Work

2022–2023, Head of Product Design at Kontist

Kontist – the digital tax advisor

Kontist is an all-in-one banking, bookkeeping and tax service app for freelancers in Germany. I worked as the head of product design in the company during 2022–2023.

The product consists of iOS and Android apps, a web app and a backend for handling bookkeeping and tax declarations (pictured). I led all areas of product design and ensured a seamless experience across all apps and touch points.

Besides leading the design work, I was also responsible for scaling up design systems, manuals and processes.

Summary

Led all areas of product design and contributed to the company’s longer term product strategy.
Sparred and assisted with other areas of design including branding, marketing and service design.
Hired, managed and mentored designers remotely across Europe.
Scaled up design systems, manuals and processes, drove the company’s design transformation.

2019–present, Board member at Pelago Bicycles

Pelago – good bikes for better life

Pelago is a Finnish bicycle company that designs, manufactures and sells products for daily commuting and recreational riding. I am working as a member of the company’s board since 2019, focusing on business development, digital transformation and e-commerce.

Despite my formal role as a board member, I am actively contributing to the company’s product strategy by developing and presenting new sales, service, manufacturing and other concepts.

I also assist the designers and product managers at Pelago with concrete design tasks, such as product discovery, prototyping and user testing. Above is a prototype of a bike registration concept created by me.

Summary

Advising the company on business development, digital transformation and e-commerce.

2018–2021, Head of Design at Holvi

Holvi – calm the chaos of self-employment

Combining money management tools with a business current account, Holvi develops and offers a digital banking service for freelancers and entrepreneurs. I was responsible for leading all areas of design within the organization during 2018-2021.

As the head of design I was responsible for shaping the long-term design strategy and translating it into design principles, guidelines and systems. The brand renewal 2017-2018 (pictured above) was done in collaboration with creative agency Werklig.

When I joined the company, the product was burdened with legacy features and technical debt. Over the years our team managed to streamline and improve the UI, resulting in surging app ratings and NPS scores (the iOS app in 2018, 2019 and 2020).

Summary

Defined the company’s long-term design strategy and communicated it both internally and externally.
Set up design systems, manuals and guidelines, and nurtured design thinking in the entire organisation.
Established data-driven design processes, design reviews and other design routines.
Hired, managed and mentored designers in multiple geographic locations (Helsinki, Berlin, Madrid).

2013–2017, Founder and CEO, Mapdon Inc.

Mapdon – we put your business on the map

In 2013, I founded a design consultancy with a focus on digital maps and location based services. During the consecutive five years, Mapdon delivered dozens of websites, mobile apps and other projects that typically included some kind of a map.

The consultancy operated in the intersection of digital, physical and social environments. In 2014, Mapdon helped the airport of Helsinki to develop service maps that could be tailored based on transit passengers’ itinerary and stopover duration.

Mapdon’s biggest customer segment consisted of cities struggling with citizen engagement. The map-based tools created for the cities of Espoo and Helsinki have won several awards for enabling more straightforward participation during various stages of city planning.

One of my personal favorites was a project done for the Helsinki City Museum. The outcome of the project, a collection of three mobile apps, presented the historical development of Helsinki through old maps, photographs and other digitized material.

Summary

Founded and managed a design consultancy with a focus on maps and location based services.
Employed and led a team of three in-house designers and a network of external consultants.
Delivered dozens of projects to clients ranging from cities to ministries and airports to universities.

Recognition

Winner, ‘Most Potential Innovation’ category; The Mayor’s Innovation Competition, City of Espoo; Budjetoi puisto – Budget Your Park, in collaboration with WSP; 2015
Winner, ‘Public Services and Active Citizens’ category; Open Finland Challenge 2015; Budjetoi puisto – Budget Your Park, in collaboration with WSP; 2015
Winner, Category for Public Sector and Not-for-Profit Organizations; Quality Innovation of the Year competition, Laatukeskus – Excellence Finland; Budjetoi puisto – Budget Your Park, in collaboration with WSP; 2015
Winner, ‘Prototyping for organisational change’ category; Service Design Award, Service Design Network; Helsinki Airport Travellab project, in collaboration with Hellon and Ida Kukkapuro; 2015
Winner, Service Design category; Vuoden Huiput – Best of Finnish creative design, Grafia ry; Helsinki Airport Travellab project, in collaboration with Hellon and Ida Kukkapuro; 2015
Winner, ‘Citizen Voice’ category; Apps4Finland 2013 Competition; Helsinki Youth Department Service Renewal; 2013
Winner, ‘City of the Youth’ category; Apps4Finland 2013 Competition; Helsinki Youth Department Service Renewal; 2013

View more ↓ View less ↑

2016–2017, Chief Design Officer, Wanderfeel

Wanderfeel – get your site together

Wanderfeel keeps construction projects on track using computer vision, machine learning and automatically generated ‘as-built’ models of the site. I worked in the startup as the chief design officer during 2016–2017, accounting for all areas of design from branding to product design.

