Trainers

Anke Friedrich studied communication design at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and has been working as a permanent and freelance creative for various agencies in Germany since 2012. Her main interests lie in corporate and brand design, as well as in the UX/UI conception of digital products. In the past, she has also gained a lot of experience in the area of ​​digitisation processes in packaging development. She always enjoys thinking outside the box in order to create the best possible, sustainable user experiences.

Anke is an expert in generative AI and a senior partner technical specialist with a strong focus on AI governance and trustworthy AI at IBM. With a master’s degree in cognitive computing, she combines technical expertise with proven project management methods to successfully and sustainably integrate AI solutions into companies. She supports teams in efficiently organizing AI projects, identifying risks early on, and developing secure, scalable solutions. She attaches great importance to clear processes, transparent communication, and close cooperation between all parties involved. In addition to her project work, she regularly speaks about the challenges of AI in companies.

With just over 16 years of experience in the agency environment, Beate Krafft provides comprehensive & interdisciplinary support. The focus is on the development of modular & scalable solutions in the areas of concept, design, UI & UX – digital & analog and whether small or large, and always with the aim of creating the best possible user-centered experiences. The needs of customers and projects are determined in dialog, meaningful strategies and solutions are developed, tested and then implemented. Beate values close collaboration with all project participants and appreciates the small challenges that arise during a project and their integration into the overall solution.

Christopher started his career as a UX designer in the agency environment, predominantly on Volkswagen as a client. After some time, he moved to the digital agency of Commerzbank. This was followed by a stopover at Dr. Oetker’s Innovation Lab with a focus on design research and incubations. After that, he took care of a team of interdisciplinary Designer:innen in the startup of Deutsche Bank, until he was taken over by the group. For some time now, he has been working for Vanguard, the largest bond fund provider worldwide.

For over 12 years Evi has been working as a UX Designer, UX Researcher, Creative Strategist & Design Thinker for international agencies and well-known clients in the automotive, healthcare, financial and lifestyle sectors. 
Evi finds it exciting to put herself in the shoes of users, to empathize with them and to explore their wishes and needs. Together with her clients, she enjoys developing ideas and new products and then bringing them to life in the form of wireframes and initial prototypes. Her goal is for brands to create relevant products with a positive user experience and to make customers happy.

Giovanni, often referred to as Gio, is a seasoned designer with over 12 years of experience, having successfully navigated a diverse range of design contexts and esteemed companies.

His professional journey commenced as an Industrial Designer. However, he underwent a transformative experience that kindled his newfound enthusiasm for Interactive Design when he encountered interactive artifacts.

Gio later ventured into the realm of UX/UI Design, realizing his dreams in the process. Before dedicating himself to teaching and mentoring, he held roles in various design firms in the USA and abroad.

After a stint in Germany, where he conceptualized UX/UI solutions for interactive kiosks, Gio contributed his expertise to prominent organizations such as National Geographic, Kodak, and Apple.

Hanna Hesse puts her heart and enthusiasm into designing learning experiences that revolve around the themes of human-centeredness with empathy, creativity and experimentation. In recent years, she has taken on the creative role in projects as a service designer in a Berlin agency and has supported clients in various industries (e.g. insurance and financial services) in product and service development from the initial idea to the roll-out. Now an independent coach and trainer, she combines her project experience with her passion for passing on her knowledge. Her goal is to inspire people with agile methods and innovative ways of working and to help them fully exploit their own potential as well as that of the company.

Jason has worked in the field of digital design for over 25 years. Starting in UX, his interests have extended to human-centred design, service and strategy design. He is a published author and academic, and has taught interaction design to undergraduate students for many years. Jason is an international speaker and contributor to global discussions in Design.

“Planet. People. Profit. And a lot of Passion and Purpose.“

That is my understanding of the triple bottom line and our “new” working and living environments. As a strategic designer, agile coach and facilitator, I work in very different corporate and industry contexts: always with a focus on people, the (eco)systems surrounding them and their immediate environments. I bring experience and expertise, especially in the areas of strategic design, agile transformation and cultural work, sustainable innovation management and futures thinking.

