FESTOOL
SEP 2025 - FEB 2026
TRACER, an intelligent wearable & software system for automated craft documentation
Extending Festool's connected power tools to capture material provenance and work steps in the background, turning daily craft into regulatory proof.
ROLE
Product Lead
Product Marketing Manager
COLLABORATORS
Team of 3 (Me, UX Designer & Communication Designer)
IMPACT
Presented to Festool's design team. ADC Talent Award 2026 for Hardware/Software solution.
BUILT WITH
Figma
Lovable
Kling AI
Google Veo
CONTRIBUTIONS
User Research
Interviewed craftspeople and mapped regulatory pressures for 2035.
Product Strategy
Originated the core feature set and scoped the product direction.
Client Alignment
Co-led the Festool roundtable that pivoted the concept away from AR.
Brand & Storytelling
Produced the concept film and visual identity using generative AI.
I. CHALLENGE
Timber traceability becomes mandatory
Together with Festool, we explored how power tools, services and business models could support sustainable craftsmanship in 2035. A Festool product cycle runs about seven years, so the tools designed today will still be on workbenches then.
Early research pointed to documentation as the most pressing problem in sustainable craft. From 2027, EU rules require workshops to trace every timber purchase to its supplier, and a digital product passport for furniture is expected to follow. Large manufacturers have a back office for this. But 84% of German joineries have fewer than ten people, and for them it is extra work on top of the job.
Extending Festool's data flywheel and services.
Technically, Festool is already at that bench. Its Bluetooth battery packs link tools and dust extractors, and its EC-TEC motors log load, temperature, and runtime in the Festool Work App. Yet that telemetry stops at tool diagnostics: the app knows a saw ran for four minutes, but nothing about the timber it cut or the job it belonged to. Our task was to turn that machine data into a system that captures sustainable craft as it happens.
UNBOXING
Scan once for warranty & setup
On day one, craftspeople scan the new tool in the Festool App to register it for the all-inclusive warranty. For most of them, this is the main reason to open the app.
WHILE WORKING
Zero-UI auto-start, blind telemetry
Now and then they dim the LED, switch the drill to left-handed mode or watch a tutorial. Tool and app stay paired all day, and what they share ends at the tool’s own status screen.
AFTER HOURS
Where the app stops
The Festool App knows every connected tool in the workshop. None of that data flows into the documentation each job now needs. Timber, supplier and certificate are matched to the order by hand.
How might Festool turn the data its connected tools already collect into a service that documents the work for small workshops as it happens?
II. SOLUTION
With
,
a capture system for craft.
AI to documents every job and learns from it.
WHILE WORKING
Captured while the work happens
Orders bring in supplier and reference numbers. The TRACER module sees which board goes into which job. Festool tools add when and with what it was cut.
AI PROCESSING
Order Thinking
A model links every signal to its job and material, matches it to the right reference number and flags what is still missing.
IMPACT
Checked once, then sent
The workshop reviews the record once. TRACER bundles it into a proof of origin, ready to send with one tap.
HARDWARE
Eyes and ears at the bench.
The lightweight TRACER headset pairs with Festool’s connected tools and captures the work hands-free, feeding video and voice into a multimodal model.
Sees the material
When a connected Festool saw starts via Bluetooth, two cameras on the headset capture the cut from the craftsperson’s view. A vision model recognizes which board from the delivery goes into the workpiece.
Hears the context
Building on the speech filtering in Festool’s audio gear, noise-cancelling microphones pick up quick notes or material changes while keeping the ears open for the machines around.
Software
Everything in one place.
Every Trace lands in the Tracer app, ready on tablet, phone or pre-built in Festools Systainer. Bill of materials, insights and evidence sit next to the trace they came from, so the workshop, the site and the office see the same job.
Use Traces as knowledge.
Every trace feeds a knowledge base the craftsperson can ask at the bench. Sharpen a cut sequence, check a past decision, or hand a project to a colleague without losing what makes it work.
Send reports on the way.
Compliance reports for customers, authorities and stakeholders draft themselves from what the day already recorded. A quick review on the phone confirms it, and the paperwork is done before leaving the site.
III. DECISIONS
Decision 1
Augmentation, not automation.
Every job in a workshop day went into one of two piles, the ones a craftsperson would hand over and the ones they never would. Ordering material, identifying it and writing the paperwork moved to the AI, while the cut and the judgement behind it stayed with the master.
Update bill of materials
TRACER watches the bill of materials and flags missing or changed material. Craftsman checks the revised order and confirms it before it is sent.
Verify material provenance
Drafting reports
Decision 2
One session, three audiences.
TRACER records the work once. The workshop uses it to coordinate the job. Authorities receive the proof they require. Customers can trace the material and see how the piece was made.
Decision 3
Extending the product line.
We place TRACER as an independent venture over a new Festool Connected branded feature. Connected manages individual tools, batteries and service. TRACER follows the whole job across materials, workshop roles and handover. Its own service layer gives that project scope a clear home, while Festool brings the tools and workshop context it depends on.
X
IV. IMPACT
A new vision for power tools & craft.
Presented to Festool's design team on 5 February 2026. The experts confirmed the core assumption that documentation obligations are a major pain point in the trades rather than a side issue.
Festool also shared that AR headsets are already being discussed internally, which places TRACER inside a live strategic conversation at one of Europe's leading tool manufacturers rather than next to it.
TRACER also received a Bronze Nail at the ADC Talent Award 2026 in Hardware/Software Systems. The ADC selects a small number of student projects across Germany each year, drawn from many submissions.
ADC Talent Award Winner 2026
Hardware/Software Systems
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Hi, I'm Joshua!
I design B2B products & features that grow with research that clarifies.
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