GeekWeek
The Challenge
GM needed a platform that could bring employees together through engaging, innovation-driven events. The goal was to create a digital destination for keynote talks, internal competitions, and creative challenges that showcased talent across the company. The challenge was to design a site that felt both inspiring and competitive, while supporting live and on-demand content, real-time leaderboards, and team-based participation. The experience had to accommodate events like Hackathons, GeekBowl, and Top Designer Duo, allowing users to earn points, unlock badges, and track performance across individuals and director-led teams. The platform needed to be easy to manage, visually energetic, and built to support a wide range of interactive formats throughout the year.
The Process
We began by collaborating with GM’s internal communications and innovation teams to define the goals and requirements for the platform. Each event had unique needs, but we identified common elements such as keynote streaming, team-based competition, points and badge tracking, and real-time leaderboards.
Our team mapped out core user journeys, including how employees would register for events, join teams, earn rewards, and track progress over time. We designed a layout that balanced energy and excitement with clarity and ease of use, making it simple for users to find events, view highlights, and engage in competitions.
Wireframes and interactive prototypes were created to explore key features such as badge unlocking, team ranking, and event discovery. We tested these internally with GM stakeholders to refine the experience and ensure it supported a wide range of event formats, from live streams to design challenges.
Throughout the build, we partnered with developers to ensure the platform was modular and scalable, with a content management system that allowed teams to launch and manage new events quickly without needing technical support.
The Results
The platform created a unified space for GM employees to engage with innovation-focused events and challenges in a way that felt modern, motivating, and accessible. It supported both live and on-demand content while fostering ongoing participation through team competition, points, and badges.
Major events like Hackathon, GeekBowl, and Top Designer Duo launched successfully, each drawing more attention and engagement than previous one-off experiences. The system proved both scalable and easy to maintain, with content teams able to manage updates without development support.