About me

After my design studies in Wuppertal, Germany, I started my career in 1990 as an industrial designer at Philips Design in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. There I held various positions, working for lighting and luminaries, medical systems and consumer electronics: initially as a product designer, later as design manager and branch director. From 1998 till 2003 I managed Philips Design's Branch in Vienna, Austria, were I was responsible for a diverse service offer.

My design work won various prestigious design awards, amongst them the Rotterdam Design Award and the IF-award in Gold.

After 19 years with Philips, where my last position was the one of CDO (Chief Design Officer) for Consumer Electronics' business unit peripherals and accessories, I moved to Deutsche Telekom (T-mobile) in 2009, to head design management. In this function I tried to integrate Design into company strategy and process, and to grow the overall design awareness, till I left in December 2010, to pursue new interests.

Since January 2011 I am an independent consultant and support companies in design- and change management challenges.

SInce January 2020 I am a board member of the Swiss design firm Vetica.

I also am co-owner of Customer Metrics AG, a firm specialized in customer centricity development.

These activities I combine with holding a professorship at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Lucerne, Switzerland, were I head the BA Design Management, International. I ended this activity in 2019 and since then lecture in design management at various faculties.

Next to my professional activities I am regularly invited to speak or attend juries for design awards, and I actively blog on , addressing topics on design, brand and economics. I am part of an international network of design-thinkers.

In 2018 I published my book Leading Design, available in German and English.

Specialties: With over 20 years of experience in diverse industries, like Medical Systems, Lighting, Consumer Electronics and Service Industries, I now focus on the role of design within business strategies. This way I can contribute to further develop design as a strategic tool to build brands, propositions and thus create meaning to customers and society.

Design Management, Design Strategies, Service Design, HCD, Design Thinking, Process Development, Change Management, Brand Development