IQOS
Designing a smoke-free future
Scope of work:
Portfolio Strategy
Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
User Experience
User Interface
Product Design
Package Design
Environment/Retail Design
Challenge
Phillip Morris was at a crossroads, continue producing a product that was definitively harmful to humans or to invest in healthier, more sustainable alternatives as part of a new vision: a reduced risk, smoke free future. The journey would be a long one but hopefully culminates in the complete removal of tobacco based products from the portfolio by 2030.
Idea & Scope
As the account & project lead, I was responsible for overseeing multiple multidisciplinary and integrated teams, driving an experience-led approach that considered the full product ecosystem—spanning hardware, software, services, and physical environments. I guided the strategic vision across all touchpoints, ensuring every product experience was unified, user-centric, and grounded in real consumer value.
Simple isn’t always best, but the best is always simple
Iconic brands create the right amount of choice. Too few SKUs and users don’t think they have a choice, too many and they feel overwhelmed. IQOS, as a premium lifestyle brand needed to continually push the needle on product and design.
The IQOS product portfolio was shaped by a foundational set of experience principles and a cohesive design language system that served as the creative and strategic backbone for every device evolution. These principles ensured that each new product delivered a consistently intuitive, premium, and emotionally resonant experience. The design language codified core visual elements such as materiality, form factors, interaction cues, enabling us to build a unified aesthetic that was instantly recognizable and uniquely ownable.
This system extended beyond the physical devices to inform packaging, accessories, UI elements, and digital touchpoints, creating a seamless, end-to-end experience across the entire IQOS ecosystem. As the portfolio matured, from the 2nd generation devices to advanced multi-product families, these design foundations ensured that each evolution felt fresh yet unmistakably IQOS, driving brand iconicity at a global scale.
Impact
Under my leadership, the IQOS portfolio grew from three to seven product lines, each with multiple generations, contributing to over $20B in revenue and earning six Red Dot Awards for design excellence.
