Laptop displaying a website next to an angle grinder and a battery on a broken concrete floor.

Hilti

High-End UX for Construction Pros

Intro
Challenge
Approach
Impact

Hilti. A name that stands for quality, innovation, and top-tier service for construction professionals worldwide. Not to mention: the iconic red tool case. Add to that a massive product range and combinable service offerings, and the demands on the digital customer experience are accordingly high.

For years, the B2B mantra was simple: “Just put the specs in a PDF, that’s enough.” Those days are over. Even if you’re cutting concrete, you don’t want to be stuck in the digital Stone Age. You need a platform that is intuitively usable. The challenge: making complexity as accessible as possible while doing justice to the brand’s premium character.

After two platform refreshes (2012 and 2016) in a traditional agency-client model, we have now blurred the lines. Embedded within Hilti's 200-strong Digital Unit, we designed a comprehensive design system for the platform's latest evolution. It creates a consistent experience across all touchpoints—including a new color palette and variable typography for maximum flexibility.

Most recently, we blew the dust off traditional product pages. The result: the new Power Tool Editorials. A modular content system that works just as well for diamond drills as it does for engineering software. Storytelling instead of feature listing: we tell the use cases behind the tools. Backed by hard facts.

Anyone using the site finds their tool or services. Period. One number speaks volumes following the launch of seven pilot editorials: a 25% conversion rate. The key to this success is 14 years of continuity. What started as an initial mandate has grown into a seamless hybrid model that improves the brand, services, and platform together, day by day.

E-commerce
Brand Identity Systems
User Experience
Digital Strategy
Campaigns & Content
User Interface
35k
Products
15
Languages
25%
Conversion
Person holding laptop displaying a webpage about power tools. in a workshop with shelves and toolboxes in the background.
Two construction workers wearing helmets and safety vests work in a dimly lit space with a laptop and red tool cases.

Direct line (human beings)

Simon Apfl
New Business, Sounds
simon.apfl@fork.de
Portrait of Simon Apfl.
Dirk Lanio
Consulting, Technology
dirk.lanio@fork.de
Portrait of Dirk Lanio.
Jan Kruse
Creation, Brand
jan.kruse@fork.de
Portrait of Jan Kruse.
Roman Hilmer
Creation, Digital
roman.hilmer@fork.de
Portrait of Roman Hilmer.