Scaling Human-Centered Design for Global Impact: A Conversation with Tim Morton, Director, Global Design at Husqvarna Group [Speaker Spotlight]

As organizations continue to scale innovation across global markets, human-centered design has become a critical driver of product development, customer experience, and long-term business impact. At this year’s American Packaging Summit, Tim Morton, Director, Global Design at Husqvarna Group, will explore how organizations can embed human-centered thinking into design processes at scale while balancing innovation, usability, and operational efficiency.

Ahead of the summit, we spoke with Tim about the evolving role of design leadership, scaling customer-centric innovation, and the importance of designing with both people and business outcomes in mind.

Can you introduce yourself and share more about your career journey leading up to your current role as the Director, Global Design at Husqvarna Group?

I often say I feel like I have been a surgeon, a custodian, a full-time parent, and even a pirate - because my career has been about stepping into people’s worlds to understand where and how we can truly add value.

I started at the LEGO Group, exploring child behavior, psychology, and emerging technologies, and translating those insights into meaningful play experiences.

From there, I spent years in consulting, helping organizations across almost every category bring new technologies and experiences to life.

I’ve led design within global consumer brands, worked in-house, and spent time in education - teaching design, innovation, and creativity to non-designers.

Today, I’m part of the global design leadership team at Husqvarna, where we focus on enabling people, professionals and homeowners alike, to create better outdoor experiences through everything from robotics to handheld tools and PPE.

How do you ensure packaging decisions reflect evolving consumer expectations and market trends?

Don’t follow trends, follow people.

If you truly understand how someone opens a box, how they feel in that moment, what frustrates them, and what they value - you don’t need to chase the market. The right packaging becomes obvious.

We focus on removing friction, reducing waste, and making things instinctively clear. Then we put it in people’s hands early. If they hesitate or if they struggle - we start over.

Because great packaging isn’t noticed. It just works - beautifully, simply, and responsibly.

What are the biggest challenges in translating packaging strategy into execution across teams?

The hardest part isn’t the strategy - it’s protecting the experience as it moves through the organization.

Packaging doesn’t live in one team. It moves across marketing, engineering, sourcing, sustainability, and retail. At each step, the original intent can get diluted. Small compromises add up, and suddenly the experience no longer feels like the brand.

The challenge is alignment. Not just on what we’re making, but why it matters to the user. So we anchor everything in the brand experience.

What should this feel like to open, to use, to live with? That becomes the benchmark. Every team measures decisions against it.

Because if you don’t protect that experience end-to-end, you don’t get a cohesive brand - you get a collection of compromises.

Can you share how you approach trade-offs between creativity and operational feasibility?

We see creativity and feasibility as constraints that shape a better experience.

If you start with the user and the brand experience as the destination, the question isn’t "what do we cut?" - it’s "what matters most?"

Great creativity isn’t about adding more. It’s about focusing on what truly delivers value. What makes the experience clearer, simpler, and more meaningful. Everything else is noise.

Operational realities such as cost, manufacturing, and supply chain are necessary factors. But they’re inputs, not excuses. The role of design is to navigate those constraints without compromising what the user feels or what the brand stands for.

Because in the end, if it works operationally but fails in experience - it’s not a win.

How do you see AI transforming packaging innovation over the next few years?

I do believe that AI won’t replace judgment - it will make it more important.

AI will give us speed, options, and patterns we couldn’t see before. It will generate concepts, optimize materials, and predict behavior. But AI won’t know what truly matters.

That’s where we come in.

The real role of AI is to expand the space of possibilities - but the role of humans is to choose. To decide what serves the user experience, what strengthens the brand, and what’s just noise.

More ideas don’t create better outcomes - better decisions do.

So the shift isn’t from creativity to automation. It’s from creating option to having the clarity and judgment to pick the right one.

What changes have you made to packaging strategies due to the rise of digital commerce?

I don’t own packaging end-to-end, but I care deeply about the experience it creates.

With the rise of digital commerce, the shelf is gone. The first moment of truth is now the unboxing - at home, alone, and even on camera. That’s not packaging - that’s brand experience.

So my focus has been on elevating that moment. Making sure the first interaction feels intentional, intuitive, and aligned with what the product and brand promise. No confusion, no excess, no friction.

At the same time, e-commerce exposes every flaw - damage, waste, complexity. So we push for simplicity, durability, and clarity - because the user will experience it exactly as it is.

But ultimately, it comes back to judgment.

Knowing what to prioritize, what to remove, and what truly matters in that first interaction. Because in a digital world, the box isn’t the packaging - it’s the beginning of the experience.

What approaches have worked in developing hybrid or cross-functional talent?

You don’t build hybrid talent by teaching more disciplines - you build it by connecting them around the experience.

Today’s work lives at the intersection of design, engineering, supply chain, and innovation - but those worlds don’t naturally connect. So we anchor teams in the user experience and the brand. When the goal is shared, silos start to fall.

We put people in real situations, with real constraints and real decisions. That’s where hybrid thinking forms, not in theory but in action. Designers start thinking about feasibility, engineers about experience, and supply chain about impact.

And then it comes down to judgment. Knowing what matters most, how to balance perspectives, where to focus, and what to say no to.

Because the goal isn’t to create generalists or for everyone to be an expert in everything. It’s to create people who can connect decisions to deliver a better experience and a stronger brand.

What advice would you give to organizations trying to scale packaging innovation?

Start with the user, and align everything around that experience.

Innovation doesn’t scale through process alone. It scales when design, engineering, supply chain, and marketing are working toward a shared vision of what the experience should feel like, and how the brand shows up.

Keep teams connected in the work, not handing things off. And stay disciplined - focus on what matters most and repeat it consistently.

Because in the end, you don’t scale innovation by adding more - you scale it by making better decisions together

What are you most looking forward to at the American Packaging Summit?

What I’m really looking forward to is stepping a bit outside my usual world and learning from others. I sit adjacent to packaging through the broader product and brand experience, so it’s always valuable to hear how others are pushing the boundaries in a space that directly shapes that first interaction.

I’m also excited to be back in Chicago - it was home for ten years, so it always feels a bit like coming back full circle. And I know there are a few familiar faces in the room - people I’ve worked with over the years - which makes it even more meaningful.

But most of all, I’m looking forward to the conversations. Not just about packaging as an output, but about how we design for impact at scale.

Because that intersection where creativity, innovation, performance, and human experience all meet, that’s where the real work begins.

Join Tim Morton at the American Packaging Summit on May 14-15, as he shares insights on scaling human-centered design strategies that drive meaningful impact across global organizations. Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of the conversations shaping the future of innovation, design, and customer experience in packaging.

For more information and registration details, visit uspacksummit.com

Learn more about our upcoming 2026 North American events, and secure your spot today:

Scaling Human-Centered Design for Global Impact: A Conversation with Tim Morton, Director, Global Design at Husqvarna Group [Speaker Spotlight]

Rihana Alladina Rihana is a Digital Marketing Coordinator at Generis Group.