Brand New DesignOps Track!

We’re excited to announce a new track for Ambition Empower, designed to inspire and support our community. Starting now in January, Georgiy Chernyavsky is launching a track dedicated to DesignOps. This track will focus on essential topics to help you grow and thrive, including, e.g., Collaboration Across Teams, Metrics and Measuring Design Impact, Scaling Design Teams, Design Systems and Governance, Building a Culture of Design, and Process Optimization.

Also, the Design Systems track, previously led by Michelle Chin, will now be integrated into the DesignOps and UI Design and Prototyping tracks. As Michelle embarks on new opportunities, we extend our heartfelt thanks for her two years of invaluable contributions and inspiration. 💜

We look forward to exploring this exciting new content with you!


If you’re not a member already, we’d love to have you onboard! Sign up here, and reach out to Jane Murray, or Nathalie Tindsjö if you have questions.

Ambition Empower – Now with our very own conference!

Alright… This might sound a little crazy. 😱 While events like IXDA, UX Copenhagen, and FBTB are taking breaks or shutting down, we’ve decided to do the opposite. We’re thrilled to announce that the first-ever Ambition Conferences—one in Stockholm and one in Gothenburg—will take place in May 2025!

Ambition Conference 2025 won’t be a large-scale event. Quite the opposite. Imagine an intimate, welcoming atmosphere focused on learning, laughter, and meaningful conversations rather than big stages and rockstar speakers. Stay tuned for more details coming early next year.

If you’re already an Ambition Empower member, you can relax—your conference ticket is included in your membership. If you’re part of our new, entry level, Ambition Ignite concept (which only includes access to the Empower live sessions), you can easily upgrade to Ambition Empower to join the fun—just send us an email or a PM.

Not a member yet? Now’s the perfect time to join! Until December 20th, you can secure a full year of membership, packed with professional development (and a conference ticket included), for just €799—whether you’re an individual or part of a team. (Regular pricing is €1199 for individuals and €999 for teams. For groups of 10 or more, send us a PM for an even better deal.)

This special offer is limited to the first 50 sign-ups via PM, email, or our website.

  • Discount code for individual memberships: AMBITION2025
  • Discount code for teams (2-9 memberships): TEAM2025

This is going to be amazing! Hope we see you in May! 🎉


If you’re not a member already, we’d love to have you onboard! Sign up here, and reach out to Jane Murray, or Nathalie Tindsjö if you have questions.

Say hello to Malin Bjelle!

Say hello to Malin Bjelle, Experience Designer at Ambition! Malin made a stellar impression during the recruitment process. Since I haven’t worked with her personally yet, I asked her project colleague, Johanna Hasslöf, for her thoughts:

“Malin will be an excellent addition to Ambition! She’s calm, results-oriented, efficient, and dedicated. On top of that, she’s both caring and supportive. She’s always eager to share her knowledge while continually striving to grow and learn more.”

Malin’s background is incredibly diverse and exciting, encompassing everything from 3D design to production management and, of course, UX and service design. The common thread throughout her career has been the design of experiences—both physical and digital.


Hi Malin! Welcome to Ambition! What are you most looking forward to?

– Thank you! I’m so excited! There are two things I’m looking forward to the most. First, finding the right environment is essential for personal and professional growth, and Ambition feels like the perfect fit for me. Second, I’m really eager to get to know all my new colleagues. I’ve already worked with several of them on past projects, and I can’t wait to become part of this amazing team. I’m confident I’ll learn a lot and that we’ll inspire one another.


What inspired you to pursue service design and UX?

– It wasn’t by chance that I ended up in this field. After many years in graphic production and operational management, I felt a strong desire to shift toward creating more tangible value for people. It’s incredibly fulfilling to work at the intersection of technology, creativity, and user experience and to make a real difference in people’s lives. For me, the combination of design, problem-solving, and human interaction is what makes every day so exciting and inspiring.


You’ve worked with companies like Skanska, Gekås Ullared, Jula, and Volvo Penta. Is there a project that stands out to you?

