Culture by Design
Two weeks to build a design and team culture
Design Culture Programme
A culture, not a training
In May 2023 I co-led UX Weeks, the first two-week programme to bring the UX team of Siemens Smart Infrastructure together in Zurich. I shaped the agenda, gave two presentations, ran activities and hosted colleagues travelling in from abroad. The brief was to build a culture, not to run a training: a team spread across locations does not become one through tools alone. It needs shared knowledge, a clear view of the business it designs for, and room to speak up.
Three goals shaped every day: consolidate design knowledge, understand the reality of the business, and shape a team that is safe, proactive, innovative and friendly.
From problems to action
Design thinking days, a field day and an operation day moved the team from exploring problems to owning outcomes, working in groups. A Stakeholder Day closed the programme: a round table with senior leadership, questions collected live, and a yarn installation inviting everyone to say something.
Beyond the workshop room
Culture also happens away from the whiteboard: a hiking day above Lake Lucerne, a pottery workshop, time to be people as well as colleagues. As the closing slide put it, culture does not make people, people make culture.
