I am a Digitalization Advisor, Product Designer, Experience Strategist, and Business Architect. As a trained philosopher and logician I love to work with words and abstract concepts. As a former developer and tech lead I still enjoy the technical side of things.

Most of the time I am involved very early on, often when a project is just emerging. It is part of my job to challenge assumptions, broaden the horizon only to narrow things down again and set the whole thing on track.

Recently I have been working mostly as an consultant supporting teams setting up digital development projects and advising on strategic operational aspects e.g. finding the right communicational artifacts, dealing with expertise driven decision making in diverse interdisciplinary teams or really just the kind of craftsmanship that comes with 20+ years experience.

Cases

Over the years I have completed too many projects to list. Among them e-commerce projects and platform relaunches for Otto and Tchibo – two of the top German online retailers. I worked for Microsoft China, for various telcos and financial service companies like Commerzbank, comdirect, Deutsche Bank and Allianz – for whom I lead design of the insurance management platform. Also, I was Creative Director/Lead UX for several automotive pitch presentations like BMW global online communication and VW digital plattforms. We won them all.

I want to highlight four different cases, though. All four were challenging. All four were successful.

If you want to know about more about these cases, the projects listed above or my other work, check out my portfolio!

funk

German public broadcasters ARD & ZDF were given a mandate to create an online-first media brand for young adults - eventually called „funk“.

It was the first time ARD & ZDF would leave linear TV behind and compete in the streaming media market while at the same time staying true to their mission as a public broadcaster.

I consulted for them in the eight months leading up to the launch and as Lead Consultant helped them spell out their brand persona and define the way they deal with creators and different stakeholders.

funk has since won many prizes and helped reshape the way young people perceive the world through news and entertainment.

Hansetrans

HANSETRANS – a leading local logistics powerhouse – decided to digitize their core business by creating a brand new management platform for furniture logistics.

Out team reimagined business processes relying on deep observation of users. We developed a product from scratch in a decentralized agile team.

As Principal UX Strategy my role was to develop product strategy, help the client streamline their business processes and create designs to showcase the solutions. Not only did I work closely with the development team but was part of it - designing with developers and developing with designers, all the way.

The product is highly appreciated by users and the client has established full control of their processes.

eZ Publish

Starting from a leadership position in web content-managment eZ Systems set out to transition their product to a full-fledge customer experience platform.

I was tasked with formulating a new product strategy, creating and validating prototypes with users and other stakeholders. In the end the product was rebuilt from the ground up based on my work.

The result is best summed up in the words of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant CMS 2016: „eZ Systems' user experience pays particular attention to content editors' requirements and preferences, and has direct appeal to organizations in the publishing and media sectors.“

Speaking Engagements

I mostly speak at industry conferences. Sometimes companies hire me as a keynote speaker. I believe talks should be original and so I do not give the same talk twice unless specifically asked to do so. Contact me for speaking engagements but be aware that I signed a pledge not to appear on all-male panels. And I mean it.

Upcoming Engagements

• IAKonferenz tbd

Writing

• Leitartikel “Renaissance“ by Vanessa Boysen & Rainer Sax,

  in gråd extra Mai 2020