– That’s a tough one… Every project has been valuable in its own way. But if I had to choose, I’d say the ongoing assignment with Volvo Penta. It’s been both enjoyable and incredibly educational, providing me with opportunities for personal and professional development.

– One of the most rewarding aspects has been learning to navigate a large, complex organization, balance competing interests, build relationships, and collaborate across organizational boundaries. These skills are crucial for creating successful outcomes, yet they’re often overlooked. The fact that the organization is filled with such talented individuals has made the experience even more enriching.


Thank you, Malin! I can’t wait to work with you!


Malin starts in early January. If you already know you’d like Malin’s help with a project, reach out to Cecilia Brunemark.

Say hi to Fredrik Palmblad!

Say hello to Fredrik Palmblad, Service Designer and Experience Design Lead at Ambition!

I got to know Fredrik seven years ago. We were both at inUse and worked together on a client project. Time was tight, and the budget was limited, but the challenge we worked on was incredibly interesting. Of course, I’ve worked with talented service designers many times, but Fredrik is something special. His ability not only to solve complex challenges but also to visualize and communicate them is outstanding!

A lot of this is, naturally, due to his personal qualities, but part of it is probably also thanks to his background in product/industrial design. The ability to simply pick up a pen and, in just a few minutes, turn complex reasoning into clear ideas—whether digital or physical—is unbeatable. I was hugely impressed with the results when we last worked together, and I’m so thrilled that Fredrik is now joining Ambition!

Fredrik starts in early January. If you already know you’d like Fredrik’s help with a project, reach out to Cecilia Brunemark.

December Topics at Ambition Empower

Here are the Ambition Empower topics for December (starting November 25th, 2024). If you’re not a member already, we’d love to have you onboard! Sign up here, and reach out to Jane Murray, or Nathalie Tindsjö if you have questions.
 

Design Research with Steve Portigal

Inclusion in User Research: This month, we’ll explore how inclusion principles can shape both who we involve in user research and how we engage them. By broadening the range of participants and refining research practices, we’ll learn how to create more inclusive and representative research.
 

Design Leadership with Kim Goodwin

Developing Yourself as a Leader: Self-awareness, self-acceptance, and a growth mindset are key to effective leadership. We’ll explore how to embrace your strengths, identify growth areas, build complementary teams, and sustain yourself over time. Let’s close the year with introspection and strategies for personal development.
 

UX Writing and Content Strategy with Torrey Podmajersky

Leaderless Content: When nobody “owns” UX content, everyone does their best to manage it—but how effective is that approach? This month, we’ll explore the challenges of leaderless content, identify the problems it creates, and learn how to mitigate them with systems, practices, and processes to improve consistency and clarity.
 

UI Design and Prototyping with Figma with Georgiy Chernyavsky

Creating Accessible Designs in Figma: We’ll refresh our knowledge of accessibility best practices and explore how to ensure that designs created in Figma are inclusive and accessible. We’ll also dive into Figma’s accessibility annotation tools and checkers to streamline the design process and make accessibility a seamless part of your workflow.
 

AI and Design with Pontus Wärnestål

AI’s Impact on Sustainability: Artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in shaping ecological, social, and economic sustainability. We’ll explore its environmental footprint, including the energy and water consumption of generative AI, as well as the social implications, such as labor practices associated with AI implementation in society.
 

Service Design with Chris Risdon

Models, Diagrams, and Visualizations: In service design, visual models and information visualizations play a vital role in understanding and communicating complex concepts across systems and services. This month, we’ll focus on how to effectively use these tools to convey ideas and drive clarity in your work.
 

Behavioral Design with Susan Weinschenk

Cultural Differences in Behavioral Design: While some aspects of human behavior are universal, culture and geography can significantly influence how people think, react, and behave. This month, we’ll explore how cultural differences impact behavioral design and how to account for them in your work.
 

Design Systems with Michelle Chin

Maintaining Buy-in for Design Systems: Scaling, maintaining, and evolving a design system requires ongoing buy-in from teammates, cross-functional peers, and stakeholders. In this topic we’ll explore strategies to secure and sustain support for your design system as it grows and adapts.
 

