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I am Esko Lehtme

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Esko Lehtme

As a design lead at SEB Baltic, I drive UX strategy that aligns business objectives with customer needs. I focus on integrating user-centered design practices into our product development process, enhancing customer satisfaction and business outcomes.

Education

Background

My approach to design leadership has evolved through a multidisciplinary background.

  • MBA from Estonian Business School (2024) with focus on leadership, digital transformation, and data-driven decision-making
  • Bachelor’s in Advertising and Publicity from Tallinn University (2007)
  • Specialization in Cognitive Psychology

This combination helps me connect user needs, business objectives, and technological possibilities in digital product development.

Career

SEB Baltic (2017-Present)

  • Currently, as Product Owner of UX, I align UX strategy with business goals, optimize design processes, and measure the value of UX initiatives
  • As Head of UX, restructured the team and integrated UX practices into earlier stages of product development
  • As a UX Designer, introduced user research practices that transformed product collaboration

Previous experience

  • UX designer at CGI (2011-2017): Evolved UX approach from visual design to comprehensive strategy, building and leading a team of four designers
  • Design roles (2005-2011): Developed expertise in user-centric design through various advertising and consulting positions
  • Front-End developer (1997-2001): Built foundation in web technologies and interface implementation

Design leadership approach

I lead the integration of UX practices into our product development lifecycle by:

  • Aligning design with business goals: Ensuring our work supports both user needs and business objectives
  • Driving practical value: Implementing processes that reduce time-to-market and increase customer satisfaction
  • Fostering collaboration: Working across departments to embed user-centered thinking throughout development
  • Measuring outcomes: Connecting design decisions to business metrics for continuous improvement

Impact

Team development

Process improvement

  • Embedded UX earlier in product development, shifting from visual design to comprehensive user research
  • Optimized UX team workflows to increase efficiency and value delivery
  • Implemented stakeholder interview processes that improved alignment across departments

Measurement

  • Developed methods to demonstrate the business impact of UX work
  • Created frameworks for evaluating design effectiveness across user experience and business outcomes

Organizational change

  • Developed service design training programs that influenced organizational culture at SEB
  • Raised awareness about usability in Estonian governmental institutions during my tenure at CGI

Key insights

Articles that reflect my approach to design leadership:

Speaking

Esko Lehtme presenting at the Baltic e-Commerce forum
Esko Lehtme presenting at the Baltic e-Commerce forum

I speak at industry events including Baltic e-Commerce forum, Refresh Conference, Tallinna Ettevõtluspäev, and Impact Day, sharing practical insights from my work at SEB Baltic.


My journey from a farm boy to a design lead has shaped how I approach design and leadership, teaching me to find connections between seemingly unrelated concepts and create human-centered digital experiences.

tsoon

Tsoon – ‘zone’ in Estonian – has been my digital home since the early 2000s. My wife reminded me that the choice of the name was inspired by the mysterious ‘zone’ in Strugatsky’s “Roadside Picnic”1, where stalkers looked for valuable artifacts. Later, tsoon came to represent the elusive ‘flow state’2 chased by creatives.

Over time, this space has been my digital playground, where I’ve tinkered with various web technologies and projects.

This space has evolved from a personal playground for web experiments to a professional platform where I share thoughts on design, technology, and business strategy.


  1. “Roadside Picnic,” in Wikipedia, accessed October 25, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s science fiction novel inspired the film “Stalker” and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series. ↩︎

  2. “Flow (psychology),” in Wikipedia, accessed October 25, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best. ↩︎