Robert Fransgaard

Proud to be launching our second Pop-Up School cohort in collaboration with Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID). Running a second cohort marks a shift from experiment to scaled initiative. It consolidates our partnership with CIID and reinforces our belief that capability-building in human-centric methodologies must be systematic, not episodic. Through Future Lab by PASHA Innovation, our mandate is clear: help move the needle towards a more human-centric future for the country, by investing in people and mindsets, not just tools or frameworks. A big thank you to this cohort’s facilitators, Fabio Sergio and Irene Yvonne Caputo, for bringing depth, rigor, and generosity into the learning experience. And sincere thanks to Simona Maschi and Line Ulrika Christiansen for their continued trust, and long-term commitment to making this a truly scalable initiative. Step by step, cohort by cohort, this is how change compounds. #HumanCentricDesign #CapabilityBuilding #FutureLab #CIID #DesignLeadership #SystemsChange

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I have been given the opportunity by Janus Boye to give a brief introduction to the History of HCI in a danish perspective. The HCI, or UX discipline was for many years living an orphaned life between engineering and business - increasingly acknowledged and integrated, yet also a hard to place discipline because of the focus on soft outcomes, but loved once (properly) integrated into workflows and organisations. Today UX is an integrated part of any serious development organisation, it has fanned into many sub-disciplines, has it's own tool-chain, acknowledged methodologies and is all in all a mature discipline ... but how did all this happen? Who were the people? What were the challenges? What are the anecdotes? What were the pivotal moments? Which projects stand out? The focus was always on the user interface as the concrete outcome and Jakob Nielsen evangelised the usability concept and lab-based usability testing, then came the need for webpage design as the WWW took off, and as mobile phones became every mans possession through the 00'es a new platform for UX was born, which exploded by the introduction of apps on touchscreens. Meanwhile a methodological parallel had opened as the user research techniques originating in science were softened up by the eclectic and design bureau originated Design Thinking approach which clearly put the user in focus and provided an easy to understand and easy to integrate process for executing UX work. This is the first public "talk" on the subject and I'm therefore looking forward to the feedback which will guide the next steps in collecting and telling this part of HCI history. https://lnkd.in/e6T39-38

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“What we are building is a visual platform for meaning, not just recognition.” In this interview, Tuomas Jääskeläinen, Art Director at Helsingin Sanomat, reveals how the newspaper transforms its iconic logo into a dynamic storytelling tool across print, digital, and brand campaigns. Far from generic statements about the importance of journalism, their campaigns strategically energize the brand, combining bold design, innovative thinking, and deep collaboration to push the boundaries of visual journalism. Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/dSUBy9Zr

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We’ve spent years optimizing UX — User Experience. But a new layer is emerging: AX — Assistant Experience. As AI tools, automation systems, and smart assistants become embedded into our workflows, we’re no longer designing only for end users. We’re designing for digital collaborators. Assistant Experience (AX) is about: * Structuring clear instructions * Training AI to understand brand voice and standards * Iterating prompts strategically * Integrating AI into workflows — not treating it as a side tool Your assistant isn’t just “helping.” It’s influencing your speed, quality, and execution. The brands and creatives who master AX will produce faster, smarter, and more scalable outcomes. The shift is subtle — but powerful. UX → AX. Are we ready to design for both humans and machines?

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Good design doesn’t shout, it removes friction. We’ve just published a new case study on how we redesigned NWORX, a B2B learning platform used by teams every day at work: https://lnkd.in/e9rCN6YW The challenge wasn’t selling the product, it was usability. Real users struggled with navigation, clarity, and outdated flows. So we went back to fundamentals: UX analysis, simplified journeys, clearer hierarchy, and a more confident visual language across web and mobile. The outcome? A product that feels easier, calmer, and more intentional, with a 200% increase in positive UI feedback after launch. This is a great example of how thoughtful UX quietly improves how people work, learn, and stay engaged.

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We’ve put together some reflections on organizational change processes, a topic that feels especially relevant right now given the rapid shifts in the business environment and the growing adoption of AI. We’ve noticed that the transition from Awareness to Desire in the ADKAR change model is often the most challenging step, and one that tends to be overlooked. What do you find to be the most challenging part of change and transformation?

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346 people died because of a UX design failure. Not a software bug. Not a hardware malfunction. A failure to design the interaction between humans and AI. That's how Greg Nudelman opens his UX for AI book and it's a statement I haven't been able to stop thinking about since starting his certification course this week. I've spent 10 years designing complex systems in fintech, compliance, and banking. I know what it costs when humans and AI aren't properly connected. But I've never seen it framed quite that starkly. Over the next 12 weeks, I'm working through the Snowball Sprint framework and building Sprint Zero: a system where AI agents and a human designer run a full product discovery cycle together in 5 days. The thing I want to document publicly isn't just what I learn. It's the harder question underneath: When AI joins the design process, what does the designer's role actually become? I don't have the answer yet. That's the point. Week 1 of 12. Let's find out. #UXforAI #DesignLeadership #AIStrategy