Product Management with Kim Goodwin

Agility Meets Reality: Agile teams thrive on tight iterations to solve problems, but investors want long-term roadmaps, sales and marketing need features to sell, and finance seeks clarity for R&D write-offs. This month, we’ll explore how product managers can navigate these conflicting demands and find balance between learning and planning.
 


If you’re not a member already, we’d love to have you onboard! Sign up here, and reach out to Jane Murray, or Nathalie Tindsjö if you have questions.

Pontus Wärnestål, welcome to Ambition!

Pontus is one of the most impressive people I’ve worked with. He’s empathetic, funny, quick, smart, and a great teacher. We had an amazing time and accomplished great things together at inUse (the company I co-founded with some friends in 2002), and now it’s time to do it again.

We’ve already been collaborating within Ambition Empower for over a year, but now Pontus is joining Ambition full-time as both a consultant and to help further develop Ambition Empower.

Pontus starts in early February. If you already know you’d like Pontus to help with a project, reach out to Cecilia Brunemark or Jakob Rönnemalm. If you want to know more about Ambition Empower, contact Nathalie Tindsjö.

I’m really looking forward to working with Pontus again!

Malmö Design Network @ Ambition

Last night, we had the pleasure of hosting the Malmö Design Network. We had an incredible turnout, and it was so nice to see so many design-minded individuals connect in such an open and collaborative environment. The evening’s talks, centered around the theme Designing for Generations, sparked interesting conversations on important topics:

👵 Marcus Johansson talked about designing thoughtfully for seniors, sharing insights on accessibility and empathy in design.

👦 Nashmil Mobasseri addressed the evolving landscape of social media and its influence on our children’s lives.

A huge thank you to both speakers for sharing their expertise and to Gareth Emery and the Malmö Design Network for creating this event! Here’s to more insightful gatherings with this wonderful community. 🙌

Välkommen Vanja!

Redan tidigt i våras fick vi förstärkning i form av ingen mindre än Vanja Johannisson! Under de senaste 20 åren har Vanja hjälpt mängder av verksamheter att utforma produkter och tjänster som är enkla att använda och ger avsedd effekt för verksamheten. Nu får vi äntligen möjlighet att jobba tillsammans!

Välkommen Vanja! Hur kommer det sig att du jobbar med det du jobbar med idag?

– Bra fråga. Redan som liten ville jag ha ett utforskande yrke, ett yrke där jag får arbeta kreativt, vara nyfiken och lära mig nya saker. Ett tag funderade jag på att bli journalist. När det blev dags att söka utbildning var jag mest intresserad av att bli arkitekt. När jag inte kom in på arkitektutbildningen, valde jag systemvetenskap. Väl på plats på Lunds Universitet insåg jag att IT och systemutveckling var helt rätt, så efter tre år med systemvetenskap valde jag att gå vidare och läsa ett masterprogram i interaktionsdesign. Kombinationen mellan affär, människa och teknik är otroligt spännande, och jag är jätteglad att jag landade precis där.

Nu har du jobbat i runt 20 år i precis det här området. Vilket är det mest spännande uppdraget som du haft genom åren?

– Oj… Det är nästan omöjligt att välja ett… Men projekt som går ut på att blicka framåt, hitta nya möjligheter, och beakta både kund, affär och marknad är alltid roliga.

– Om jag måste välja ett så blir det nog ett uppdrag för några år sedan för ett norskt försäkringsbolag. De skulle byta teknisk plattform och göra om hela kundupplevelsen på webben. Uppdraget gick ut på att skapa en vision för deras nya webb, särskilja sig från konkurrenterna, öka konverteringen online och skapa nöjdare kunder genom bättre service online för befintliga kunder. Jag ledde ett team på fyra personer och vi gjorde en Customer Value Proposition-analys och arbetade fram designprinciper och strategiska riktlinjer för innehåll, kommunikation och konvertering. Vi tog fram koncept och prototyper för den nya webupplevelsen som sedan utvecklades vidare under implementering.

