About - Nils Sköld

About Nils

Also known as a personal letter, and CV

I'm a generalist designer. Rather than going deep, I like to go wide and work to be strong in every design field. From strategy and concept to architecture and wireframes, to visual design and animation. In my brief career I have done it all: studied engineering at Uni, started out as web designer, specialised in UX design then moved over to Art Direction, visual design and even did some advertising work in between. My main focus today is making other designers grow, keeping an eye on the big picture stuff, while still practising design so that I don't lose my touch.

That's me, pointing at important stuff and doing design direction.

The main thing I've learned over the past year managing a group of brand- and product designers is that while everyone has different ambitions and skillsets, more things unite us designers than separate us. We all want to improve things, become better designers every day and are all inspired by working with others. It turns out my true strength lies in helping designers grow. We set clear goals, I push for progress, track achievements on the way, and when we look back at the year, we amaze at what they have achieved.

Sketching wireframes with pen and paper, classic

If you asked co-workers about me they would tell you I'm the most passionate person in the office, I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to aesthetics and user experience. They would tell you I'm a fast learner, that I work at a breakneck pace, that I continuously doodle during meetings and structure my thoughts with keynotes. I make lots of decks. I'm good at hosting workshops, I form an argument quickly, and when I present my work I'm understood by all. I get things done, and that makes me stand out from the crowd. I come up with ideas and run with it. I see things through to the end.

On my spare days, I practice fencing or ride my fixie bike. I will watch a movie with my wife or have a beer with a friend at the weekend. Visit my Play page to see more of what I'm up to when I'm not at the office.

But don’t take my word for it, see what others have to say about me

I've had the pleasure of having Nils on my team as a design lead while at Amuse for almost 3 years. He delivers on time and is always on-brand (some guidelines might be "challenged" from time to time tho... but that's ok), which I value highly.

We threw a lot of things at Nils, high and low, but he never complained. Instead, he smiled and delivered visually stunning product design, presentations, facilitated company-wide workshops, and worked with employer branding, to name a few things. Nils is of a rare, almost extinct unicorn breed with his engineering, product, and UX & visual design background. All of those combined, Nils is nothing short of a creative and strategic powerhouse that I'd love to work alongside again—highly recommended.

— Christian Wilsson, CXO and Co-founder @ Amuse

“Nils is pure inspiration. He is eternally driven to create a better world, better service, better experience. He gets it like few others. He thrives in adversity and delights in monumental challenges.

He's a stunning designer and problem solver. He's a seeker, a giver and a devoted team player. A genuine collaborator while also a natural-born leader. Where everyone sees only the square peg/round hole, he'll swing by and without batting an eyepoint to where it actually is, in fact, a round peg/square hole - and make you think you saw it first!”

— Allison Ivmark, Head of Design @ Apegroup

“Nils is one of those crazy ambitious, creative guys you know is going to go far (I would be buying shares in him if he were a company). He always pushes for the best ideas and usually gets his will through (but he also listens).

You can tell that he genuinely loves what he does and enjoys going into work every morning, something you don't see in everybody. He has his antennas up and has great knowledge about what is going on right now in our fast-moving lane of the industry. Don't get fooled by his boyish (Tintin) look, this guy is the one to lead a BIG pitch and then deliver on that."

— Fredrik Marcus, Creative Director @ Creuna

Work History

2007 - 2023

I have 15 years of experience working as a designer in different types of companies all over the world. I also studied for five years to become a civil engineer. That's 20 years of combined experience, impressive.

Lead Designer @ Froda

June 2022 - Present

Froda give loans to small business. In an unregulated market, there are a lot of unethical players — Froda bet on that being transparent and trustworthy will pay off in the long run. My role is of the playing coach type, where I lead the day-to-day product design work, while building a world-class design team.

Lead Designer @ Bambuser

March 2021 - May 2022 (1 year)

Bambuser pivoted to Live Video Shopping in 2019 and really took off during COVID — going from 20 employees in January 2020 to over 200 in December the same year. I was the Lead Designer for the One-to-one product, as well as all things mobile. In my first year, I created "Appgrade" the design system for mobile apps. (Case study available on request).

Product Design Director @ Amuse

April 2018 - March 2021 (3 years)

Amuse is a venture capital-funded music distribution startup and record label in Stockholm. My time is split evenly between managing a group of five talented designers and leading the product design work. I started as the first design hire and then hired all designers who reported to me. Take a look at my work at Amuse.

