Levelling up in UX at Vend: growing together through skill ups

In the spring of 2025, all the UX directors at Vend took a step back to look at where we are as a design organisation and where we want to grow. We ran a UX maturity assessment across our different areas, and from that, started to see the bigger picture of what would really lift both our craft and the company.

At the same time, we looked at the development goals from every designer across Vend. It turned out that many of us wanted to learn the same kinds of things. So instead of everyone learning alone, we thought, what if we do this together?

From mapping to momentum

We gathered everything people wanted to learn and put it into a big matrix of what would have the most impact in the organisation, and how much effort it would take to make it happen. From there, three areas stood out as the ones we should focus on to really grow as a UX organisation:

• Design systems – building shared foundations to design faster and smarter

• Native and app design – getting better at crafting great product experiences across platforms

• Data-driven design – learning how to use insights to design with more confidence

AI did not get its own track because it sits inside everything we do. Every skill has an AI angle, because it is already changing how we design, collaborate, and think.

Building both people and practice

When we started planning, we also wanted to find a way to give designers a chance to grow as leaders, without needing a formal promotion. Inspired by how some consultancy firms work, we decided to invite people to lead these skill ups.

Anyone in the UX organisation could raise their hand to say, “I want to take the lead on this.” Those who did got the chance to shape learning communities, bring people together, and help the rest of us get better at something that matters.

As one of the UX directors put it:

“We wanted to give people a chance to dip their toes in leadership, to try something a bit outside their current role and see what that feels like.”

The idea is to grow ambitious individuals, while at the same time growing the collective skills of the UX organisation.

The first skill ups are kicking off

The first one is all about Design Systems, and will be led by Mikkel Winsvold Staff and Ragnhild Morland. Mikkel works with UX in PTX Core, and Ragnhild in Real Estate. Together, they have designed a seven-session learning journey that starts on 6 November.

It will look at what design systems are, why they matter, and how to use and contribute to them. The goal is to help designers feel more confident using shared foundations, so they can spend less time on small decisions and more time on the tricky parts that really make a difference.

Next up will be Data-Driven Design, led by Emma Löfqvist, Johan Törngren, and Pekka Murto. This track will focus on learning how to use data to inform design decisions, and how to collaborate better with analysts and product managers.

Supported, not solo

Skill up leads are not doing this alone. They have the support of the UX directors, and of each other, through sparring sessions and regular check-ins. They also get help to plan and make the sessions both purposeful and fun.

Each skill up will run over two months, with 4–6 hybrid sessions that mix talks, exercises, challenges, and guest speakers. Every track will include one AI-focused session, and all the content will be made reusable so others can learn from it later on.

What it’s really about

The skill ups are not just about activities or courses. They are about creating learning communities and growing together as designers. They are about giving people space to lead, learn, and experiment.

This is just the beginning, but it already feels like something that could really lift us as a design organisation. And as more people raise their hands to lead, we’ll keep building on this together, one skill up at a time.