– För mig personligen blev projektet blev en höjdpunkt tack vare människorna. Vi fick fantastiskt gensvar och etablerade ett utmärkt samarbete som varade under hela projektet. Projektet är nu ett kärt minne och jag har fortfarande bra kontakt med flera av de som jag lärde känna.

Det har gått några månader sedan du började hos oss. Vilka är dina första intryck?

– Ambition har funnits på min radar sedan ni startade. Kombinationen av konsult- och kunskapsverksamhet är otroligt spännande. Det har varit fantastiskt att få lära känna alla mina nya kollegor. Det har också varit kul att följa allt spännande på Ambition Empower. Enda utmaningen är att det finns så mycket som är super-relevant för mig, så det är svårt att begränsa sig. 😊

Tack för pratstunden Vanja! Så otroligt kul att du äntligen är här hos oss!

– Tack! Ser verkligen fram emot vårt fortsatta arbete tillsammans!

Manager? How do you help your employees grow?

A couple of times a year, the managers in our management network meet to discuss, among other things, the best ways to help their employees grow.

This time, we met in Stockholm. Some of the topics we discussed, which we believe are crucial for success, include:

  • Impact management. By starting from the business objectives, one can easily identify the skills required for the team to contribute to the business’s success. Afterwards, you can determine how the group stands in these areas and then plan activities and select topics and tracks within Ambition Empower to bridge the gap.
  • Structure. By establishing simple structures for employees to systematically reflect together on their learnings, not only does individual knowledge deepen, but the group also develops a common language and stronger cohesion, leading to more effective cooperation. Moreover, if processes are created to continuously test and formalize more efficient working methods, skill development transitions into business development, and the value created increases by several dimensions.
  • Engagement. Leaders who demonstrate to their employees the importance of skill development through their own actions are more successful in helping their employees grow. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to participate in all activities themselves. Delegating works very well. However, it is crucial to follow up to ensure that planned activities are carried out with the desired results.

The management network is part of Ambition Empower, which all Enterprise customers have access to. Please reach out to Jane Murray or Nathalie Tindsjö for more information.

TheyDo and Ambition Group Partner Up to Grow Journey Management Together

Gothenburg, Sweden — Ambition Group and TheyDo are proud to announce a partnership rooted in a shared desire to help innovative organizations grow. This partnership combines TheyDo’s comprehensive journey management platform with Ambition’s extensive customer experience, service design, and leadership expertise to both increase efficiency and bring organizations closer to their customers.

Aligning departments, teams, and individuals to maximize customer and business value is hard. Insights and customer journeys are spread out in the organization, hard to access, and often outdated, and there’s no efficient way to systematically manage and prioritize identified opportunities and features based on the organization’s goals. Journey Management facilitates cross-collaboration, helps organizations turn insights into actionable business opportunities, and increases customer satisfaction.

Martin Palamarz, Co-Founder and CCO at TheyDo, shared, “We’re excited to work with the like-minded team at Ambition. A partner who is as committed as we are in making the customer journey the most powerful business tool there is. After collaborating for a year, we’re already witnessing significant results across multiple clients, where journey mapping and management are yielding impressive business outcomes.”

Similarly, Nathalie Tindsjö, Partner at Ambition Group, expressed, “Our collaboration has already added great value to several of our clients. TheyDo is hands down the best tool that we have worked with to help organizations steer product development towards desired outcomes – from insight to implementation.”

For more information, please contact:

About TheyDo: Founded in 2019, TheyDo is the leading journey management platform, providing the power to make the journey the most valuable business tool. TheyDo’s triple diamond framework and platform enable organizations to manage their complex journeys and optimize them for efficient growth, removing the need for constant transformation. TheyDo is trusted by global brands, including Cisco, Ford, Johnson + Johnson, Home Depot, and Polestar.

About Ambition Group: Ambition is at the forefront of the service and experience economy. We use human-centered design to turn business strategy and customer insights into tangible business value. Ambition’s clients include leading organizations such as ASSA ABLOY, Bosch, IKEA, Region Skåne, SKF, Star Finanz, Tre, Volvo Group, Voyado, and Wellspect.