informed a minimal design, using exposed industrial materials that suggested ongoing discovery, while saving money for a flexible content system that could update as prototypes evolved. Holistic design thinking triumphs.
Results
The 5G Innovation Zone received coverage in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, business journals, and tech media outlets, positioning AT&T and Samsung as leaders in 5G industrial applications.
