JANNE AALTONEN / DESIGN × AI × IMAGINATION
JANNE AALTONEN
HELSINKI, FINLAND
Good design starts with understanding: people’s needs, the business, and the problem worth solving. AI gives us more ways to explore, prototype and learn. Expertise helps us judge which possibilities deserve to become real.
Useful and usable are the foundations. I care about what comes next: experiences people choose, enjoy and remember. That takes judgment, personality and craft — from the first concept to the last interaction, word and detail.
My work connects human needs with business value: helping people adopt better services, testing assumptions early, and creating experiences that stand apart.
Former employers. Clients. Creative collaborations. A selection of the organisations I’ve worked with through Blaut and other companies.
Four examples of my work across products, services and digital experiences.
I led concept and product design for Oura Advisor, translating biometric data into approachable AI conversations and everyday guidance. From research and prototyping to the details of the experience.
As Design Director on several investor relations UX projects for Sampo Group, I helped clarify the vision, shape digital experiences and connect stakeholder needs with careful design and implementation.
I led the UX design and prototyping of VR’s ticket vending machines. A physical touchpoint where clarity and an understanding of people’s needs make all the difference.
As UX Lead and co-founder at Birdietime, I worked on a golf coaching platform and apps for global markets — bringing players, coaches and the service experience together.
HEAD OF DESIGN AT MEARRA
AI makes it faster to generate, compare and refine ideas. Understanding, judgment and direction become more valuable. Real users reveal what works; expertise helps us decide what to test next.
Mearra is my professional home. As Head of Design, I’m building our capability for the AI era: bringing business, people and technology together, and raising the quality of what we create — from useful and usable to distinctive, delightful and loved.
Explore design with Mearra ↗Sometimes it becomes a story.
Sometimes it gets loud.
AALTONEN BROTHERS / TELEVISION
Together with my brother Markus Aaltonen, I develop and write television concepts under Aaltonen Brothers. We developed Tuurenmäki 98 with Warner Bros. and sold it to Elisa Viihde. A nostalgic dramedy about growing up at the dawn of the internet.
Kultainen Venla 2025 nominee
Comedy Series of the Year
DARK SENTIMENTS / MUSIC
Dark Sentiments is the record label within Blaut. Over the decades, it has been home to music projects including Widescreen Mode, Dog the Dog, Come Sanity, Caro and Mercured.
Widescreen Mode’s Everlasting Bomb is a gold-certified single, with 2.5 million streams on Spotify.
Words from people I’ve worked with.
Excerpts from LinkedIn recommendations.
“Janne is responsible for so much AI innovation in the Oura product. Without him we couldn't have launched the AI Advisor feature when we did, or with as much robustness and polish as it has.”
“He is creative, thorough, collaborative, and can develop approaches that bridge together product and brand design beautifully.”
“Janne's ability to blend empathy, deep expertise, eye for details and business acumen is a valuable asset to any project.”
“He is an excellent UX lead and a creative problem solver, equipped with a deep understanding of user needs and behaviors.”
“Janne's superpowers in projects are related to clarifying the project's vision, goals and scope, selecting creative partners, finding new solutions, and overall management.”
“Extreme quality and client value focus are the two things that describe Janne the best.”
Excerpts retain the original wording. Roles as listed on LinkedIn.
For ambitious design challenges,
let’s bring Mearra into the conversation.