As the chief design officer of an early stage startup, my responsibilities ranged from UX to UI design and from illustration to copywriting. Besides designing the visual identity and all brand assets, I also designed and partly developed the frontend of the product.

Summary

Accounted for all areas of design from branding to product design in an early stage startup.
Designed the visual identity, produced all brand assets and developed the marketing site.
Defined high-level information architecture, key user flows and design language of the product.
Designed and partly developed the frontend of the product.

2011–2016, Vice President of Product, Restaurant Day

Restaurant Day – a day on which anyone can open a restaurant

Restaurant Day was an initiative that encouraged anyone to set up a restaurant for a day. It was organized worldwide on a quarterly basis and coordinated using a website that was created and managed by me during 2011–2016.

The website contained information about thousands of restaurants in nearly 100 countries and attracted more than a million visitors during the lifespan of the festival. Besides developing the map-based registration system, I was in charge of coordinating the localization of the site into 18 different languages.

The festival won multiple awards, mainly for pushing the boundaries of public participation, urban culture and service design. Its four mobile apps, the outcomes of a hackathon organized by me in 2012, were also awarded several times.

Summary

Designed and developed the festival’s website and map-based registration system.
Led a team of ca. 40 volunteers contributing to the design, development, maintenance and localization of the festival’s website and mobile apps.
Worked as the vice president of the board and helped the festival expand from Finland to nearly 100 countries.

Recognition

Finnish Travel Award; Finnish Fair Foundation; 2014
Social Media Event of the Year; Some Awards Finland, Aller Media; 2013
Winner, ‘Company excelling in mobile services utilization’ category; Best Mobile Service in Finland Competition, Teleforum Ry; 2012
Best Event; Best of Helsinki vote, Helsinki City Tourism and Convention Bureau; 2012
Gadget of the year; Glorian Ruoka & Viini magazine; 2012
Cultural Act of the Year; Awarded by Helsinki City Library and Cultural Committee; 2012
Finland Prize; Ministry of Education and Culture Finland; 2011

View more ↓ View less ↑

2009–2012, Lead Designer, Tekla Corporation

Tekla BIMsight – replacing pen and paper with a digital model

Tekla BIMsight is a free tool for managing construction projects and reviewing 3D models. I was in charge of leading the team that defined its high-level design principles and created its first public release in 2011.

The product has won several awards for improving collaboration and communication in the industry. Today, Tekla BIMsight is being used to cut errors and waste in thousands of construction projects worldwide.

Summary

Led a product development team responsible for creating a new software product from scratch.
Defined high-level information architecture, key user flows and design language of the product.
Managed four direct reports and coordinated the work of external agencies and consultants.
Prioritised the tasks of ca. 12 developers as a product owner.

Recognition

Winner, Business Tools and Software category; Most Innovative Product competition, World of Concrete Exhibition; 2012
Gold Innovation Award; Batimat International Building Exhibition; 2011
Hottest Technology Product; Modern Steel Construction magazine; 2011

2003–2008, M.Sc. in Architecture, Aalto University

Master’s thesis – rethinking computer-aided urban planning

I graduated as an architect in 2008. The bottom line of my master’s thesis was that computers should rather be used as an extension to the architect’s (or any designer’s) thinking instead of a more accurate pen.

To test my ideas in practice, I developed several applications for simulating the creative processes on various scales and fields of architecture. In fact, I used some kind of ‘assistive technology’ on most of the design courses I completed.

I explored the topic further in my D.Sc. studies at Aalto University during 2013–2016, focusing on agent-based models and how they could be utilized in the design of residential areas. I put my studies on hold in 2016, as I was interested in pursuing more hands-on product development projects.

Summary

Completed Master’s degree in architecture with a major in urban planning and minor in computer science.
Explored ways of improving the architectural design process using artificial intelligence and other new technologies.
Developed several applications to demonstrate the ideas in practice.

1997–present, Self-employed web developer, designer and consultant

The early years – life between buildings and computers

Summary

Bought a handbook on HTML3 and learned how to code in 1997.
Created websites and digital services as a freelancer for the following 12+ years.
Graduated as an architect but ended up leading a product development team in an IT company.
Went on exploring.

Jyrki Vanamo

Kontist – the digital tax advisor

Summary

Pelago – good bikes for better life

Summary

Holvi – calm the chaos of self-employment

Summary

Mapdon – we put your business on the map

Summary

Recognition

Wanderfeel – get your site together

Summary

Restaurant Day – a day on which anyone can open a restaurant

Summary

Recognition

Tekla BIMsight – replacing pen and paper with a digital model

Summary

Recognition

Master’s thesis – rethinking computer-aided urban planning

Summary

The early years – life between buildings and computers

Summary

Contact