Human centred design thinker going with the flow.In this first episode of the 185X Wärtsilä podcasts, we interview Mikael Leppä, Senior Manager, Design Thinking and UX (User Experience). Mikael, a previous consultant, decided to join Wärtsilä as he desired to have a more strategic role in designing user experience – and that goal he could achieve when working inside a company.For Mikael, people are at the centre of his work as a designer: “It all comes down to humans because any product or service that we create is eventually used by people. So, as long as we understand that it is the constant in the equation – so to speak – we focus on the human. And once we understand the human, the end user of any product or service – when we understand both their explicit and tacit needs and wants, and what they need to get done safely and efficiently to be able to perform their job tasks – I’d say, then we’re in a good place. And the rest is just application of technology – whether it is physical or digital. But the human always stays in the centre.”We also asked Mikael how does design thinking support Wärtsilä’s purpose of enabling sustainable societies with smart technologies. “I’d contend that our customers are striving for the same things as we are; they care about their people, they want them to go home safely at the end of the day and they want to achieve maximum efficiency which incidentally then is a step towards more sustainable societies,” he states.Please listen to the entire podcast to hear how Mikael’s team translates customer needs into development at Wärtsilä and how he sees the company evolving in the coming years.