Message Stick - Forging the Future of Work
Design Strategist & Project Manager • ADP Gradshow Winner • 2024
This project focuses on positioning Message Stick as an industry thought leader by redefining the “future of work” within the corporate communications and infrastructure sector. Together with my incredible group mates of cross-disciplinary designers (Hello Lachlan, Thendrl, and Michelle!), we developed a holistic growth strategy to transform fragmented hybrid work environments into a cohesive digital and physical eco-system, specifically addressing the friction and technical barriers faced by post-pandemic workforces.
To represent the company’s mission and serve as a “North Star”, we developed a powerful key visual, The Living Songline, which tied the ecosystem terminology to indigenous Australian cultural navigation. The final deliverable was an integrated four-phase strategic framework: a digital awareness campaign, co-design workshops, a pilot testing program for integrated ICT tools (Cisco Spaces, Microsoft Viva, etc.), and long-term partnership growth plans. This project was selected to represent the USYD Gradshow, and was awarded the EY Award in 2024.
Design Decisions
I served as the project manager and strategic design lead. I leveraged my tech-industry experience to drive an initiative that integrated traditional design thinking with corporate problem-solving, specifically by deconstructing the “3P’s”: People, Processes, and Places.
Recognising the company’s indigenous roots, the group and I conducted deep-contextual research and interviews to ensure our strategy respected and upheld the integrity of indigenous intellectual property and heritage. Our design rationale prioritised system interconnectedness, utilising user-centric research, including affinity diagrams and journey mapping, to identify specific pain points like network congestion, and ergonomic issues. These insights informed the design of “realms”, which are singular, specialised environments like home offices or boardrooms connected through an integrated ICT framework. I personally authored the technical business planning and marketing sections establishing a clear roadmap with actionable milestones spanning the immediate three months to the next two years. This shift from ad-hoc support to a proactive service model provided the client with a clear path to navigate the hybrid work transition with operational excellence.
Featured In
Special thanks to
[Group mates] Dani, Shruti, and Shashank / [Educators] Rohan and Kat