Meet Peter Product Designer at Fortnox
Even as a teenager, Peter dreamed about working with design. Back then, it was the world of gaming that drew him in and shaped his studies. But the completion of his master’s degree in game design also came with the realization that this was not where he belonged. Many years later, he has ended up in a role in UX design and is getting on splendidly as a Product Designer at Fortnox. This is his story.
This is how we work with product design
At Fortnox, we work using modular design principles. On the one hand, our designers are organized into a central core and tasked with reviewing strategy and tactics; on the other, they are organized into our development teams where they work with user experiences in specific products.
This means we work with both details and the overall picture in all of Fortnox’s offerings, and we encourage a high level of cooperation and exchange of know-how. Peter Arnoldsson is one of our Product Designers, and you can learn about his story here.
The step from the world of gaming to product design may seem like a short one, but for Peter Arnoldsson there was a substantial difference.
- In the world of gaming and casinos, the objective is entertainment – which in itself is not wrong, of course, but where products are concerned my job is to help someone perform a task. If I improve the user experience, it is quite clear that I am doing some good, that I am helping an entrepreneur – and that motivates me, Peter says.
Since 2020, he has been part of a development team at Fortnox, working with the Self Service product area. One of the areas that they are responsible for is Business Onboarding, which helps new customers get started with Fortnox’s products, and here they work to create the best experience possible for the user.
"If you show drive, you will have the chance to do different, exciting and fun things."
Peter Arnoldsson
Product Designer
A guiding light for designers is always keeping the user in focus. Peter says that it does not matter if you are looking at a tiny detail or at the functionality of an entire product – the user’s perspective must always be part of it.
- If you understand the user, you have everything you need to create the best experience possible in an intended flow. There will always be problems to solve along the way, and the ambition is to solve them so smoothly that the user does not even notice that they are there to begin with. Succeeding at that is the best feeling in the world, Peter says.
And he shares that aspiration and feeling with many others, because at Fortnox the ambition is not good enough – it is a world-class experience. Success in this means always doing the right things, and doing them well. This lays the foundation for leaving the customer with an experience that is spelled W-O-W!
Peter has an operational role linked to the products he works with, but there is also an organization of central designers with a more tactical and strategic orientation.
- It’s a good structure, because it means we can work on the details without losing sight of the whole, and even though we designers focus on different things depending on where we are in the organization, we learn a great deal with one another, Peter says.
The opportunities are tremendous for anyone looking to expand or deepen their competence, and the internal mobility means that anyone looking for the challenges that a new role or product provides has very good chances of finding the right way. But Peter himself is satisfied; he has found his place on his team. And there is no shortage of challenges. A year ago, for example, he accepted an offer of becoming a mentor for the Fortnox Academy trainee program, which is something he does not regret.
- It was a great experience and I learned a lot during that time. But that’s rather characteristic of Fortnox. If you show drive, you will have the chance to do different, exciting and fun things, Peter says.
The words “different, exciting and fun” can also be used to describe normal workdays, since they are rarely the same.
- One day I’ll be sitting with research ahead of a future product or function, and the next I’ll be analyzing customer behaviors. And the day after that, I’ll be drawing sketches and creating prototypes. And another day I’ll be designing a component and all its variants for the central design system, and after that I’ll be conducting interviews or user tests, Peter says.
It is clear that Peter is getting on well at his job, and the dreams he had as a young man in school have become reality. Not exactly as he had imagined then, but still as he would like it to be now, since his dream has grown and changed just as Peter has through his experiences and insights. And his journey continues – but what lies around the corner in the form of challenges and opportunities at Fortnox remains to be seen.