Lead Designer @ Apegroup (now Umain)

October 2014 - March 2018 (3,5 years)

Apegroup is an independent digital agency in Stockholm, with clients such as McDonald's, IKEA and Autoliv. I led all design work on my accounts, including sales and client communication, together with a business- and a tech lead. My teams are usually 3-4 designers. I got promoted to head the marketing (40% allocation) after 18 months. Notable work is Fortum, TV4 and Doodlespot.

Product Designer @ Spotify

April 2014 - September 2014 (6 months)

In-house freelance work for the growth department where I was part of multiple projects to attract new users and convert them into paying customers. I did the onboarding via e-mail for all US customers, personalised album release notifications and a personal monthly report on your usage (that later became the Yearly Report). See some so work examples here.

Freelance UX Designer @ New Kids on the Web

October 2013 - Mars 2013 (6 months)

I moved back home from China after I was offered a position at Fantasy, the best design agency in the world at that time. They closed down their Stockholm office and took back my offer the day before my start date. Not a pleasant experience, to say the least. I freelanced for half a year while figuring out a new plan. Freelanced for a number of clients, for instance I redesigned moviezine.se and designed and built trivec.se

Senior UX Designer @ Sapient Nitro Shanghai

March 2013 - September 2013 (7 months)

Sapient Nitro is one of the worlds biggest digital agencies with offices all over the world and thousands of employees. The Shanghai office, with about 70 employees, focuses on digital advertising and campaigns. My work was primarily wireframes and concepts for clients like Fiat, Ferrero Rocker and Queensland Tourism.

Creative @ BBH Shanghai

November 2012 - February 2013 (4 months)

BBH is one of the most prominent advertising agencies in the world. I worked as an in-house freelancing creative with a digital focus, helping the agency going from traditional tv commercials to more interactive projects. I primarily worked on pitches, but also wrote tv ad scripts and did visual design for clients like Google, Sprite and the Chinese car brand Qoros.

Senior Interaction Designer @ Creuna

November 2010 - October 2012 (2 years)

Creuna was at the time the most prominent digital agency in the Nordics, with over 100 employees in the Stockholm office. I started as an interaction designer and got promoted to Senior after a year. Work included wireframes and concepts for clients like AstraZeneca, Point (Verifone) and Stockholm Stad.

Web Designer @ Dynamic Group

September 2008 - October 2010 (2 years)

Dynamic is a small digital agency. I started as the first hire in the design department and saw it grow to five people during my time there. I designed and developed Wordpress sites for smaller hotels and restaurants, and built an internal voting platform (in PHP) for the political party Moderaterna.

Intern Interaction Designer @ Cordovan Digital

January 2008 - June 2008 (6 months)

I wrote my master thesis during an internship at a medium-sized agency in Göteborg, my hometown. I did user research, wireframes and information architecture for the re-design of the paper and packaging company Korsnäs.

Intern co-op student @ Ericsson GSDC (Dublin)

June 2007 - October 2007 (6 months)

Global Service Delivery Centre (GSDC) installs masts and telephone networks all over the world. My work was to map internal processes — through interviews and research — and document it with internal websites. My proposed method was later adopted by multiple Ericsson offices, even outside of Ireland.

Studies

Master: Human Computer Interaction (HCI) @ Chalmers

August 2006 - June 2008 (2 years)

After three years of IT and technology, I changed the focus of my studies to interaction design. Best decision of my life.

Bachelor: Information Technology (IT) @ Chalmers

August 2003 - June 2006 (3 years)

I studied to be a civil engineer focusing on information technology for my bachelor—three years of Java programming, network security and IP-technology, and much math.

Extracurricular

Board member @ Bangerhead

November 2015 - November 2016 (1 year)

Bangerhead is one of the leading e-commerce players in the skincare field in the Nordics. I was included as a digital expert while they were re-designing their website and launching a new brand. I was the only non-owner on the board. After two successful launches, the board went back to consist of sole owners.

Lectures @ Berghs, Hyper Island, Stockholm University

January 2012 - Present

I have been invited and held multiple lectures on design throughout the years. I have done evening lectures at Berghs, presentations on marketing and data for Hyper Island students, as well as keynote presentations for Stockholm University, and the CMO gala, arranged by Di Digital.

Master Class @ Hyper Island

June 2011

I took part in a three-day course, held by Hyper Island in Karlskrona, about digital marketing and the future role of the web and digital agencies. Very enlightening.