Eline Ermens

Global Head of Design & User Research Design Strategy, Innovation & Human-centred Design

Eline leads multidisciplinary design and research teams that turn consumer insight into product direction, customer experience and transformation. A strategic relationship builder and translator across design, business, technology and people, she drives change while supporting sustainable practices and business goals.

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Experience

  1. Global Head of Design & User Research

    Volvo Cars Stockholm, Sweden – Present

    Leads the Design Research practice within Advanced/Strategic Design and manages a team of 15. Connects human insight with business, technology and design, from early opportunity spaces to final design.

  2. Lead Design Strategist, Car UX

    Volvo Cars Stockholm, Sweden –

    Influenced the product roadmap and Volvo Cars’ sustainability and circularity initiatives as the company moved from hardware towards sustainable platforms.

  3. Design Strategy Lead

    Freelance –

  4. Associate Design Strategy Director

    McKinsey & Company Stockholm, Sweden –

    Led teams driving and scaling sustainable innovation, circular design and systems thinking globally, with a focus on apparel, fashion and lifestyle.

  5. Senior Design Strategist, McKinsey Design (formerly Veryday)

    McKinsey & Company Stockholm, Sweden –

    Led in-depth research and design projects for Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha across the UAE, China, the US and Europe, with teams of designers, technologists, analysts and consultants.

  6. Senior Brand Strategist

    Essen International AB Stockholm, Sweden –

    Delivered people and business insights and strategic advice to brands, owned client relations and coached junior strategists.

  7. Senior Strategist & Researcher

    This Memento Amsterdam, Netherlands –

    Led qualitative consumer research and brand strategy for global brands, specialising in ethnographic and mixed-method research.

    Clients: Nike, Converse, O'Neill, Onitsuka Tiger, Hunkemöller, V&D, NOS Jeugdjournaal, Wieden+Kennedy, AKQA

  8. Strategist & Researcher

    This Memento Amsterdam, Netherlands –

  9. Project Manager

    Mediamatic Amsterdam, Netherlands –

  10. Project Manager

    Sid Lee Amsterdam, Netherlands –

  11. Manager of retail teams and stores

    Diesel Benelux –

  12. Sales associate and visual merchandiser

    Diesel Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands –

Expertise

Recommendations

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  • Owen Ready
    Founder, Stance Strategy

    I managed Eline at Volvo Cars when she was Head of Design & User Research, and she was a real asset to the team.

    She really gets what research and insight can do for a design process, and she's able to get other people to see it too. She's also great with stakeholders, rebuilding relationships with internal teams that had been burnt before, which isn't easy, and it made a big difference to how the work got done.

    During the reorg she was incredibly organised and looked after her team brilliantly while everything was up in the air. She is great with people as well project work.

    Any team would be lucky to have her.

  • Thomas Stovicek
    Head Of User Experience, Volvo Cars

    It was a genuine pleasure having Eline as part of the UX team at Volvo Cars. She served as a as UX Strategist and was later promoted to Head of User Research, with an even broader scope and larger impact across Design and the company.

    Eline has a ability to synthesise complex data into insights, and translate those insights into actions that resonated with designers and partner teams. She's skilled at untangling the unknown, bringing clarity to ambiguity and sharpening both user needs and design strategy in the process.

    Beyond her craft, Eline is an excellent people leader, and managed a team of researchers. She is collaborative, and has the ability to build trust with partners. She's a mature leader wants to deeply understand users. All of these aspects help drive influence across the company, and impact for the company and customers.

    Eline is a pleasure to work with, a smart insights lead and a genuinely great colleague. Any organisation would be lucky to have her.

  • Astrid Kowalczyk
    CX & Marketing Director, D’Ieteren

    Eline is one of those people who leaves an impression. 🌟 She knows how to lead people and organizations, how to reason and proof a point through data, research and her smart insightful thinking.

    We had the opportunity to collaborate at a senior level (both at Volvo Cars and when she was a consultant at McKinsey), navigating strategic questions and directions from our respective roles, and I always found those conversations both inspiring and thought-provoking.

    She has a rare combination of strategic sharpness, courage and genuine curiosity and the courage to challenge when it matters. She’s not afraid to speak up or question the direction, but always with thought, clarity and purpose.

    A true star I’m genuinely very happy to recommend!!

  • Malin Orebäck
    Program Director, RE:Source SIP & Business Leader, Circular Business Lab, RISE

    Eline is a rare multi-talent with a long and diverse experience. This makes her incredibly valuable in teams as she has a wealth of experience to draw from in any situation. She is a true researcher with an expansive toolkit for all types of qualitative and quantitative research. She is also leveraging this knowledge as a very capable strategist, advising brands on global markets. Her sense of order and structure also makes her a great team leader and many times have I leaned on her to drive things forward and not drop the ball.

    But beyond this, she is one of a kind in the way she brings energy to any room or occasion, her awesome sense of humour, her quirky and wonderful style makes people relax all around. It is always a blessing to work with you Eline!

  • Dr. Michael Waltinger
    Director, Nordic Healthcare Group

    Over the past few years, I have worked with Eline as the leadership-tandem of McKinsey Designs global Design Research Learning & Capability Building community.

    I have met few people with comparably deep and broad knowledge of applied people insight techniques. Eline does bring this to the table, paired with client oriented strategic thinking, charismatic people and team leadership, as well as a sweeping passion for working on topics that make the world a better place to live in.

    Working with Eline definitely makes working better, and more fun!

  • Anton Gårdsäter
    Creative Director, Essen International

    I had the great pleasure to take part of Elines energy, integrity and positive spirit while working together at Essen International.

    As a Creative Director it always makes med happy when I meet a strategist who besides a sharp analytic capacity also have a strong creative mind. Eline is not afraid of doing things in new ways and her drive and persistence is priceless when it comes to leadership and problem solving.

    I wish her all the best and the company that hires her are fortunate.

  • Linda Tjärdal
    Brand Manager, ATG

    Eline is smart, driven and fun to be around. She is genuinely interested in people and energetic enough to push any business forward. I’ll miss her both as a strategic speaking partner as well as a lunch companion.

  • Alex Holmén
    CEO, Essen International AB

    Eline is very positive and proactive. With her analytical and business focus, she goes beyond her strategic assignments, developing processes and acquiring new business at a critical point in time. She has been actively pitching for international companies and has directly impacted the sales team to push themselves even further. Simply a person you want to have on your team, I recommend Eline to whoever might ask.

  • Jason Fulton
    Founder and CEO, This Memento Amsterdam B.V.

    Eline worked for thisMemento for 5 years; in this day an age, that's an amazing level of devotion, belief and loyalty.

    She was my first employee after the agency's first 6 months and I (we) never looked back. She was my left brain when I needed it, or vice versa. She 'got'; what, how, when & why things needed to be done, before I had even thought about them.

    She's a rare breed of; creativity (visual and ideas), pragmatism, strategy and great work experience, all rolled up into one happy, funny x serious (when needed) bundle.

    We're sad to have lost her, but happy that she has gone on to such a great role reflective of her talent and capabilities. We hope to work with her again soon.

  • Nicole Sanches
    cultural anthropologist/researcher-lecturer, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

    Eline is a thorough and detailed researcher and strategist. A perfectionist in the most positive sense of the word and a professional who knows to put her many talents to use in a single job. Always a pleasure to work with her!

  • Kirsten van den Hul
    Toezichthouder, dagvoorzitter/spreker, columnist, adviseur

    Working with Eline is a joy. Creative, bright and connected, always ready to go the extra mile, she simply gets things done. Problem? Not in her dictionary. Solutions, that's what's up!

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