Julia is an expert when it comes to all forms of communication – from analogue to digital and from 240 characters on Twitter to Instagram, LinkedIn, website and Co to textbooks. Here she brings over 20 years of experience from different industries and from leading various teams in marketing and human resources management. Together with her clients and the companies she advises and coaches, she developed sustainable and unique brand concepts. Your image and text are at least as important as the people behind a brand. Personal and employer branding are essential aspects of their marketing concepts. What counts for them is visibility and authenticity with quality. Digitisation is about people and you can never get enough of good stories. This is their formula for content marketing and digital storytelling. She also brings this to her workshops in companies and to teaching at marketing academies and universities.

In business and science, Lothar has acquired a broad spectrum of analytical and creative skills with which he helps managers and teams in a wide variety of contexts to develop and implement tailor-made solutions. Already during his Master’s degree in Social and Business Communication, he developed and implemented measures for communication and knowledge transfer in the Hamburg metropolitan region in a multi-stakeholder project on behalf of the German government’s high-tech strategy. In various innovation, design and consulting projects he has worked for clients such as the Otto Group, Volkswagen, SinnerSchrader, 25A0 and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.

Manuel Bordasch is CTO of CompAn Labs GmbH, which specializes in AI-based and conventional data analysis. In his day-to-day work, he plays a leading role in the development and support of customer projects. Another focus is the further development of his self-designed and developed data intelligence platform Dashlake®. Over the past 15 years, he has held numerous lectures and seminars in the field of artificial intelligence. This teaching experience is combined with a wide range of professional experience – from start-ups to SMEs and corporations. He manages to make abstract theories vivid and tangible. His goal as a trainer and mentor: maximum knowledge growth for the participants.

Maria is a passionate experience designer & product strategist from Berlin. Her focus is on the strategic development of digital products based on user-centric methods. After studying human centred design, industrial design and media management in Berlin and Copenhagen, she spent several years abroad where she participated in various projects. Today she works independently as a designer and supports design teams in start-ups and established companies in the development of design systems, agile product development and digital strategies. In her private life, she euphorically develops her own projects and events, which primarily deal with ethical design and technological change.

With over 12 years of experience in the field of Human-Centered Design, Maria has acquired a broad range of knowledge and skills in this area. She holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Graphic Design from the internationally recognized University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.

Throughout her career, she has worked with interdisciplinary and agile teams in product development, app and software development (SaaS), both in Berlin-based agencies and startups. Her portfolio includes collaborations with renowned clients such as Consorsbank, Postbank, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Toyota, and Merck.

In addition to her conceptual and design work, she has increasingly focused on mentoring in the areas of user experience and product design.

Martin is an award-winning designer (German Design Award), consultant, strategist, and trainer specializing in digital product development. Based in Berlin, his passion for design spans all forms of media, but his heart beats for exceptional user experiences and innovative ideas.

With over 20 years of experience, Martin has worked across mobile apps, brand websites, augmented reality, B2B software, e-learning, in-car infotainment systems, music software and hardware, museum interfaces, financial services, interactive installations, and AI-based applications. He has collaborated with renowned companies including VW, Audi, Native Instruments, Siemens, Blinkist, Google/YouTube, PCH Innovations, WHITEvoid, Linde, MINI, and BMW.

Today, Martin supports companies, startups, and institutions in solving complex challenges in leadership, collaboration, innovation, and product development. He works systemically, connecting organizational development, modern leadership models, and structured collaboration with methods from design, innovation, and strategy.

For over 15 years, Martin has been sharing his knowledge as a lecturer and trainer at universities and institutes through workshops, trainings, and programs. He is certified in Transformation, Change Management, New Work, Agile Coaching, (AI) Design Sprints, Design Thinking, UX & Service Design, Problem Framing, JTBD, & Workshop Design and Facilitation.

Matthias has an intrinsic motivation to think outside the box and constantly question many things. This prerequisite, coupled with over 25 years of digital expertise, from agencies to corporations, helps him to adapt to a wide variety of challenges in complex environments in the shortest possible time.

He has gained management experience as a department and team leader as well as in the lateral management of various teams in numerous software development projects. He is happy to share the experience he has gained through his practical work in “daily business” as a product owner or UX professional as a sparring partner or mentor.

With his motto “Just do it. It could turn out well.” he supports companies in developing sustainable and accessible digital solutions for people and the environment.

In his 6-year career, Philipp conceived and designed web applications and mobile apps in the enterprise and EdTech environment. In addition, he was involved in building a design system for an international company and thus gained profound experience in the entire software development process. When designing the user experience, his focus is on simplicity, speed and added value. He achieves this through an optimal workflow, an iterative approach and a high level of technical understanding.

