Values-driven brand development for products that didn't exist before

My role: Head of Communications & Co-Founder

At AUAU Athletics® – or STEAKS® Contact Wear, as it started out – I wasn't just a service provider. From 2018 until the brand was sold at the end of 2024, I was part of the company as a co-founder. That meant my remit went far beyond experience design and UX strategy: it also covered business strategy, plus marketing and communications strategy and their execution.

The project framework: a self-funded brand with values as its foundation

AUAU Athletics® didn't just sell protective sportswear. It stood for something – and, almost in passing, raised awareness of a gap in the market for women and non-binary people. Working on AUAU Athletics® was values-driven brand development in which inclusion wasn't just a feature, but the reason the brand and its products existed in the first place – inclusive by design, from day one.

That attitude ran through every decision. We communicated with unretouched catalogue images instead of polished, glossy ideals. Our models were drag kings, non-binary and female-presenting people of all sizes, reflecting our actual customer base – because athletes don't only come in a size small. Our sponsored athletes lived all over the world and ranged in age from 14 to 77. On our website, we relied on ethical design with no dark patterns: no manipulative purchase mechanics, no artificial urgency, no promises the product couldn't keep. Add to that open communication about production and delivery times, which at small companies simply look different (read: a lot longer) than at the big players.

We knew our audience and took them seriously. We spoke to a community made up mainly of roller derby players and skaters – people for whom trust and belonging matter, and can play a part in buying decisions too.

How we worked: the benefits of a user-centred design process

Research-led: from research to product

For a brand to genuinely act on its values, it has to know who it's building for. That's why our product portfolio and customer experience were based entirely on audience research and clearly defined design principles rather than assumptions. We validated functionality and comfort in concrete terms, including through qualitative research and heat studies, in which we measured the body temperature of athletes wearing our products before and during exercise. User research was the direct basis for every one of our products.

E-commerce & design system: Design That STICKs

A values-driven brand needs a home that lives up to its standards. We built the online shop – from choosing the technology to the design system – so that our small team could work with it effectively. A consistent design system kept the look and user experience coherent and maintainable across every touchpoint (online shop, trade fairs, socials, newsletter). In short: design that's workable and sustainable – even for small teams.

Communication that adds value for the community

Our communication strategy and digital campaigns made the brand's attitude visible. Audience-focused content marketing, with monthly blog posts and continuous social media communication, built not just reach but a community. Because we could check every piece of communication against our values and design principles, we never ran out of relevant topics. Our 'Spring Cleaning' campaign, for example, brought inclusive fashion, the lean closet and sustainability together into one message that fitted the brand: values you live, not just advertise – which also gave the community genuinely useful information.

What we achieved

• STEAKS® Contact Wear / AUAU Athletics® became one of the best-known protective wear brands in the international roller derby and skater community.
• An audience that had been overlooked finally had products made for them.
• We actively raised awareness of issues that mattered to us: the circular economy, product quality and longevity in fashion, injury prevention rather than rehabilitation, and gender gaps in product design.
• At the end of 2024, the brand and product rights were sold to a French company, which has since successfully launched the next product generation.

What we took away

The most important – and most encouraging – insight was just how much even a small brand can achieve when it doesn't just talk about values, but bases every decision on those values and design principles, from the sewing pattern to the shop technology to the catalogue image.

At AUAU Athletics® and STEAKS® Contact Wear, many decisions rested on the design principles we had developed together. That didn't just make us faster – above all, it gave us enormous backing on strategic questions.

As a co-founder, I also experienced first-hand the constant challenges entrepreneurs face. Not all of my user-centred design proposals could be put into practice. Often that came down to budget, or to the strategic decision about where money should – or had to – go. So that experience wasn't entirely unconnected to my current design approach: maturity-minded experience design and strategy. Maturity-minded means I design solutions that fit your team's maturity, resources and reality – not an idealised version of it. More on the Truly XD design process.

What this has to do with your project

You don't sell protective gear? No problem. The lessons translate surprisingly well to a whole range of values-driven organisations in the public and private sectors:

• Design principles have your back. If you base decisions on principles you've agreed together, you don't have to defend them to the board or stakeholders every single time.
• The best design system is the one that actually makes your team's day-to-day easier. Not the one that looks best in a portfolio.
• Realistic excellence over an idealised picture. Not every good idea fits the budget straight away – which is why honest prioritisation belongs in the process from the start.