Design as a Growth Driver

Lessons from Norway’s Fastest Growing Companies

Customer Experience & Design

NoA Ignite — The digital consultancy that delivers

Strategic use of design is closely linked to growth, profitability, and innovation. International research has shown this for years.

DOGA, Design and Architecture Norway, works to strengthen innovation and sustainable value creation through design. Wanting to better understand how design contributes to innovation in practice, DOGA commissioned this study together with NoA Ignite, focusing on companies that succeed with growth.

To explore how this plays out in practice, DOGA and NoA Ignite studied 16 Norwegian companies known for growth, innovation, and strong market positions. The group includes companies such as reMarkable, Cognite, Autodesk Forma, Vipps, and Oda. The aim was not to redefine what design is, but to understand how successful organizations use design-driven innovation in their everyday work.

Across industries and company sizes, a clear pattern emerged. Design is treated as a shared way of working. It is used to align teams, guide decisions, and connect insight to execution. This stands in contrast to a common perception of design as something primarily visual or decorative. In these companies, design is part of leadership and part of how the organization moves forward.

This captures the core of Design som vekstdriver. The goal was simple. Learn from companies that have succeeded with growth and share the practices behind their progress. The findings show that design maturity is not an abstract ideal. It is a practical advantage that influences how teams collaborate, how products evolve, and how organizations create lasting value.

Four principles behind design led growth

Across all 16 companies, the findings are organized around four well-established design principles. The principles themselves are not new. What gives them weight here is how clearly the examples show what they mean in practice, across very different organizations.

User centered

The most mature companies rely on insight as a shared foundation. They combine qualitative and quantitative understanding. They work closely with expert users and customers to quickly understand what works and what does not. They do not rely on interviews alone. They observe how their products are used in practice. Oda has developed a Barrier Model based on user insight to understand why customers choose them or choose something else. Nofence uses insight cycles to set goals and direction. reMarkable tests early to understand user expectations before committing resources. Insight becomes clarity.

Cross functional

Design becomes stronger when it is shared. The companies in the study work across the entire value chain. Designers collaborate closely with engineers and other disciplines. Design is anchored high in the organization as a role, a perspective, and a method for decision making.

Small, cross-functional teams are given autonomy to move fast, while clear direction ensures everyone pulls in the same direction. Visualization is used to simplify complexity and to create a shared language across disciplines. The result is more coherent solutions and a more aligned organization.

Iterative

These companies work in cycles of learning. They build early versions to test assumptions. HiRO started with an ice cream container to understand how children interacted with a speaker. Nåva Space prototyped parts of a space suit from cardboard to speed up development. Sanity launched a dashboard before the full need existed so they could learn sooner. They deliberately balance different development speeds in parallel. Some parts of the product allow rapid iteration and higher risk, while others require stability and near-zero tolerance for errors. This balance creates speed without chaos.

Holistic

The most mature organizations design for the entire experience. They have clear brand identities that guide both how they work internally and how they are perceived externally. They see the product as part of a larger ecosystem. Vipps uses shared principles that shape everything from communication to product decisions. Vestre connects values like quality and sustainability to every part of the organization including their factory The Plus which is the world’s most environmentally friendly furniture factory. Oda uses customer journey thinking to bring together logistics, technology and service into one experience. Holism becomes coherence.

From insight to practice

The companies in this study show that growth follows when design becomes part of how work actually gets done. Not as theory. Not as a framework. But in everyday decisions, across teams and disciplines.

If you’re curious what that could look like in your organisation, we’re happy to talk.

Julie Sand Fuglum: Principal Advisor; (+47)90016839|julie.fuglum@noaignite.com

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Design as a Growth DriverDesign as a Growth Driver

From insight to practice

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