Make an impact with experience design

Experience design has the power to change everyday life. It’s a bold statement, but it truly does. Especially in a corporate context, where people spend a lot of their time at work and encounter moments of frustration and challenges. Rather than viewing these as obstacles, experience design sees them as opportunities.

Working with experience design goes beyond visual design. The aim is to create an experience that either solves a problem, evokes an emotional response, or drives usage and behaviour. It focuses on the entire user journey, including emotional, cognitive, and sensory responses. By integrating user research, emotional connection, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, it aims to craft intuitive, engaging, and memorable experiences that align with both user needs and business goals.

Ultimately, it’s about understanding the whole experience from the users’ point of view and designing it to be as engaging, efficient, and delightful as possible. That requires putting people in the center of the design and understanding their needs and problems.

Take the hassle out of everyday life

Everyone who has worked at an office can surely recognise the horror of IT problems – those moments when you feel like throwing the computer out of the window. But you don’t do that. Instead, you make your way to IT-support, and you arrive agitated and irritated. This is the experience Maersk wanted to change.

“We worked with Maersk to design a solution which focused on how to support the employees’ needs and new ways of working. IT issues are usually a hassle, but we wanted to change that experience. We wanted to take the hassle out of everyday life. So, we created the ‘One stop shop’,” says Paulette Christophersen, partner at PLH.

‘One stop shop’ is located on the lower level in the Maersk headquarters. Here, employees can get IT support while enjoying a cup of coffee. The ‘One stop shop’ also features a Maersk merchandise shop with workwear, toys for kids, etc. Furthermore, there is a deli shop where employees can find chocolate to bring for receptions and gifts like the popular Lego Maersk ship.

More than just an office

Today, workplaces must offer a diverse range of space ­– workstations, different meeting rooms, phone rooms and so on. But many companies are also starting to focus on new ways to create an attractive workplace. Experience design is one effective way to achieve this.

The new headquarters for AP Pension and Nykredit exemplifies this approach, offering more than just an office. It creates experiences for the local community as well. The project includes audience-oriented facilities, which invite citizens to use the buildings – even outside of working hours. Features like a community kitchen, a café, and a publicly accessible rooftop garden create a community experience and connect the headquarters to the outside world. In other words, the workplace is an integrated part of the local community.

“What’s fantastic about this HQ is the opportunity to open up and build communities. Reaching out to people and community building is a fundamental part of the Scandinavian model, and we are happy to have had the opportunity to unfold this,” says Lars Toksvig, partner at PLH.

Creating unique experiences rooted in the brand

Another approach to experience design is creating unique experiences tied closely to the company’s brand. The Sivantos project is a perfect example. It used sound-based experience zones to visualise the concept ‘Connected by Sound’. The concept focused on two themes: ‘Sound unites us’ and ‘Sound as a celebration of global diversity’.

“In the Sivantos project, we transformed sound into a workplace design with four different hubs, each representing a color and design symbolising a unique experience with sound. This way of designing sets the framework for a workplace centered around innovation, knowledge sharing and cooperation,” says Paulette Christophersen.

The design of Sivantos’ office is a physical manifestation of the experience and connective power of sound. It not only creates a work environment characterised by innovation and teamwork, but also serves as a platform for experiencing the brand, making it stand out.