Automotive & mobility

B2B

How Edenred went from design bottleneck to self-sufficient product teams in two years

Client

UTA Edenred

UTA Edenred

Model

In-housing

In-housing

The UTA Edenred fleet management dashboard displayed on a tablet device, photographed at an angle against a dramatic red and dark background. The screen shows the personalised home screen with a welcome message, fleet credit limit, card status, spending per card bar chart, latest invoices, and a live charger status section.

Services

User research

User research

UX/UI design

UX/UI design

Product strategy

Product strategy

Rapid prototyping

Rapid prototyping

Info

Our lead designer joined Edenred Mobility, a €650M business serving 60,000 European companies. The next two years would prove that embedding expertise beats external consulting every time.

Login screen for UTA Edenred showing email and password fields, a "Forgotten your password?" link, a Login button, and a photo of two workers at a fuel station holding a UTA card.
Dashboard home screen showing fleet overview with credit limit (750€ remaining, 60% of 1,500€ monthly limit), 12 active cards (8 active, 4 frozen), a spending per card bar chart, latest invoices, an orders notification, and a network update alert.
CO2 emissions analytics panel with two tabs (Fuel CO2 Emission and Fuel volume). Shows a pie chart breaking down total emissions by fuel type (charging 42%, diesel, gasoline) totalling 10,000T CO2, and a bar chart showing monthly CO2 emissions from July to December.
Energy cost summary panel on red background showing total fleet energy costs (45,851.20€), broken down into fuel costs (35,560.30€) and EV costs (10,290.90€), with EV charging costs split by roaming, work site, and home, plus average kWh prices per context.
Admin view modal on dark navy background with options to impersonate a customer and access a Vehicles section under Operations, with a close button in the top right.
Live charger status widget on a light grey background showing five status categories with colour-coded icons: Available (85), In error (5), Suspended (0), In charge (4), and Offline (1), with a link to manage company charging points.

Challenge

Edenred's digital transformation faced three critical barriers. Legacy systems consumed resources whilst becoming unmaintainable. Product decisions relied on assumptions not evidence. Design operated as a service function, not strategic capability. The company was spending millions on platform development but had no way to validate user success.

Our analysis

The key to solving Edenred challenge wasn't adding designers, it was embedding design thinking across the organisation. Rather than building a design department that created dependency, we focused on capability transfer. Our lead designer would establish research methods, prove their value through rapid wins, then transfer ownership back to product teams.

Vehicles list page showing a searchable, filterable table of fleet vehicles with columns for plate number, nickname, category, manufacturer, card subscription status, and toll subscription status.
Card detail page for card ASR-185-285 showing a UTA card visual, card metadata (nickname, vehicle plate, serial number, cost centres, expiry, PIN, customer number), and action buttons to edit, freeze, or block the card.
Transactions page showing 2,501 transactions in a table with columns for card, date, site, details (fuel type and volume or EV charging), and amount. Filters available for status, card, date range, and product type.

What we did

01.

Created the ‘5-minute pit stop’ research method

Truck drivers are always driving and fleet managers always busy, so traditional research failed. Refuelling takes five minutes per 1,000 litres, so we intercepted drivers at fuel stations. Research revealed drivers using paper maps because digital tools failed, fleet managers maintaining shadow spreadsheets, and entire operations working around the platform.

Created the ‘5-minute pit stop’ research method

Truck drivers are always driving and fleet managers always busy, so traditional research failed. Refuelling takes five minutes per 1,000 litres, so we intercepted drivers at fuel stations. Research revealed drivers using paper maps because digital tools failed, fleet managers maintaining shadow spreadsheets, and entire operations working around the platform.

02.

Built a unified design system from existing components

Rather than starting from scratch, we adapted and localised an existing system from another geography. This pragmatic approach sped up development whilst ensuring consistency across apps and internal tools.

Built a unified design system from existing components

Rather than starting from scratch, we adapted and localised an existing system from another geography. This pragmatic approach sped up development whilst ensuring consistency across apps and internal tools.

03.

Established continuous validation panels

We built recurring panels of fleet managers and drivers willing to test concepts. With 70% of clients based in Germany, German-language research became essential. Feature requests transformed into user problems. Assumptions became hypotheses to test.

Established continuous validation panels

We built recurring panels of fleet managers and drivers willing to test concepts. With 70% of clients based in Germany, German-language research became essential. Feature requests transformed into user problems. Assumptions became hypotheses to test.

04.

Adapted design sprints for remote German teams

We stripped design sprints to their essential elements, making them work for distributed teams. Product managers learned to validate before building. What took months now took days. Political debates became problem-solving sessions.

Adapted design sprints for remote German teams

We stripped design sprints to their essential elements, making them work for distributed teams. Product managers learned to validate before building. What took months now took days. Political debates became problem-solving sessions.

05.

Scaled team whilst transferring ownership

We grew the team from one to four designers, but scaling meant more than hiring. We embedded designers within product teams, established sustainable processes, and built capability that would outlast any individual.

Scaled team whilst transferring ownership

We grew the team from one to four designers, but scaling meant more than hiring. We embedded designers within product teams, established sustainable processes, and built capability that would outlast any individual.

Change package pricing page comparing three subscription tiers: Basic (0.95€/card/month), Standard (2.45€/card/month, marked as most popular and current plan), and Advanced (3.45€/card/month), with a feature comparison table covering network access, preferred station discounts, vehicle service fees, and optional eCharge add-on.
Vehicle card detail page for card ST-256-78 showing card details, a UTA card visual, action buttons (Freeze, Block/cancel, Deactivate charging), and card limits section with tabs for Spending, Retailers, Days and times, Products, and Countries. Spending tab shows monthly and daily spend limits and transaction limits.
Close-up photograph of a red EV charging connector plugged into the charging port of a white electric vehicle.
Brand tagline graphic showing the text "we simplify mobility" in dark navy on a light grey background, with a vertical red rule on the right edge.

Project impact

Research capability from zero

From no user-research to a process of continuous validation with drivers, fleet managers, and partners across Germany.

Research capability from zero

From no user-research to a process of continuous validation with drivers, fleet managers, and partners across Germany.

Capability without dependency

Our embedded model scaled the design team whilst ensuring Edenred retained full capability when the partnership evolved.

Capability without dependency

Our embedded model scaled the design team whilst ensuring Edenred retained full capability when the partnership evolved.

Faster, higher-quality shipping

Edenred's team now ships new features from proven, tested components rather than starting from scratch every time.

Faster, higher-quality shipping

Edenred's team now ships new features from proven, tested components rather than starting from scratch every time.

Ready to build capability, not dependency?

Most consultancies deliver strategies. We embed people who build lasting capability.

Our lead designer didn't just transform Edenred's design function, he built systems that effected lasting organisation change. That's the difference between consulting and transformation.

Let's discuss how embedded expertise can transform your product development.

Let’s start a project

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