Hello Matthias, please tell us, who are you?

I’m a cheerful, positive person who likes to drive projects forward and find neat solutions, which is very helpful in my work as an innovator. In addition to my work as a consultant, for the past six months I have been tasked with running the work Avalon does in Insight & Design. I was born and raised in the Netherlands but 12 years ago I moved to Sweden as a student, here I met a woman who is now my wife. We have two daughters and live in the city of Lund and neighbourhood Djingis Khan (the housing cooperative with the most children in Sweden).

We are curious about Insight & Design, tell us more, what does it mean?

Insight & Design are the first phases of development. At Avalon Innovation we firmly believe in innovation using the insight of all concerned parties. Through interviews, observations and data analysis we find unfulfilled needs which will create new space for innovation to our customers. Based on the insight gained our designers would then form ideas and concepts which will act as the foundation of products and services we develop at Avalon.

What is innovation to you and how do you use it in your work?

I’m sure you have seen the ‘new’ lids for screw top jars which hardly need any force to break the vacuum seal. In my opinion that is a textbook example of innovation! When the solution to a problem leads you to think: “Why didn’t we always do it this way?”. In my work I create solutions and come up with smart designs aiming to make an experience similar to that of the screw top lid.

What is your dream assignment?

My dream assignment would be to work with a team from Avalon to design and develop a product which through innovation has a positive impact on climate and environment. Maybe something to revolutionise energy or food production?

What is your greatest source of motivation in your work?

What drives me is to know that I, through my work, is contributing to making the world a better place. That might be safer food delivery through better packaging materials or an electric jetboard that spreads joy. Together with my colleagues and I make the world a better and more joyous place for the future.

How has your experience working at Avalon Innovation been?

It has been really good in my opinion! The organisation of teams, different offices along the size of the company means you have the opportunity to get to know a lot of the colleagues under different conditions even though you don’t work with all of them daily. Still Avalon Innovation is a big enough company to be a significant actor in the field and as such we as consultants get the opportunity to work in exciting projects and with cool corporations. The organisation of Avalon is also open enough to let anyone bring thoughts and ideas which are acted upon, either by you or others. You are given the space to develop your ideas and grow your knowledge. And with a CEO who started at Avalon as a master thesis student you know that anything is possible!

Want to know more about Insight & Design? Read the news article about the launch of Insight & Design.