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Today we launched Peak Dough on Kickstarter 🚀 At LastObject, we’ve developed a bit of a ritual before launching anything. It’s less about hype and more about learning. A few things we almost always do: • Test the idea early – simple landing pages + ads before building too much • Run price experiments – people saying they like something ≠ people paying • Talk to real users – surveys, feedback, watching how they actually use things • Prototype fast – ugly but real beats perfect but theoretical • Focus the story – if it’s hard to explain, it’s probably not ready You can optimize a lot. But in the end it still comes down to something simple: make something people genuinely want. Peak Dough is our latest attempt at doing exactly that. If you're curious: https://lnkd.in/eAPJ3Q-d

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Where Better Experiences Meet Operational Efficiency With a background in design, I was taught to champion desirability first - satisfaction, aesthetics, blue sky thinking...Yet over a decade in Customer Strategy, I've watched the same pattern in organisations: CX initiatives launch with experience as the hero and efficiency as the afterthought. We are starting to see a shift. At The Customer Experience Company, our client conversations are evolving: teams must now demonstrate from day one how they'll improve customer experience AND deliver operational efficiency. The mindset is evolving from "experience improvements with efficiency as a hoped-for byproduct" to deliberately designing for both. How is this playing out in your organisation and teams? Here are some thoughts on this topic if you'd like to read more. https://lnkd.in/e7FZvC92 #CustomerExperience #ExperienceDesign #BusinessEfficiency #ExperienceMeetsEfficiency #CustomerStrategy

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Talking to interaction designers from leading electronics companies got me thinking. The same topic keeps coming up in product design: Designers sees sound differently. Interaction designers fight for it. Industrial designers downplay it. And teams end up pulling in different directions. It’s not surprising though, product design has historically been visual and tactile. But products have evolved. The best experiences today are multi-sensory - visual, tactile, and sonic. If your product looks premium but doesn’t sound premium, the experience falls a part. Ignore sound, and you’re leaving potential (and brand value) on the table. This is where design is heading: teams creating complete, multi-sensory experiences. Some companies already get this, and they’re reaping the rewards. These are the ones we look up to. For others, it usually starts with one person willing to open that door, to push for a more holistic view. In the end, people remember the products that feel whole.

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Over the years I work with some of Denmark's largest financial institutions. Companies with thousands of employees, complex products, legacy systems stretching back decades. You'd expect massive design teams maintaining elaborate design systems. Reality? It's often 3-5 designers trying to govern components across multiple products, dozens of developers, and platforms they don't even have access to. If they can't maintain perfect Figma libraries and review every implementation, smaller companies definitely can't. So what actually works? Start with a solid component foundation rather than building from scratch. Modern component libraries give you accessibility, proper composition patterns, and sensible defaults out of the box. Customize what you need, don't reinvent what already works. Focus on architecture over governance. You can't enforce consistency through process when you're stretched thin. Your component API needs to guide developers toward correct usage. Make the right way the easy way. The teams succeeding aren't the ones with the most comprehensive documentation. They're the ones who accepted their resource constraints and built accordingly. Good component architecture, clear constraints in code, just enough documentation to keep moving.

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This is the moment everything clicked. During our recent AI Design Challenge livestream, Henrik Svanvig realized something important: AI wasn’t the limitation. Once he clarified his idea, the direction, and the intent behind the design…everything started to move faster. Better concepts. Clearer outcomes. More control. That’s the real shift…Breaking through the familiar and exploring innovative possibilities in new forms, materials and proportions. AI doesn’t replace the design process. It separates good designers from great designers. If you’re trying to figure out how to actually use AI in your workflow, comment “AI” and I’ll send details.

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At Audiense, all of our product designers uses V0 and GPT5. We are experimenting and expanding knowledge about using Ai into our design work. The same happens with our brand designers, Freepik and several multimedia Ai tools are currently being used. Ai is not only speed up our processes but let us some space for strategic thinking at all levels.

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Thinking about stronger together as leaders in design? Design Leadership Community launches new services/benefits for 2026, besides the State of Design report, events and courses. TWO NEW LIBRARIES in Slack to support you in your daily work as leaders within design #SignalsTrendsReports: on various themes #LeadershipTools: with the two themes/folders "Leadership" and "Templates" Looking forward to your contribution. It's our community, let's make it better together! #design #leadership #designleadership #designleadershipcommunity #PropelYourLeadership #LeadershipTools #Signals #Trends #Reports #Templates #library

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Are design systems best suited for long-term strategy? Yes. Should design systems also support short-term goals? Yes. Your system must deliver short-term wins and support some (not all, but some) experimentation for your DS consumers. You also need to SHOW these results to your stakeholders. Don't expect them to notice on their own. You must unlock and report short-term wins. It's not optional. Chris Strahl and I talked about how design system teams can utilize patterns to enable consumer experimentation. It's a great way to say, "yes" more often and unlock a lot of short-term wins. We recorded this before Figma Slots was announced and I think this conversation has some extra weight now that design tooling supports coded behavior. Join in on the conversation! I'd love to hear about: * How do you balance short-term and long-term goals on your design system? * How are you planning on using (or not using) Figma Slots in your design process? * How do your DS consumers iterate on your design system? #designsystems #designsystem #knapsack

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