Meet our People of Solita. We have over 1000 employees in different locations with different skills and backgrounds – each with a story to share about what they do and what inspires them.
This is Lauri, our Service Design professional, dog lover and D&D enthusiast.
Variety of projects makes my job interesting
I would describe myself as a generalist who doesn’t necessarily have one area of expertise but rather an understanding of a range of themes relating to service development, and a capability to see the big picture.
During my time at Solita, I have worked on a variety of projects ranging from mobile apps and digital strategies all the way to fighting climate change or supporting circular economy. This variety of projects has allowed me to boost my professional development and learn from others, as I’ve collaborated with so many people from different backgrounds and fields of expertise. I like to tap into other people’s brain and absorb as much new knowledge as I can. Cross-functional collaboration in projects from a-z has widened my perspective and helped me understand the value of different viewpoints.
I strive to combine design thinking, customer understanding and our clients’ business objectives and craft digital services that truly meet the goals and needs that the client has. Doing the design part well doesn’t mean that the project becomes never-ending and heavy, instead, it should be seen as a sanity check to ensure that we are focusing on the right things and that the outcome will delight users and solve the right problems. This way, thoughtful design can actually save both time and money.
Seeing the impact of our work inspires me
What most inspires me in my work is seeing the impact of what we do. It’s not only about our clients ́ business goals, but often there is a wider contribution to society or the environment. It’s gratifying to get positive feedback and see that the app or service we have created functions well.
For example, we collaborated over the summer with Finnish health authorities to launch Corona Blinker (Koronavilkku), Finland’s Covid-19 contact tracing app. I had the opportunity to design its user interface and visuals. The app helps combat the spread of Covid-19 and could even save lives.
I also work as the lead designer for Pocket Therapist (Taskuterapeutti), an app that supports the trauma psychotherapy process, and hearing customers’ and therapists’ feedback has been quite touching. Some people have even said that using the app has brought them hope during process that can feel painful and hopeless.
A workplace where I’ve made some good friends
If I had to describe the culture of Solita in a nutshell, I would say that we are a community of brilliant minds where people genuinely care about each other. In general, we have a lot of say in what we do and how we do it. My impression is that Solita wants to hire the best people and ask them what they want to do.
I’ve also made some good friends here. Hobby clubs have created deep friendships. To give an example, my colleagues introduced me to the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, and it quickly became my favourite hobby. But the tabletop group also turned into a group of friends, and we even take cabin trips together.
To be successful in this kind of culture, it helps to be self-directed and curious. I’ve had the opportunity to stick my nose into all types of projects which has taught me a lot. Understanding different perspectives and gaining knowledge from other disciplines has helped me to be successful in cross-functional projects and develop an eye for details that are outside my own know-how.
Teamwork is also an important part of how we work; we don’t have any lone wolves here. It’s also fun to work in teams, you have sounding boards for your ideas, and you can learn from others. The know-how here is quite unique as we have people from such a wide variety of backgrounds. I feel like this diversity makes us smarter and has helped me grow.
Lauri Kieksi is a Service Design professional who works at Solita’s Design & Strategy community. Our design people get to work with cross-functional projects and bring their expertise into action in a variety of projects. By combining design, business goals and human insight our teams can come up with the best solutions and create long-lasting impact.
We are constantly looking for new talented co-workers. Join Lauri and our Solita community!
