Process
My passion is to enable people to create, innovate and define modern technologies. In my work, I center designs and concepts around the user rather than the technology. Too often do we have to speak the language of the machine or program we're using, when the machine should speak ours.
An integral part of achieving this in the design process is continuous and iterative prototyping on a wide spectrum of fidelity levels.
Proof of concept
(technical feasibility, accessibility validation, interaction testing)
Simulation
(complex and data-driven interactions, end-to-end user testing, stakeholder communication)
I strongly believe that rapid prototyping is the key to great user experiences. The earlier and faster you let your users try out your ideas, the fewer resources you'll need to accomplish a successful design. With the power and flexibility of code, I rapidly develop interactive prototypes that correctly respond to and reflect user inputs so that they feel as engaging as the real product. This process lowers the guesswork when making design decisions and increases the credibility of user tests.
Discipline
As a design technologist I work within the intersection of design and development, bridging the gap between them. By both actively designing and developing, I understand the pains and expectations of both sides. My responsibilities reach from the very beginning of a design project to past the handoff.
Together with UX designers and researchers, I ideate, sketch and iterate on new designs and design opportunities. After user validation through prototyping, I ensure that we deliver feasible and accessible designs and am the contact person for front-end developers whenever an implementation needs further details or adjustments.
Design
Development
Design Technologist
Experience
February 2019 - present
User Experience Engineer
IBM Research and Development
Böblingen, Germany
February 2019 - present
IBM Software
- Products: IBM watsonx.governance, IBM Watson Studio, IBM SPSS Statistics
- Core competencies: rapid coded prototyping, design systems, accessibility, UX design
September 2021 - present
IBM Global University Program
- IBM Academic Ambassador
- Teaching at design universities
- Raising IBM's visibility and eminence on campus
January 2020 - present
Front-end development community
- Leader of the R&D campus front-end development community
- Organizing and facilitating regular meet-ups and educational talks
- Coordinating cross-regional events between IBM sites
September 2019 - present
University lecturer
University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
September 2023 - present
Teaching "Design Systems Engineering"
- Program: Digital Product Design and Development
September 2019 - August 2023
Teaching "Software collaboration and development strategies"
- Program: Digital Product Design and Development
September 2017 - December 2018
Mixed Reality Software Engineer (internship)
IBM Research and Development
Böblingen, Germany
IBM Immersive Insights
- Conceptual development of an AI assistant for mixed reality applications
- Development on IBM Immersive Insights (augmented reality data visualization tool)
March 2016 - July 2017
Research assistant
University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
March 2016 - July 2017
Design & development
- Full-stack developer and designer of the university's internal lab management system
March 2016 - July 2017
Prototyping lab
- Managed inventory, oversaw equipment rentals and advised the university of new purchases
- Increased public awareness by initiating and maintaining a portfolio of student projects in the IoT program
- Engaged in student and maker fairs to promote the IoT program
March 2016 - February 2017
Student lecturing program
- Taught weekly university courses in entry-level programming with JavaScript and Java
May 2013 - April 2016
Freelancer
Self-employed
Reutlingen, Germany
Design & development
- Designed websites, campaigns and print collateral for private clients, businesses and conferences
- Realized websites and web platforms that are designed to be easily maintained by the customer
Recognitions
October 2022, September 2023
IBM Corporate Technical Recognition (2)
April 2022
December 2021
December 2021
IBM Open Source Recognition Program Award
February 2020
June 2019, November 2019, December 2019, September 2020
IBM Eminence and Excellence Award (4)
December 2018
April 2018
IBM Team Delivery Excellence Award
September 2016
Germany's National Scholarship Program (Deutschlandstipendium)
Talks
May 2024
UX Engineering – Bringing design to life
IBM Design Studios Kochi, India
August 2023
Carbon v11 developer experience highlights
IBM FED Branch Böblingen, Germany
June 2022
Discipline spotlight: User Experience Engineering
IBM Spark Design Festival, Global
April 2022
Real quick: TypeScript
IBM FED Branch Böblingen, Germany
September 2021
The <dialog> element
IBM FED Branch Böblingen, Germany
May 2021
Designing better experiences for everyone. But how?
IBM Spark Design Festival, Global
April 2021
IBM Design & Carbon Design System
zigzag, Stuttgart, Germany
February 2021
Stop building weird UIs. Use a design system
FOSS Backstage, Berlin, Germany
December 2020
Write better commits!
IBM FED Branch Böblingen, Germany
November 2020
Stop building weird UIs. Use a design system
IBM Developer, Berlin, Germany
November 2020
Prototyping Cross-Device Experiences
University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
June 2020
Adopting Carbon — one step at a time
IBM FEDucation, Global
November 2019
Desktop apps in JavaScript. Have we gone too far?
IBM FEDucation, Global
June 2019
Designing relationships between humans and machines
University of Applied Sciences in Kaiserslautern, Germany
March 2019
Prototyping Cross-Device Experiences
Philips Healthcare, Böblingen, Germany
March 2019
Prototyping Cross-Device Experiences
ThingOS, Stuttgart, Germany
January 2019
Prototyping Cross-Device Experiences
Intuity Media Lab, Stuttgart, Germany