Axel Rydby

Work History

• 

  Game Director

  Rocksteady Studios

  October 2022 - Present

  London Area, United Kingdom
• 

  Design Director

  Rocksteady Studios

  October 2018 - October 2022

  London, United Kingdom
• 

  Head of Design

  CDON.COM

  May 2018 - October 2018

  Malmö, Sweden

  As Head of Design at CDON.COM, my overall responsibility was to ensure that our brand cohesiveness shone through in all our channels, be it marketing, third-party associates or on our site. I was also responsible for ensuring that we delivered quality design and user testing for the various projects initiated in the organization, and that we had a close working relationship with the development department throughout the creative and iterative project phase.
  
  In addition, my responsibilities, among other things, included:
  - Managing the Graphical Design & UX Design teams.
  - Establishing styleguides for the Brand, Marketing & Platform.
  - Continuing to work and evolve the UX and design vision for CDON.
  - Establishing rapid prototyping as an integral part of the design process.
• 

  UX Director

  CDON.COM

  May 2016 - May 2018

  Malmo, Sweden

  As UX Director at CDON.COM, my overall responsibility was to manage the UX team, consisting of both UX designers and front-end developers, and to establish UX design as an integral and effective part of the development process. I also set up the UX vision and guidelines for our various sites and established a firm design process for the organisation, ensuring that all our projects and front-end initiatives followed the same standards and guidelines. I was also project manager for CDON.COM’s B2B site, taking it from a purely conceptual level to a fully fledged site, managing the scrum team responsible for delivering the site while ensuring design quality based on business requirements.
  
  In addition, my responsibilities, among other things, included:
  - Recruiting UX designers and front-end developers, growing the team from 3 to 6 persons.
  - Managed and mentored UX designers.
  - Pitching concepts to the management group and steering group.
  - Pitching concepts and design to the company as a whole, to inspire and show the way towards CDON’s future look.
  - Establishing the foundations for CDON’s new initiatives, including the B2B-site.
  - Introducing and establishing user testing with eye-tracking as an integral part of the design process.
  - Designing and delivering a fully responsive site and laying the foundation for CDON’s new look with the new B2B-site.
• 

  Design Director

  Massive Entertainment

  April 2013 - May 2016

  Malmö, Sweden

  I'm currently in charge of the design disciplines (Economic Design, Narrative Design, Game Design, Level Design and UI Design) on Tom Clancy's The Division (https://www.thedivisiongame.com). I'm creating design frameworks for features together with my design leads, setting up goals and direction for the design disciplines based on the creative direction, whilst ensuring that all design efforts are in sync and of the highest possible quality.

  
• 

  Lead Game Designer

  Massive Entertainment

  April 2011 - April 2013

  Sweden

  In my role as Lead Game Designer, I was part of the initial group of developers, working on an undisclosed project.
  
  As Lead Game Designer, my reponsibilities included, among other things:
  - Working closely with the Creative Director in defining the core pillars of the project, the core gameplay loop and the core featureset.
  - Mentoring and leading the Game Design team.
  - Recruiting for the Game Design team and laying the foundation for design as a discipline within the project and studio.
  - Setting up design processes for the Game Design team to ensure that we always delivered quality.
• 

  Associate Lead Game Designer

  Massive Entertainment

  April 2010 - April 2011
• 

  Game Designer

  Massive Entertainment

  August 2006 - April 2010

  

• Java Tutor

  Malmö Högskola

  January 2002 - January 2003