Connecting the Disconnected with AT&T
In 2023, I joined Dotdotdash and TBWA/Chiat/Day for a 3-week sprint as UX creative director for a pitch for AT&T. We developed a set of concepts that ranged from connected devices to content programming to interactive mobile apps to demonstrate the capabilities of the agency while also hitting on the brief’s objectives.
The Brief
Showcase radical acts of connection that prove’s AT&T’s purpose in the most powerful way.
Role and Responsibilities
As lead UX creative director, I collaborated with a cross-functional team to bring their concepts to life. I developed, mapped out and sketched storyboards for each concept in a simple and understandable way so that all teams were conceptually aligned.
Impact
Two months after 25 talented folks from across disciplines got together for an IRL creative sprint in LA, 128 creative ideas were generated and 11 final concepts were selected to be presented to clients. Additionally, 2 physical prototypes were created and presented in-person. The group ended up winning the pitch.
All of this was made possible by translating each creative concept into storyboards, which gave us the jumpstart in giving direction to all teams. Copy could get started on creating the narrative, the tech team could vet the feasibility of each idea and the visual design team could get started on initial visual directions. Additionally, leadership was able to use the storyboards to gauge interest from clients during their tissue sessions leading up to the final pitch.
The Approach
Before jumping into concepts, the strategy team developed two directions that brought AT&T’s purpose to life.
Connecting the disconnected
Dream an impossible dream
These two directions broke down into following five opportunity spaces.
Everyone navigates the world more equally
Generational and geographic distance disappears for families
HBCUs get visibility and opportunity
Women get respect and representation in sport
The world vibes together more often
Everyone navigates the world more equally
Lifesayver
Human need
Speech limitations and language barriers can limit our ability to connect in critical moments.
Research shows us that 911 response times in the U.S. can increase by 125% when callers don’t speak English as their first language, causing critical delays in emergency care.
Roughly 8% of the U.S. population don’t speak English, in addition roughly 7% of adults and 9% of children have a voice or speech limitation, limiting their ability to connect in critical moments.
What is it
An AI-powered software for emergency personnel that automatically identifies a patient’s language, distressed speech, or speech disability and interprets in real time, using AT&T’s FirstNet to ensure patients always get the help they need fast.
How it works
VividSense
Human need
Without all of our senses, our connection to the world is limited.
Approximately 15% of American adults report some trouble hearing, and 8% of the U.S. population have visual impairments, including blindness or low vision.
Over 70 percent of differently abled respondents stated that their most common barrier to attending live sporting events was the inability to attend the games in the venue, as they were not physically accessible.
What is it
Building off AT&T’s innovative CAN device, we’ll create a software platform that unifies a suite of connected wearables that enable impaired individuals to more richly interact with the world around them.
Our kit includes a bone conducting earpiece that subtly provides audio, a ring that functions as a control and haptic feedback mechanism and a small camera pin that can see the world. These devices together allows users to leverage all of their senses to gather real-time information about their environment.
We think sports could be an incredible place to demonstrate the connections that this suite of devices makes possible.
How it works
Connected ecosystem
Modular connected components can be configured for various sensory needs, even for watching the Paris Olympics.
Hearing / vision impaired
With VividSense, we can provide vision/hearing impaired individuals with real-time environmental awareness and an immersive experience.
Possibility Pirates
Human need
Not everyone has access to high-speed connectivity, limiting millions of Americans dreams.
Roughly 22% of low-income households with children do not have home internet access, resulting in students who have to rely on public Wi-Fi from McDonald’s to do their homework.
What is it
A natural extension of our Bridge to Possibility program. Possibility Pirates leans into the ingenuity, passion and creativity of communities building their own wireless networks.
By supporting community-led grassroots movements, we can build the bridge from both sides, closing the digital divide, together.
How it works
Generational and geographic distance disappears for families
Heart Beats
Human need
Mothers crave connection with their children at the earliest stages of life, especially when they are distressed.
What is it
Let’s partner with a hospital network like Mayo Clinic or Cedars Sinai to create bespoke AI lullabies built upon the rhythm of parents’ heartbeats, deepening the connection between newborns and their parents even when they’re not physically connecting.
How it works
Prototype
The Heart Beats concept was selected to be one of two prototypes that we would build for the final pitch presentation. Working with the development team, I put together a storyboard that showed how the prototype could work. Since we had less than a week to build this, a lot of it was smoke and mirrors, but it managed to score the team a standing ovation from clients. Sketches, visual designs and prototype were all done by me.
High level overview of the flow of the prototype.
Baby Bell
Human need
Families crave connection with children at the earliest stages of life, but distance gets in the way.
