Design
Jun 9, 2023
Design Days - Meaningful Connections and Collaborations
At Wolt, design is at the heart of everything we ship. Most of our designers are embedded in our product development teams where they collaborate on building products all the way from opportunity identification down to iterating on the finest of details. This is why it’s important our designers get together regularly to connect, plan work together, learn from one another, and get inspired. Close collaboration is what enables our designers to build Wolt-grade products people love.💙
A few weeks ago, our designers gathered to do exactly that. They spent two, activity-filled days together in Berlin. Let’s dive in to look at what Wolt Design Days entailed!
Day 1
Let’s get the ball rolling
The first day was kicked off with a welcome speech from Stanley, our VP Head of Design. He gave an inspiring overview of the past, present and future of the three Ps in design at Wolt: People, Process and Product. The aim of the talk was to get everyone on the same page with the same mindset: How do we work together as a team to craft world-class experiences for our customers? The following team activity in which the participants got to know each other and collaborate in a fun way took this into action.
Time for lightning talks and guest speakers
Once the ice had melted, it was time to move on to the lightning talks. A few designers presented topics of their choice, varying from the development and significance of the alphabet through the ages to the importance of localization. For instance the latter focused on the tips and tricks on how to localize the user experience to different Wolt markets by adjusting e.g. UX design and copy. As Wolt already operates in 25 different countries and keeps growing and expanding (we just launched in Iceland and Austria!) localization plays a huge role in achieving a relevant experience for customers in different cultures and countries.
"It was really inspiring to be able to have the mind space and time to focus on the big picture and long-term topics, beyond everyday work. Also, of course, the interaction with different people generates a lot of new ideas!" - Tracy Tan, Design Lead in Product Design
In addition to the internal talks, designers welcomed guest speakers. The Design Talent Acquisition team joined the event to shed insights on how to avoid biases both in the design and in the hiring process - a crucial topic to ensure we continue to flourish the diversity within our design community.
Exploring Berlin
After the informative but intensive day, it was time for a fun evening activity. The team hit the road and started to explore the city with a challenge called Capture Berlin. The game was all about finding Wolt references around the city –anything from stickers to thermal bags. This activity brought people together in a fun and collaborative way and also helped understand the local presence of Wolt in Berlin. And what better way to capture the good vibes of the city than with some snaps in a photo booth?
The first day was wrapped up with a team dinner. While enjoying the food and drinks, the team got a chance to enjoy the sunny side of the Grey City. Berlin really did its best to warmly welcome its visitors!
Day 2
Let’s get personal!
In the next day, the group dived into the topic of personalization and its implications for Wolt in a workshop. The team was divided into small groups, which each were assigned a small part of Wolt’s user experience, for example a customer placing an order or a courier partner delivering it. Each group worked on building unique profiles for their acts, and afterwards crafted a story that showcased their personalization strategies. One of the main goals of this workshop was to bring different perspectives together. Our design team consists of Product Designers, Design Researchers, Product Motion Designers and Content Designers, so it was a great opportunity to bring together different roles and viewpoints to ensure that parts of the user experience were considered from multiple angles.
"It was refreshing to meet fellow designers in person, fostering meaningful connections and inspiring collaborations. The event broadened my horizons by exposing me to thought-provoking discussions on topics outside my usual scope, igniting a newfound passion for exploring design with personalization at its core." - David Chan, Senior Product Designer
Learning from our customers
Next up, the team continued with the topic of personalization–this time in the form of a panel discussion. The designers welcomed external panelists, who are also the experts in individual user experiences: our users! Local customers, merchants and courier partners joined as panelists to share their experiences and stories with Wolt products. The meat in the panel discussions was to hear the panelists’ individual experiences, rather than the general perspective of Wolt’s user groups. Getting a deeper understanding of our customers and partners enables our designers to create more unique personalization strategies through empathy.
"The panel discussion was all about taking the users’ stance and seeing our product from their perspectives. It was really inspiring to have representatives from different product user groups sitting around the table and talk with each other. By observing their interaction, we all got some completely new insights into some of the practicalities in the delivery process. So besides understanding the individual perspectives, we also got to see the full, zoomed-out picture of the processes between Wolt users." - Tracy Tan, Design Lead in Product Design
The Design Days were wrapped up in style with an award ceremony. The team members had nominated their colleagues for different award categories such as ‘GIF Guru’, ‘Font Fanatic’ and ‘Zoom host with the Most’. The prizes were to fight for—custom made keyrings and coasters. Congrats to all the lucky winners!
And that’s it! Wolt Design Days brought our designers together to get inspired and learn both from each other and from Wolt customers. But best of all, they got to have fun and connect with each other in a way that may not be doable in everyday work life. To end it with the right note, let’s hear it from our UX Researcher Basim, who summarized the spirit of Design Days in the following words:
"By far my favorite thing in the Design Days was being able to gather with the whole team in one place. I learned so much about the team as individuals, who they are, their passions, anxieties and even favorite karaoke songs! I'm happy Wolt provides opportunities for us to hang up our aprons for a bit to get to know our fellow colleagues." - Basim Al-Baker, UX Researcher in Product Design
