Freedom, impact and customer value – these describe a designer’s work at OP Financial Group

OP Financial Group produces impactful, long-term solutions and value. Its designers work in a multi-professional, agile and highly valued design community within a company where design thinking is already embedded in the culture.

Design at OP Financial Group

Design is an important part of OP Financial Group’s operations and we have more than 100 designers in four roles: Product Designer, Service Designer, Content Designer and Strategic Designer.    

In their daily work, designers are members of agile teams and tribes, and part of a diverse and multi-skilled group of experts. They are involved in the design and development of products and services across OP Financial Group’s businesses. We design products and services for customers and employees, while developing the organisation and its capabilities through various kinds of vision and strategy work. The most inspiring aspect of a designer’s work is having the chance to impact on the daily lives of millions of people by developing outstanding services. 

A multi-professional, agile and valued design community

Like the customer experience, design involves everyone at OP Financial Group. Our customer-centric business culture and design thinking are now embedded in development activity across OP Financial Group – we are, after all, a customer-owned company whose key goal is to generate customer value through its products. That is why we value our designers so highly.     

Our vibrant, closely collaborating community mainly consists of designers, but is also open to other professionals interested in design. Customer-centricity is the cornerstone of all we do. We regularly arrange events, forums and workshops to enhance competence development and the sharing of information among designers and other staff with an interest in design. Through events and information sharing, we also ensure that our employees create the best possible customer experience now and in the future.  

Being a Designer at OP Financial Group

OP Financial Group is the largest financial actor and a major technology firm in Finland. The designers working here are the best in the sector, specialising in areas such as service concepts, interface solutions and strategy work. Despite the differences in their duties, all of our designers have the following in common: freedom, an impactful approach, and the ambition to create the best possible customer experience. At OP Financial Group, designers work in four different roles, which are described below. 

Service Designer

Service Designers use design methods and tools to ensure that customer value is created on the basis of product and service concepts. They also facilitate collaboration between internal stakeholders and engage customers in the design process. Another important aspect of their work is the collection and analysis of customer perspectives in support of decision-making in business activities and service development. A Service Designer designs products, services and processes customer-centrically, so that they create value for both the business and customers.   

”I’ve been able to help ensure that design thinking and customer insight are embedded in the work of every employee and the development of OP’s services and businesses. I know that I’ve succeeded when the customer’s pain points disappear and feedback is markedly reduced. It’s been a pleasant surprise to see customers genuinely wanting to help us develop our services and giving feedback, appreciating the fact that we listen to them.”

- Expert Service Designer Kirsi Ylimäinen

Product Designer

Product Designers are in charge of designing a unified service-user experience. They create finalised interface solutions and help developers to implement them. They also help to ensure that the final implementation is as planned. A Product Designer’s work takes account of the requirements of different platforms and OP Financial Group’s unified style, and the general principles of usability and accessibility. Product Designers also ensure that both qualitative and quantitative data is used, and users are engaged, in the design of the user experience.   

”Design-rootedness and customer-centricity can be seen and heard across OP. Our design community is a wonderful mix of strengths. We trust in and value each other's competencies. My daily work consists of a range of joint tasks, continuous improvement and trying out new things. OP’s values – people first, creativity and responsibility – give my work meaning.” 

Content Designer

Content Designers are responsible for content as a whole and its consistency across channels and platforms. They also deploy their understanding and knowledge of language and communications in support of service development. Another key task is creating content that builds an excellent customer experience and promotes the achievement of business and brand goals. A Content Designer ensures that a customer-centric approach is taken and that content is interesting, understandable and in line with the brand’s tone of voice.     

”For me, the priority is service usability; easing the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Finland is extremely motivating. Luckily, I can make a difference in just this area by being involved in the whole process from conceptualisation to implementation. In my work, I ensure that OP-mobile’s text content is easy to understand and accessible. The introduction of Apple Pay to OP-mobile comes to mind as a particularly successful project, since customers had long been hoping for the feature.”  
 
- Senior Content Designer Harri Partanen  

Strategic Designer

Strategic Designers support the strategy work of OP Financial Group and its businesses, and the preparation and implementation of strategic choices. They are responsible for providing the understanding, perspective and proposals for action required to support strategy work and business management. Their work combines customer insight, knowledge of changes in customer behaviour, business requirements, and technology development perspectives. In addition, a Strategic Designer builds, facilitates and maintains stakeholder work. 

”I’ve been at OP for eight years. In that time, various businesses have become very familiar to me. However, I’m surprised by how important the cooperative’s values have become for me – I want to work in the best interests of our customers. I’m inspired by projects in which I can provide opportunities for wide-ranging improvement of the customer experience. I also enjoy collaborating with various experts and local OP cooperative banks around Finland.” 
 
- Strategic Designer Hanna Nissinen  

From trainee to Product Designer 

A designer’s career can take off during a traineeship at OP Financial Group. Juuso Peltola, who joined OP as a Kiitorata trainee, stayed on afterwards as a Product Designer. Read more about his experiences below.