Working in different environments taught me, a healthy human to human interaction makes everything possible.

I’ve been in the digital field for over 12 years and consider myself a design generalist. I feel comfortable to work across boundaries and explore crossroads of multiple disciplines, such as service and experience design, speculative design, strategic foresight, (data) ethics and product. 

I enjoy listening, asking questions and helping teams set their focus at the right time. This helps bring the team together around a common goal and drives me to lead with purpose.

I thrive in and evangelize for collaborative environments, where trust, psychological safety and people are the norm — here I be comfortable with the unknown and being able to navigate uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

Picture of Thomas Otto

Current Work

upper — Creating an ecosystem that let freelancer thrive

Leading the design/ user research team and being part of the product leadership team. Leading the design & user research team as part of the product leadership team. Helping the design team focus and grow. Looking for new ways to drive the experience forward and make smart decisions at the team and C-Level level.  

Sharing and exchange is inspirational, sparks creativity and growth.

As part of my work, I had the chance to share experiences, evangelize for a better data-future for professionals and academic fellows alike at conferences, events:

Clients & Product companies

I worked with teams for a variety of clients, from startups to enterprises, from private to public clients. Most of my work is NDA protected. Therefore, you find here some clients I worked for and companies I worked at. If you want to dive deeper into discussions. Please reach out.

Some of my stations

04/2022 — now
upper.co, Berlin

11/2021 — 04/2022
icon impact, Berlin
Senior Director Strategic Design

11/2020 — 11/2021
Head of Design
at OVIAVO, Berlin

11/2019 — 11/2020
Design Director
at MVPF Technologies, Berlin

08/2017 — 09/2019
Senior User Experience Designer
at Aperto – an IBM Company, Berlin

2015 – 2017
User Experience Designer
at Useeds, Berlin

2008 — 2016
Freelance Interface Designer
Working for various clients 

2020
Design MBA
6 weeks Business course for designers
d.MBA

2016 — 2018
Master of Arts in Design 
at the University of Applied Science Potsdam

2011 — 2016
Bachelor of Arts in Interfacedesign 
at the University of Applied Science Potsdam

2008 — 2011
Digital Media Designer – Design and Technology 
at the Multi Media Berufsbildende Schulen, Hannover