To launch a successful new product or service, the first step is to find a real customer need to solve. This is easier said than done — sometimes it’s obvious what the problem is, but often the main issue or point of focus is unclear.
If we’ve learned something from our hundreds of projects with clients across industries in Finland and globally, it’s that customer research is a harder task than it may seem. I know what you’re thinking though: How difficult can it be to ask people about their needs or for feedback on an idea?
The key to…
As a friend from another agency described, 2020 was one hell of a year which didn’t discriminate but revealed dents and hiccups equally from everyone.
Every disruption is also an opportunity for reconfiguration and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for the past couple of months, and while the pandemic isn’t over yet, 2021 is looking a lot better already.
Here’s an outline what’s been going on at our company.
New digs
This week we’ve been a part of National Railways renewal and played some virtual tennis.
VR.fi Launch
Our Annukka and others have been working with VR’s own design team and other collaborators to launch an amazing new website & eshop for VR, the Finnish National Railways.
This service touches so many Finnish people’s daily lives, that I couldn’t be happier to see the results and prouder that Nordkapp was involved. Check it out at vr.fi
Working Online
Recently our Valeria and the rest of the Design System team have been running lots of online Figma workshops for designers at our client. These workshops can…
During the uncertain times, such as this with corona pandemic, we tend to search solace from various patterns; research, information and disinformation. Our brain tries to look for patterns also where those might not be seen, looking to make sense of the chaos.
One of the frequent terms thrown around to rescue at the uncertainty seems to be resilience. Dictionary definition for resilience is “returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched.” Bouncing back to normal is a good thing, right? …
Working as a consultant can be something that people love or try to avoid. But those who get used to it will definitely experience a lot of fascinating challenges.
Quite often people are saying that changing a job is exciting and but also exhausting. How about if you’re changing the job every quarter? It’s quite normal for the consultants to start new projects several times a year with different clients. This week I was starting on a new project with a new client, which made me think about what does it take to work as a consultant.
High tolerance for ambiguity
The first day…
Welcoming the autumn and focusing on self-leadership.
The relationship between nature and self-performance has always been evident. Many people throughout history from varying backgrounds (creatives, leaders, etc.) have praised nature as a source of inspiration and strength. Due to the pandemic that started earlier this year the visits to national parks within all of Finland started to soar — people started to find their way back to nature again and seek strength to face the new abnormal conditions.
We in Finland are fortunate enough to still have really distinctive 4 seasons. Currently, we have moved rapidly from a good long…
August has turned into September and Nordkapp is at full speed for the Autumn ahead. For me, this Autumn feels like a fresh start as I have just returned from a six-month paternity leave. It’s also a good time to reflect my daddy-time with some key findings.
Earlier this year, at the beginning of February, to be exact, I started a six-month paternity leave and became a full-time home dad. For me, it was a second time coming so I kind of knew what to expect. Obviously, Covid-19 had a big impact as living became more limited. However, for me…
A long-awaited chance to meet colleagues face to face at the Nordkapp Summer Party 2020!
Last Friday we finally got the chance to meet most of our colleagues face to face again at Nordkapp’s Summer Party! This year we decided to leave out the exotic activities and just hang around with friends in a relaxing atmosphere. We travelled by boat to the beautiful island of Herrö in Espoo archipelago. The weather was just superb, and the sea was still warm enough for swimming. Some of us went for a small hike and climbed to the observation tower on the highest…
Truly powerful words for the upcoming looooong autumn remote-working period will be TRUST and HONESTY! Those will help you toddle thru the dark side of the year and piles of work.
Hybrid life
I feel that the boundary between off and on work is somewhat difficult, because of the pandemic and remote working from home. It was even in the springtime when the days were getting longer and the waited summer holidays were getting closer day by day. I tried all kinds of tricks and rituals to make clear to myself, when I’m on duty and when off — changing clothes, setting…
As these extraordinary times keep disrupting our habitual routines, we need to start reshaping the way we work during COVID-19 era.
This week majority of Nordkappians have returned from their summer vacations and in full speed orienting towards (a hopefully) busy fall. The start looks promising as there are numerous new cases won and multiple promising pitches in the oven.
However, there are dark clouds on the horizon. Despite we took the necessary and drastic measures to prevent and cope with the spread of COVID-19 during this spring, the second wave is gaining momentum in Finland. What we hoped to…
Nordkapp
They say designers are the next management consultants. Well, that’s us. Transformation, digital + physical products and services. — > http://nordkapp.fi
