Hey there, I'm Jan — a design technologist working to make machines speak our language instead of us speaking theirs.

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.

The more realistic your prototype, the more valid your results.

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)

December 2021

IBM Open Source Recognition Program Award

June 2019, November 2019, December 2019, September 2020

IBM Eminence and Excellence Award (4)

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