DesignTime for Dutch Design Week

A brand new online platform that celebrates the power of Dutch Design Week not only during the festival, but also throughout the whole year. The platform is based on the concept of DesignTime and adapts to the users needs with an inventive algorithm.

DesignTime enables the Dutch Design Week to adapt to user needs throughout the year and enables DDW to show the most relevant content: from ticket sales to viewing the program to exploring the online magazine. The technical and creative implementation of DesignTime ensures a seamless customer experience. This showed in attendance: a record-breaking 355,000 visitors attended the Dutch Design Week in 2018.

The combination of the new website, ticket strategy and activation campaign resulted in a rise of 50% in online ticket sales and a four-fold increase in the conversion rate. In the coming years, we will continue to develop the Dutch Design Week platform. DesignTime and the data and feedback from the website visitors form the base for future developments. With the platform and strategy we’ve set out the journey – and continuously will take new steps – towards the most innovative festival website in the world.

Design is as old as humankind, and we use it every day to shape, interpret and manipulate the world. Dutch Design Week is therefore not only relevant during the festival, but at any given moment in time. We called this idea: DesignTime.

We’ve applied the concept of DesignTime both technically and creatively throughout the digital platform. During the year, the homepage shifts focus from program to community and from conversion to content. The content is shaped by the editorial staff and algorithm and is displayed dynamically based on user interaction.

The seamless integration of Salesforce on all touchpoints reduces noise and ensures effective end-to-end communication. During the festival, the emphasis is on the mobile presentation of the program, where visitors are able to create and customize their own route via a magic link. The rest of the year, the online magazine functions as inspiration for the visitors.

The Dutch Design Week (DDW) has built a reputation as one of the most inspiring design festival in the world, according to The New York Times. Taking place in Eindhoven, the Dutch Design Week presents work and ideas of more than 2600 designers to more than 355,000 visitors from home and abroad. In more than 110 locations across the city, visitors can attend exhibitions, lectures, prize ceremonies, networking events, debates, and festivities to experience the latest design innovations and stay on top of the trends.

The Dutch Design Foundation – the organization behind DDW – wanted to celebrate the importance of the Dutch Design Week with a digital platform that reflects the diverse and eclectic nature of the festival throughout the whole year. With a customer-centric online strategy and website, the Dutch Design Week takes the first steps to play in the major league of design & innovation festivals such as SXSW.