“Vi har nu lyckats höja vårt totala upplevelseindex till nästan 5 av 5”

Säg hej till Johannes Söderqvist, Head of Digital Workplace på Volvo Cars!

I höstas höll vi vår årliga AW-turné där vi presenterade aktuella case med fokus på Journey Management. I Malmö pratade min kollega Lotta om Volvo Cars Digital Workplace. Det var ett imponerande arbete, och jag blev nyfiken och kontaktade Johannes för att få veta mer.

Hej Johannes! Kan du berätta lite om din avdelning och vad ni gör?

– Självklart! Jag har arbetat med Volvo Cars nästan hela min karriär, först som konsult och nu anställd sedan 10 år tillbaka. Idag leder jag vår Digital Workplace-organisation, där vårt ansvar är att se till att alla våra medarbetare har de digitala verktyg de behöver för att kunna arbeta effektivt och innovativt. Vi är ett stort team på runt 300 personer som tillsammans hantera datorer och telefoner, utvecklar våra samarbets- och produktivitetsverktyg som Microsoft 365, samt erbjuder support globalt.

Ni verkar ha kommit långt med er strategiska resa! Hur tog allt fart?

– Det började på allvar 2017 när vi formulerade våra första gemensamma vision och strategi för Digital Workplace som i första skedet i mångt och mycket handlade om en teknisk transformation. Parallellt inledde vi också en ny och ganska unik satsning på Change Management i syfte att “paketera” våra nya och förbättrade tekniska lösningar i ett mer användarvändligt format. I Januari 2023 tog vår resa återigen en ny riktning när vi beslutade oss för att ersätta tidigare arbetsätt kring Change Mangement med ett mer UX och design thinking-baserat arbetsätt där vi i ännu större utsträckning försöker sätta användarens upplevelse i centrum och anpassa tekniken efter medarbetarnas behov och inte tvärtom.

Vad innebär det konkret för er idag?

– Idag har vi byggt upp en kultur och ett sätt att arbeta där vi är “user perception driven”. Vi samlar in data om våra medarbetares upplevelser och agerar på feedback. Målet är att göra rätt från början, vilket sparar både tid och resurser. Att ställa om från ett tekniskt fokus till användarbehov har varit utmanande, men vi ser nu resultat i form av en bättre användarupplevelse, och det har varit värt ansträngningen.

– Vi kan ta ett konkret exempel. Att ge alla nyanställda på Volvo Cars en bra upplevelse på den allra första arbetsdagen är så klart väldigt viktigt och leveranserna från Digital Workplace just den dagen, i form av ny dator, telefon, applikationer och support, har väldigt stor inverkan på den totala upplevelsen av och känslan för Volvo Cars. Genom att göra en user journey map för en nyanställd så fick vi bättre förståelse för och insikt kring var vi både kan och behöver förbättra upplevelsen för vår nya kollega. Genom både process- och teknikrelaterade förändringar har vi nu lyckats höja vårt totala upplevelseindex till nästan 5 av 5 möjliga poäng.

Hur hjälper kundresor er att förbättra användarupplevelsen?

– De är väldigt användbara för att förstå varje steg våra anställda går igenom, t.ex. från kontraktskrivning till att arbetsverktyg är på plats. Det gör att vi snabbt kan identifiera problem och direkt förbättra upplevelsen.

Använder ni KPI:er för att mäta alla steg i kundresorna? Hur följer ni upp?

– Inte än, faktiskt, men vi siktar på att nå dit. Vi följer upp kontinuerligt, men vi är inte så data-drivna som vi skulle vilja vara. Våra experience-leads samlar in och analyserar data från sina områden och ledningen prioriterar baserat på det, men det är ännu inte integrerat i kundresorna.

Vad står på agendan framöver?

– Det är mycket spännande på gång! Vi har just påbörjat ett nytt strategiarbete för att sätta riktningen för de kommande två åren. Vårt fokus kommer fortsatt vara att sätta medarbetarupplevelsen i centrum och använda data för att göra smarta förbättringar. Målet är att skapa en digital arbetsplats som verkligen hjälper våra medarbetare att lyckas.

Tack för att du delade med dig, Johannes! Vi ser fram emot att följa utvecklingen!

Welcome, Malin and Fredrik!

New colleagues! New office! Hard to imagine a better start to 2025!

First, a warm welcome to Malin Bjelle and Fredrik Palmblad, who are joining our team! We’re so happy to have you on board.

Second, we’ve officially moved into our brand-new office at Kungsgatan 57 in Gothenburg!

If you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to drop by and say hello—we’d love to see you!

January Topics at Ambition Empower

Here are the Ambition Empower topics for January (starting January 6th, 2025). 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.
 

DesignOps with Georgiy Chernyavsky

Foundations of DesignOps: DesignOps plays a vital role in enabling efficient and effective design practices. This month, we’ll dive into the core principles, frameworks, and strategies that empower design teams to streamline processes and deliver greater value. 
 

Design Research with Steve Portigal

AI and User Research: AI, an umbrella term for many different techonlogies, has captured our attention for its potential to impact many aspects of our lives. For user research, as with many other areas, we might be feeling some mix of caution, curiosity, fatigue, confusion, and excitement (among others, no doubt). This month, we’ll look at a range of perspectives and advice and form our own perspective.
 

Design Leadership with Kim Goodwin

Building a Team – Hiring: Hiring the right people at the right time is a crucial part of building a successful team. Whether you’re a hiring manager or part of the process, this month we’ll focus on evidence-based practices to reduce bias and improve your success in finding the best candidates.
 

UX Writing and Content Strategy with Torrey Podmajersky

Improve Accessibility with UX Content: Accessible and inclusive design is more important than ever in creating digital products. This month, we’ll focus on how UX content can enhance accessibility, helping your products meet and exceed growing standards for inclusivity. 
 

UI Design and Prototyping with Figma with Georgiy Chernyavsky

Great Figma Habits: Designing better experiences starts with great habits. This month, we’ll explore foundational UI design concepts in Figma, dive deeper into advanced techniques, and push Figma’s limits to create more efficient and effective workflows.
 

AI and Design with Pontus Wärnestål

Designing for Imperfection: In AI-powered systems, machine learning models are never perfect – they inevitably produce false positives and false negatives. This month we will explore how designers can understand and address these inaccuracies to create robust and usable experiences.
 

Service Design with Chris Risdon

Ecosystems in Service Design: Ecosystems and systems thinking are essential to designing effective services. This month, we’ll explore what defines an ecosystem, how to communicate its components, and how to apply this understanding to improve service design.
 

Behavioral Design with Susan Weinschenk

Unconscious Decision-Making: Research shows that most decisions are made unconsciously, with the brain working behind the scenes. This month, we’ll delve into the latest findings on decision-making and explore what they mean for design.
 

Product Management with Kim Goodwin

Making Good Decisions: At the heart of product management is the ability to help organizations make, deliver on, and learn from great decisions. This month, we’ll explore what defines a “good” product decision, how individuals and organizations approach decision-making, and the critical role PMs play in guiding the process.
 


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.

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. 🙌