I’m a design lead and mentor who guides teams using systems thinking and a dash of humour

At work, I'm at my best leveraging design articulation, connecting stakeholders with diagrams and design decks, and resolving ambiguity

I'm based in Berlin (Germany) with my wife, daughter, and mutt, and I have a knack for watching sunrises, reading about anthropology, riding boards, asking difficult questions, and making music and videos.

Design tools

  • Design studio
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Concept mapping
  • Mindmapping
  • Participatory design
  • Scenario mapping
  • Empathy mapping
  • Stakeholder mapping
  • Journey mapping
  • Futures wheel
  • User testing
  • Systems mapping

Experience

  1. Design Manager Sr. Product Designer Zalando, Berlin 2021 – Now
  2. Sr. Product Designer Product Designer Contentful, Berlin 2016 — 2021
  3. Design Lead Full-stack designer SumUp, Berlin 2014 — 2016

More on LinkedIn

Profile

Over the last decade I hopped between the roles of embedded product designer, project and design lead, and design mentor.

Lately, I've been focusing on strategy, design leadership and culture, and resolving ambiguity across different teams and business units.

Are you a designer with a struggle you can’t quite get around?

Mentoring

Give me a shout if you wish to level up your stakeholder management game, use systems thinking to elevate your work, get more efficient at moderation, or simply share a challenge at work.

I offer 30 minute mentoring sessions for free on ADPList and already had the pleasure of helping other Product Designers develop confidence in key skills, land new or even first jobs, and experiment with new tools and methods at work.

Book a session

Selected writing

  1. A day of bringing out the best in others Step into the shoes of Senior Product Designer and passionate mentor, João Ramos, who leads projects in our Customer Acquisition Experience team.
  2. Five books that helped me become a better Product Designer A short reading list to cultivate crucial skills in demand
  3. Ways to add perspective in design Three design methods for a more comprehensive practice

See all articles

Life journeys and career trajectories are never really linear. At 18, I was studying abroad to become a medical student. These are a few bits and pieces of the journey that led me here.

Early beginning

The first sparks I can remember from the early 2000s were writing chat bots for IRC with Tcl scripting and designing little Flash clips and games. That's how I earned my first cash, too!

Background

I have an education in communication design and technology, which deepened my knowledge of front-end development and web design. This is what got me into Product Design.

Academia

I wrote my Master's thesis at IT University of Copenhagen on the role of pre-perception in decision-making. In particular, how visualisation can be used to leverage awareness and make decisions.

CBS

While in Copenhagen, I ran a "Communication Strategy, Online Media Marketing and Strategic Planning" practical course for a Master's degree class at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS).

Design systems

During my journey in DesignOps, I helped establish the first design system at Contentful. I hosted Design Systems Berlin for a while, too.

Strengths

Key strengths such as Restorative, Context, Intellection, Positivity, and Learner are my Gallup's CliftonStrengths score that has been consistent across my career.

Latest training

Leading People and Teams, from the Michigan University; Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®), from the Scrum Alliance.