Oppounity
The adidas Running app allows users to track workouts, join challenges, and
share their progress with a global fitness community. Adidas enjoys being a first
mover in product innovation, and decided to explore voice as a way to infuse
adidas Running with a new layer of interactivity.
Robert Hellwagner, Innovation Manager at adidas Running explains, “There was
a clear benefit to voice, and it was something that naturally made sense to us.
As runners, we saw the value in being able to start or stop a running session
without the need to pull out our phones. If we can be there for our users at
all possible touchpoints, they’ll have a better running experience and a better
perception of our product and brand.”
Approach
Hellwagner shares, “There were many reasons to build for the Google Assistant. We
knew the hands-free experience was going to be great for our use case of running
and our developers wanted to try out App Actions, and we were excited to have our
team working on the latest technology.”
From a user’s perspective, App Actions behave like shortcuts to specic functionality
in an Android app. For apps like the adidas Running app, it takes numerous steps
to complete a certain activity, like for example starting a run. Step1: Pulling out the
phone, step 2: searching and nding the adidas Running app, step 3: opening the
app, step 4: pressing the ‘start a run’ button to start a run.
adidas Running races into voice
with App Actions powered by
the Google Assistant
Get started with Actions on Google at: developers.google.com/actions/app
“When we heard about
App Actions and how we
could take advantage of
existing deep links, we
were convinced that this
was the right path for us.
This is a natural way for
our users to interact with
our app in ways they’re
already familiar with.”
Robert Hellwagner
Innovation Manager
Adidas Running
Adidas Running Action
being invoked
Adidas Running app
starting a run
Actions on
By limiting the number of steps it takes to complete an activity, App Actions remove
this unnecessary friction between a user’s query and the desired outcome. For
example, just saying “Hey Google, track my run with adidas Running” lets a user open
the app and start tracking a run with the adidas Running app, with just their voice.
App Actions was the perfect t for adidas Running especially as it helped the team
get started with voice quickly by taking advantage of already existing assets and
technologies, in this case app deep links. The company had already implemented
over 30 deep links (amongst others, to track, pause and stop a run), and was using
these in email campaigns, in-app push notications, and on social media. Hellwagner
shares, “When we heard about App Actions and how we could take advantage of
existing deep links, we were convinced that this was the right path for us. This is a
natural way for our users to interact with our app in ways they’re already familiar with.”
The adidas Running team assigned one Android developer to work on App Actions.
He implemented a number of the tness built-in intents (BIIs) that matched the
existing app functionality, such as tracking, pausing, resuming and stopping a run.
“When looking at BIIs for Fitness apps, we saw that a lot of what we wanted to build
with voice was already available. It made our job easy,” says Hellwagner.
To get started, the Android developer studied the online documentation and
YouTube videos about App Actions from Google I/O. These resources, paired with
familiar technology and a familiar building environment (Android Studio), helped him
to implement all of adidas Running’s desired BIIs in a single workday, with no outside
help from agencies. “It was fairly obvious what needed to be done,” says Hellwagner.
“We needed to choose which activities we wanted to support, and ensure we had
deep links to support them. With our simple setup, we were able to add deep links
in no time. Once that was done, we added the actions.xml le for our app, where we
specied our selected built-in intents (BIIs) and their corresponding fulllment.”
Best Practices
In developing their Action, adidas Running has learned some key lessons, the rst of
which was to start simple. They decided to implement App Actions to take advantage
of existing deep links in their app. By doing this, they were able to integrate with the
Google Assistant in a single work day using one developer, who was able to complete
the implementation without outside help.
Adidas Running is just getting started on marketing their new integration, including
sharing their App Action through existing marketing channels, such as their email
newsletter. They were able to do this through implementing links from their web and
mobile assets to the Google Assistant Explore page. Users who click on these links
are directed to the Google Assistant Explore page on their device, from where they
can get more information on how to interact with the corresponding App Action. “By
linking to the Explore section, we’re able to help our users see the possibilities voice
has to offer, and then they’re more encouraged to try it on their own in the app,” shares
Hellwagner.
Get started with Actions on Google at: developers.google.com/actions/app
“We were able to integrate
with the Google Assistant
in a single work day of
a single engineer, who
was able to complete
the implementation
without outside help.”
Robert Hellwagner
Innovation Manager
Adidas Running
Actions on
What’s next
The adidas Running team is excited to start spreading the word about their App Action
integration and are working on ways to integrate App Actions into other efforts, such
as upcoming purpose campaigns to support sustainability and social responsibility.
Get started with Actions on Google at: developers.google.com/actions/app
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