Unborn babies can start hearing voices at about 26–27 weeks in the womb. Communication helps build earlier bonds between parents, family and their unborn child.
What it is
We’ll create a stethoscope mic that connects to The Baby Bell app to let families talk to unborn babies from anywhere in the world. Parents can invite their family to send messages to their future family members through the app, using the stethoscope to play the messages and send a heartbeat back. Once the babies are born, families can continue sending messages, so when they eventually meet, no one will be a stranger.
How it works
Women get respect and representation in sport
SneakHers
Human need
Courtside commentary and post game interviews are filled with negativity, drowning out the praise and support from real fans.
Liz Cambage abruptly left the WNBA after being bullied online and even by commentators, citing, “hopeful that the WNBA will do its part in creating safer environments and a stronger support system for its players.”
What is it
We’ll partner with a sneaker creator and a popular WNBA player, like A’ja Wilson, to create a first-of-its-kind connected women’s basketball shoe that delivers positive messages from fans to players mid-game through a connected court. It’s the ultimate fan experience for players.
The shoe and connected court will debut at the WNBA All-Star Game, alongside a spot that links fans to an app that’s connected to the player’s shoe, allowing them to interact and see their impact on the game, even from home.
How it works
Streamentators
Human need
Sports commentary all sounds the same. It’s serious, complex and boring. It's not built to attract new fans.
The majority of Americans are fair-weather fans, about 62% say they follow professional or college sports not too closely or not at all. We need more diverse formats and platforms to consume sports content.
What is it
Let’s rethink sports broadcasting and get more eyes than ever on the Women’s NCAA March Madness finals by recruiting streamers, influencers, celebrities, and characters from different corners of the internet to commentate the game live on their channels, introducing new viewers to the women’s side of the sport through the streamers they already love, like ExtraEmily, Tim The Tatman and more.
How it works
Jersey Replay
Human need
Women's sports consistently receive fewer eyeballs, funding and innovation. Limiting their reach with potential new fans.
Female athletes receive less than 10% of total media coverage, despite representing over 40% of players.
What is it
We’ll introduce something that’s never been done before for a professional sport league: A wireless micro camera inset into a slim spandex sleeve stitched to the inside of the jersey that sends live feed footage from the game while plays are happening real-time.
We can bring fans the excitement of women's NCAA & WNBA games through up close replays and highlights straight from the jersey. Fans at the game and at home can see all the best up close plays from the perspective of the players.
Replay users could even unlock access to athlete merch, exclusive content and more.
How it works
HBCUs get visibility and opportunity.
HBCU Showcase
Human need
HBCU athletes are routinely overlooked, creating a massive gap in their ability to get drafted.
Last year there were 259 NFL players drafted, only one was from an HBCU. In the NBA, it's been 12 years since the last HBCU student was drafted.
What is it
HBCU Showcase is a database that finds hidden HBCU talent and supports it all in one app. The data from players gets automatized and loaded into the app for scouts to review. The only information visible to the scouts will be the athlete's stats – cutting straight through the biases of age, race, and schools.
How it works
A Spike Lee Ultimate HBCU Broadcast
Human need
HBCU sports broadcasting programs don’t get the reach that they deserve, limiting their athletes’ possibilities and dreams.
It’s not that HBCUs lack talent, it’s that they lack visibility. HBCUs are isolated from mass reaching broadcasters and over 50% of all views come from the same PWI 18 schools.
What is it
AT&T is going to bring attention to HBCU college basketball by creating the ultimate game broadcast, directed by none other than Spike Lee. Using the most cutting edge production tech and Spike’s unmistakable style, the game will be streamed at the time of play, and highlights will be run during the traditional March Madness broadcast.
Following the Ultimate Broadcast, the equipment will be used to kick-start an HBCU sports broadcasting academy, training the next generation of DPs, directors, and broadcasters.
How it works
The world vibes together more often.
ARcade
Human need
In a polarized world it can be hard to find things that bring us together.
We’re more polarized than ever before on social, political and ethical fronts. It’s almost impossible to find something we can all agree on.
What is it
AT&T creates a program of new immersive AR games, allowing people to come together and play on a scale like never before.
For example, on May the 4th, AT&T invites its users from around the US to get outside and defend the Earth. Star Wars ships spawn from buildings and rooftops, hide behind structures and hover in the sky. Through immersive gameplay, players from all over the states have to work together to save the planet.
How it works
Prototype
Although the idea of a multiplayer game in augmented reality wasn’t a new thing, we wanted to showcase the team’s tech capabilities of building an actual app. Working with the development team, I put together a storyboard that showed how the prototype could work from introducing the concept in the presentation itself to how the app could work. Sketches, visual designs and prototype were all done by me.
Setup of the presentation room with A/R elements in place
