Design Days 2024: Magic through Delight

If there’s one event that Wolt’s Design team always looks forward to, it’s our Design Days. It’s an annual get-together that provides the team with an opportunity to connect, collaborate, learn, and align on strategic directions. All this is done in person, which makes it even more special for our team of 60 designers, from Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Japan.

This year, Design Days 2024 brought us together in sunny Stockholm. Over two inspiring May days, we reunited to align on the foundations needed for our next growth phase, building on the momentum from last year’s event in Berlin.

Day 1

Day 1 of Design Days 2024 began with an inspiring opening keynote from Stanley, our VP Head of Design. He set the tone by reflecting on our journey and the path ahead. Stanley highlighted that 2023 was a pivotal year for Wolt’s Design team, marked by the establishment of Design for scale. We doubled our team size, expanded our leadership, and invested in new competencies such as Design Systems and Design Operations.

This brings us to 2024, where we’re dedicated to leveling up the quality of our craft. To achieve this, our team has been investing time and effort into building foundations that enable us to craft delightful experiences at scale. These foundations include a shared design process and operating model, among others.

Stanley, drawing on the theme of ‘magic’ and the history of photography—aptly chosen for our venue at the famous photography museum Fotografiska—delivered a powerful reminder of our core principles. He reiterated the Design team’s mission: ‘Craft delightful experiences that differentiate Wolt, inspire customer loyalty, and drive business success,’ together with the vision: ‘Happy customers make happy designers.’

As we forge ahead, it’s crucial to keep this mission and vision at the forefront of our minds. They serve as our guiding star, ensuring that every decision we make and every design we create contributes to a more delightful and successful experience for our customers.

After the keynote, we engaged in break-out activities that encouraged us to reflect on our moments of pride and magic as designers. These exercises, facilitated by our Design Leads, Fernanda and Tuomas, were designed to help us identify how we might collectively achieve more of these meaningful moments as a team.

We continued the day with a dynamic mix of lightning talks and group activities that enriched our perspectives and skills. Through inspiring lightning talks, Nicole (our Content Designer), Saija (our Design Researcher), and Giga (our Motion Designer) shared their unique insights on craft. These insights were immediately put into practice during various group activities, facilitated by our Design Lead, Tracy. One activity involved exploring the city to capture inspiration from our surroundings.

The day concluded with a visit to the exhibitions at the museum, followed by a relaxing dinner where we caught up with colleagues—some we hadn’t seen in a long time and others we met in person for the first time.

Day 2

On Day 2, we picked up where we left off. Groups were ready to take on a challenge and each break-out group was to pitch their idea for Wolt product and offering, based on the inspiration captured from the day before, and applying it through pre-determined Experience Design principles. The catch? In PechaKucha style, each group could only do it through 20 slides, with an allocated time of 20 seconds per slide.

No idea is too wild. We got to hear ingenious ideas from the different groups on how we could level up the quality and experience that we offer people who use Wolt: the consumers, the merchants, and the couriers. At the end of the pitches, everyone could vote on the idea they liked the most.

As the event drew to a close, Stanley wrapped up Design Days 2024 with a thoughtful recap of the past two days, highlighting our achievements and shared insights. Following Stanley’s recap, we went through a reflection exercise, encouraging each of us to consider our main takeaways.

We also celebrated the creativity and collaboration showcased during the event. Each group had presented their ideas, and the team voted on their favourite. The winning group was rewarded with a special gift: a golden tasting spoon. Inspired by the TV show ‘The Bear’ (a favourite among the team), this gift symbolises a chef’s tool used to ensure the quality of their craft—a metaphor that resonates with our Design team’s dedication to excellence.

With that, Design Days 2024 came to an end. We said our goodbyes and returned to our respective cities, inspired and eager to translate this newfound inspiration into the products we design. We’re already looking forward to the next Design Days.

Design Days 2024 was a powerful reminder of the individual and collective passion and potential within our Design team. As our vision states, ‘Happy customers make happy designers,’ and we strive to create more moments of pride and magic. Together, we will craft delightful experiences for our customers, merchants, and courier partners, ensuring that every interaction is filled with joy and satisfaction.