Shahira works as a freelance art director and lecturer and gives workshops on brainstorming, design basics and all aspects of branding. She has over 20 years of agency experience, including living and working in New York. For 10 years, she was senior art director at Jung von Matt, where she looked after national and international clients such as Mercedes-Benz, for whom she accompanied a launch into the Chinese market in Beijing, among other things. After Jung von Matt, she headed the marketing department of a company before setting up her own business.

Stefan Schmitt is experienced designer, consultant, trainer and speaker with more than 15 years experience in analyzing, planning, developing and designing websites, web portals, e-commerce solutions, marketing tools, software, mobile apps and social media applications.

Sven Ertel works as a freelance data analyst in a wide range of industries and has gained extensive experience in supporting companies, especially their (BI) departments. His expertise includes the design and implementation of reporting systems, data preparation and connection as well as data visualization. Among other things, he has developed global sales monitoring systems for a Bavarian car manufacturer and analyzed and prepared marketing campaign data for a German aviation company.

In his role as a data scientist at the Serviceplan Group, Sven has established a solid, professional foundation in project management for various customer projects. He has also refined and applied his IT skills in various technologies. During this time, he also led training and education on UX/UI-optimized BI reporting, helping to improve the usability and efficiency of BI solutions.

Sven’s expertise covers all touchpoints of the customer journey – from web design to the Google Tool Suite (e.g. Analytics, Ads, Tag Manager) to search engine marketing. He has constantly expanded his knowledge both practically as the leader of a large marketing team and theoretically. As a Google partner and self-employed agency owner, he looks after customers and companies from individuals to start-ups and founders to corporations. His consulting approach is always characterised by appreciative communication and improving together. He is passionate about combining tools and technology with the creativity of marketing. Sven has been working as a trainer and coach in the areas of online marketing, organisational development and media coaching for many years.

Thomas teaches at the Faculty of Economics at the KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and holds a professorship for financing and banking at this university. In addition to research and teaching, Thomas is successfully active in consulting and professional development. He has over 20 years of experience as a data scientist, both in research and in the project business. Today, he implements all projects in research and for external clients in Python and the corresponding Python libraries. As a mentor and trainer, Thomas stands for lively, interactive teaching that is characterised by variety between content transfer and independent work. Thomas is convinced that anyone can learn to use programming languages such as Python to solve practical problems.

Dr.-Ing. Thomas Vöhringer-Kuhnt has studied industrial psychology and is an expert in the user-centered design of interactive products. He has been involved in HMI development projects in the industry for more than 15 years and sees himself as an advocate for end users within interdisciplinary teams. Particularly he is interested in the interaction between man and vehicle and the further development of design-thinking into human thinking.

Product management has been his profession for two decades. Ulf has been fortunate to work with great people in various international organizations. He is a strategic thinker and an open communicator. His focus is on innovative products and new technologies. He has experience with both physical and digital products. He very much enjoys working with multicultural and cross-functional product teams. Coaching and developing them is a special personal enrichment for him. Ulf is a believer in continuous, personal development as well as agile methods. Attitude. Transparency, trust and autonomy are important values that guide his actions.

For her daily work, Ulrike uses her knowledge and experience from over 10 years of digital strategy and design thinking as well as her skills as a systemic coach and yoga teacher. She supports colleagues and teams every day with new impulses and creative input and thus creates inspiring processes, products and trainings. With the firm conviction that innovations can only be created in an appreciative, collaborative and positive environment at the interface of people, technology and business, she embarks on a journey of discovery and creates spaces in which digital transformation can grow and valuable learning experiences can emerge.

Wojta is a certified Product Owner (PSPO) and works for one of the largest German e-commerce companies (Otto Group). He is co-responsible for the further development of a multi-client e-commerce store platform, which is tailored to customer needs. He analyzes business requirements and is responsible for the development and support of new features and functions. Develops a vision for the final product, to this end must monitor all developments in the market. Researching, observing and analyzing the end customers and the market is therefore an important part of his daily work.

I am a passionate product management enthusiast who puts the why into products to fulfill customer value and enhance positive product experiences.
I strongly believe that everyone can benefit from a customer-centric view on products and win happy customers with the help of product management.
As a coach & trainer, I provide product management training and support companies in introducing product management methodology or product management as a department. With a strong focus on simplicity, design and user experience, every product can be a success.