Digital Products Need Better Questions Before Better Tools, Says Ondřej Švihálek (CEO Bell & Hurry)

In this interview, he explains how this thinking shapes Bell & Hurry’s approach to UX, CX, mobile-first products and AI-enabled delivery.

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What is one UX, CX or digital product trend clients should not ignore right now?

OŠ: Companies should stop treating digital channels as separate interfaces and start seeing them as part of how their business actually works.

For years, everyone has talked about mobile-first, omnichannel or self-service. But many companies still underestimate what it takes to make a digital channel truly useful. It is not enough to have an app or a redesigned interface. The service has to fit the customer’s real context, remove friction and support the business process behind it.

AI speeds up delivery. People still set the direction

AI is changing delivery fast. What role should it play in UX and product work?

OŠ: AI is a very strong tool, but it does not replace judgement. It can remove a lot of slow manual work from the process: research synthesis, benchmarking, accessibility checks, first drafts, reporting or design QA. That matters because it saves time and costs.

But the value of AI depends on the quality of the question. Clients often come with a clear brief, but the real issue may sit deeper: in the customer journey, the business process, the channel strategy or the way the service is delivered. If the initial question is too narrow or aimed at the wrong outcome, AI will only help you move faster in the wrong direction.

So the risk is not AI itself, but how it is used?

OŠ: Exactly. The question is not whether to use AI. The question is where it creates real value and where human judgement still needs to lead.

The companies that benefit most will be the ones that use AI deliberately: in the right parts of the process, with the right context and clear responsibility for the outcome. That is why human insight remains critical. Experienced specialists have to see what sits behind the brief, understand the customer context and choose a delivery path that leads to a product people will actually use.

From strategy to delivery: Where experience and engineering meet

What makes Bell & Hurry different in this context?

OŠ: Bell & Hurry sits between business, customer experience and technology. We are close enough to the customer problem to understand what should change, and close enough to Trask’s engineering depth to make it real. That means we can help clients move from strategic intent to a product that can actually be designed, built and operated.

Where can you help clients most?

OŠ: We usually talk about three areas: digital transformation, customer experience and mobile-first delivery. But in real projects, these things are never separate.

Take digital transformation. It is not just a technology change. It is about changing how a company serves its market through digital channels. One example from my own practice is a self-care concept for ČEZ, the largest energy company in the Czech Republic. The point was not simply to design an app, but to rethink how a complex energy service could be explained and delivered through a digital channel: helping customers understand pricing, reducing pressure on customer service and strengthening retention.

The same applies to customer experience. In financial services, utilities or telecoms, customers are often dealing with products they do not fully understand. They do not necessarily need more features. They need clarity, confidence and a process that works without friction.

And where does mobile fit into this?

OŠ: Mobile-first is still critical. It may sound like an old topic, but many companies still struggle to get it right. One of the projects I am proud of is for Vekra, the largest Czech manufacturer of windows and doors, where the mobile and tablet channel helped digitalise the sales process in the field.

Instead of paper forms, salespeople had a guided flow for product configuration, pricing, visualisation and contract signing. That is not just better UX. It is a faster, more accurate and more reliable business process that ultimately saves significant costs.

Which projects shaped how you think about digital products?

OŠ: I have worked across very different sectors, from utilities and manufacturing to automotive and online media. ČEZ and Vekra, as I mentioned earlier, are good examples because they show how different the starting points can be.

With ČEZ, the challenge was customer trust and understanding. With Vekra, it was salesforce speed, accuracy and channel digitalisation. In both cases, the value was not only  the user interface, but in understanding what the digital product must change in the overall business and service delivery process.

Automotive added another layer to that. I worked on early connected car services for Škoda Auto, where the question was how to connect the vehicle to the outside world and build new services on top of that data. What started as a connectivity layer later became the basis for services that are now part of how modern cars interact with drivers, brands and external ecosystems.

And then there was online media. At Centrum.cz or Aktualne.cz, two of the broadly recognized Czech online portals at the time, millions of people used the services every day. That taught me how measurable UX really is: even a small change in layout, placement or interaction can affect performance by units or tens of percent.

That mindset still applies to any enterprise digital products. Even small experience decisions can have a direct business impact.

How does this experience connect to Bell & Hurry’s role within Trask?

OŠ: What connects all these projects is the need to translate business complexity into something customers can actually use. That is also where I see Bell & Hurry’s role.

Bell & Hurry brings customer understanding, product thinking and the ability to shape the right digital experience. Trask brings the engineering depth, knowhow and robust capacity to make it all, end-to-end real.

For clients, the value is in having all the relevant capabilities connected from the start. Not strategy on one side, design in the middle and engineering at the end, but one seamless path from the business problem to its solution, performing digital product.

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About Ondřej Švihálek  

He has more than 25 years of experience in digital services and telecommunications, specializing in product leadership, solution architecture, and transformation programs. At Unicorn, he served as Senior Consultant and Solution Architect, leading projects for clients including ČEZ, Škoda Auto, SAZKA/KKCG, Vekra or Patria Finance.  

Previously, as CEO of iCom Vision, he built the company into a leading Czech mobile services provider and contributed to its IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2011. At Tesco Stores he led digital growth for mobile Grocery Home Shopping across Central Europe (CZ, SK, HU), overseeing mobile strategy, online performance, and cross-market alignments.

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