A target, destination or journey. If you were to translate the Finnish word ‘kohde’ that is where you would end up. Your vision is our guiding principle too. We go on a journey with you to help you reach your destination.
It could be to launch your business, grow your customer base or clarify your proposition, but our single-minded goal is transformation.
You are unique, but your pain points are familiar to us. These are our ten principles that will get you there.
Codifying Kohde
We listen more than we talk
The question you will ask is ‘have I been heard?’ The question we will ask you is ‘have we heard you correctly?’
Everything we do hinges on a deep understanding of your business, customers, and how and why they buy from you, not your competitors. This means questions. Knowing when to shut up and when to listen.
We care, even before you start paying us
We’re invested in you and invested in what we do.
We don’t look at problems at face value; your problem means it’s our problem to solve and we have to scratch beneath the surface. We always see opportunity ahead, and the complexity you face is the simplicity we will uncover. This is what excites us, and we go all in.
We think macro, and deliver micro
We have an ability to think about your business at a holistic level, and challenge ourselves to delight in the mundane.
Sloppy execution sends a signal ‘we don’t care’. This comes back to caring. Nothing makes us recoil more than bad execution that doesn’t align with your brand purpose or guidelines. It’s not just us, though. Turn up inconsistently, and your customers will start to recoil too.
We’re in it for the long haul
Transformation doesn’t happen in a project. It happens in a relationship.
This is where we do our best work. Trust us to deliver on your vision and mission. If you want fast and cheap, come back to us when it’s all gone wrong.
We’re your outsourced in-house design agency
We embed ourselves in your business and embed ourselves in your teams.
We work alongside your marketing, product, development and customer success teams but with one clear advantage: outside perspective.
We thrive in complexity
Complex products, long sales cycles, multiple personas with different levels of digital maturity; in a nutshell this is B2B.
Call it a quirk in our DNA, or we are just used to seeing these patterns, but we love turning complexity into simplicity. Your customers will love you too. They will understand the problem you solve and for whom, make it easier to buy and become your champion on the inside, helping to sell up through your customer’s organisation.
Design isn’t 9—5
Solutions come when inspiration strikes and inspiration can strike at 3am.
That means you aren’t buying time. You buy experience and creativity, and we always allow ourselves the time to deliver the best solution, not the quickest solution.
Your worldview isn’t everyone’s view
As the founder of your business you are the Northstar. This is the reason your business exists.
You are our guiding light, too, and we will work alongside you, but as you grow, your culture will evolve, and deep expertise will spread across all your teams. Sometimes those views will oppose you, or you may be blissfully unaware of some the stories that will unfold in front if us. Ignore those views at your peril.
We believe in design
Trends come and go. We’ve been around long enough to have seen several gold rushes and had several role name changes.
If we said we believe in brand, we would say we don’t believe in product, and vice versa. To us, it’s design. It always will be. We centre around your customer no matter where they are on the buyer’s journey. Design is the lever that creates transformation. Transformation in your customer. Transformation in your business.
There are no gurus or ninjas around here. We believe in design, and so do you.
How you’ll say goodbye
The way we lose customers is through acquisition or takeover.
We’re proud of getting you there, but always sad to see our creations put out to pasture. They are like our children that have grown up with us.
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